'Scared to death': Eyewitnesses share harrowing experience during mass shooting inside Perry High School
Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.
PERRY, IOWA: Eyewitness accounts paint a haunting scene following the horrific school shooting at Perry High School on Thursday, January 4, marking the first day back from winter break. The shooting was allegedly perpetrated by 17-year-old Dylan Butler.
The repercussions were dire, with a sixth-grader pronounced dead and five others injured, leaving them "scared to death" even after the assailant reportedly turned the gun on himself.
Terrified students forced to barricade, hide, and flee
Students of Perry High School found themselves in a harrowing situation, barricading themselves in offices, ducking into classrooms, and fleeing in panic as gunshots echoed through the halls. Authorities have identified one of the injured individuals as Perry High School Principal Dan Marburger.
Butler was armed with a pump-action shotgun, a small-caliber handgun, and a makeshift explosive device when he opened fire. However, the Perry High School shooter's motive remains unknown as the community comes to terms with the loss of a young life and the scars left on those who survived.
Heart-wrenching accounts from witnesses
One parent, Kevin Shelley, described the fear he felt when he received a text at 7.36 am from his 15-year-old son, Zander Shelley, who was wounded in the incident. His son, grazed twice by gunshots, hid in a classroom after dashing for safety.
Kevin has two children studying in the school. The father, expressing the intensity of the moment, said, "It was the most scared I’ve been in my entire life.”
Zander was quickly taken to Iowa Methodist Medical Center for examination and treatment, with Kevin confirming his children were physically okay but left "scared to death," KCCI reports.
Gunfire erupts jazz band and football practice prompting a desperate escape
Rachael Kares, an 18-year-old senior, vividly described the chaos during jazz band practice when the sound of gunshots pierced the air. “We all just jumped,” Kares claimed. “My band teacher looked at us and yelled, ‘Run!’ So we ran.”
Kares and many others from the school fled beyond the football field, hearing urgent shouts of "Get out! Get out!"
She noted hearing more shots during her escape, unsure of the exact count. Her primary concern in that critical moment was reaching home swiftly for her 3-year-old son.
Reflecting on the ordeal, she emphasized, "At that moment, I didn’t care about anything except getting out because I had to get home with my son.”
Erica Jolliff, a distressed mother, shared the ordeal of her ninth-grader daughter getting rushed from the school grounds at 7.45 am. Still searching for her sixth-grader son, Amir, an hour later, Jolliff pleaded, “I just want to know that he’s safe and OK. They won’t tell me nothing.”
Jasmine Augustine, 18, witnessed the aftermath at the high school while dropping off a friend and his brother at the elementary school nearby, finding herself at the epicenter of chaos.
Augustine recounted the tense moments, saying, “After that, there’s just tons and tons and tons of cops who came.” Together with her father, she picked up her sister from the armory, providing a semblance of relief amid the prevailing uncertainty.
Amber Ross, another parent, recounted the harrowing experience of her 12-year-old daughter inside the school building when the shots rang out. “The middle school and the high school are connected by a hallway where the cafeterias are. The shooter was in the high school cafeteria hallway," said Ross, adding, "and so she was in that hallway leaving. So it could have been her."
Ross and her child sought refuge at First United Methodist Church, which transformed into a haven for those affected by the shooting. Pastors extended a warm welcome to students and parents, providing a secure space to engage in prayer, embrace one another, and navigate through the shock that gripped them.
