Multiple people were injured early Thursday when a shooter entered Perry High School and opened fire inside the building on the first day back after winter break, law enforcement said.
In a news conference broadcast by KCCI in Des Moines, Dallas County Sheriff Adam Infante said there were “multiple victims” and the shooter had been identified, but no information was being released yet on the victims or shooter due to the ongoing investigation. Infante also declined to say how many victims there were.
Police received a notification at 7:37 a.m. about the shooting and officers arrived 7 minutes later, Infante said. School had not started yet so there were likely fewer students and staff in the building at that time, which is fortunate, he noted. School was to start at 7:55 a.m.
Perry High School is about 25 miles northwest of Des Moines and the Perry Community School District has about 1,800 students.
Children were taken to a reunification center in Perry, and three Des Moines Police Department chaplains were on scene to lend support, KCCI reported. Classes were cancelled Friday for Perry schools.
