A 6th-grade student was killed and four other students along with an administrator were wounded in the shooting at an Iowa high school on Thursday morning, authorities said.
A lone gunman, who police identified as a 17-year-old student at the school, died from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, officials said. The gunman, who was armed with a pump-action shotgun and a small-caliber handgun, made multiple social media posts on Thursday morning before carrying out the attack, which police say they are investigating.
Authorities also found an improvised explosive device (IED) in the high school building while conducting a search of the area after the shooting, Mitch Mortvedt, the assistant director of Iowa DCI, said in a Thursday afternoon news conference. Mortvedt said that the Iowa state fire marshal and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms had rendered the IED safe.
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Four of the victims are recovering and are in stable condition while one is in critical condition, Mortvedt added.
The first report on an active shooter inside the school came in at 7:37 a.m., and officers were on the scene within seven minutes. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds praised the “heroic actions” of law enforcement, which she said “saved lives.”
Dallas County Sheriff Adam Infante said earlier in the day that “luckily” there were few students and faculty in the building when the shooter opened fire since classes had not started yet. Kevin Shelley, the father of 15-year-old student Zander, said his son was grazed by two bullets before hiding in a classroom and texting his dad, KCCI reported.