By O. Kay Henderson (Radio Iowa)

Authorities say a 6th grader was killed and five other people were wounded during a shooting this morning in Perry High School and the 17-year-old suspect, who was a student at the school, died of a self-inflicted gunshot. Four students and a school administrator are hospitalized.

One of them is in critical condition, but is expected to survive. During a news conference this afternoon, Perry Police Chief Eric Vaughn was emotional as he praised teachers, staff and students for “acting bravely and heroically” today.

“All of our condolences to the victims and their families,” Vaughn said, pausing before continuing to read from his statement. “They need your thoughts and prayers as well as time and space to process and to grieve.”

Mitch Mortvedt, assistant director of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, said the suspect has been identified as Dylan Butler and he was armed with two weapons — a pump action shotgun and small caliber handgun. “Officers located, during the search of the school, an improvised explosive device,” Mortvedt said. “The State Fire Marshal and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms rendered the device safe.”

Mortvedt told reporters “all evidence at this time” suggests the 17-year-old acted alone. “Butler also made a number of social media posts in and around the time of the shooting,” Mortvedt said. “Law enforcement is working to secure those pieces of evidence.”

Mortvedt said he had not seen a TikTok video allegedly recorded this morning by Brooks that has been reposted on social media platforms. A reporter at the news conference asked Mortvedt if investigators have determined a motive for the shooting. “Anything into the background of him is part of the investigation and, obviously, we’re going to take a deep dive into that,” Mortvedt said, “but there’s nothing that we can release at this time.”

Governor Kim Reynolds opened this afternoon’s news conference with a message to the Perry community.

“This strikes at the heart of everything that we hold dear. This senseless tragedy has shaken our entire state to the core and I want this community to know that every Iowan stands with you,” Reynolds said. “It’s impossible to understand why anything like this happens, but I want you to know we will work tirelessly to get the answers so that we can prevent it from happening again.”

Reynolds has ordered all flags in the state to be lowered to half-staff until sunset on Sunday in support of the students, families, teachers and staff of Perry schools and the Perry community.

Other Iowa elected officials have been posting statements on social media. Senator Chuck Grassley said the appalling violence at Perry High School is heartbreaking. Senator Ernst said she’s praying for the safety and recovery of those involved.

State Representative Carter Nordman, a Republican from Adel who represents Perry in the Iowa legislature, said he’s devastated by the news and thankful for the first responders who are handling the situation. Congressman Zach Nunn, a Republican from Bondurant who represents Perry in the U-S House, said he is “beyond angry” and “we have a duty to protect our children, families and educators.”

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was in Perry for an event right before this morning’s shooting. Ramaswamy posted on social media that someone at the event remarked that it was just a matter of time before something like this happened in Iowa — and Ramaswamy said “there’s a psychological sickness at the core of our country right now.”

The top two Democrats in the Iowa legislature spoke at a statehouse forum just after the first reports of the shooting where made. House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst said it was too soon to talk about any policy response to what happened in Perry.

“I’d rather keep the students and the faculty and the families as the focus right now on the Perry incident until we know what happened,” Konfrst said.

The Iowa State Education Association’s president and vice president issued a joint statement, saying “words cannot express the sorrow” they feel for the victims and the pain that everyone in Perry feels.