17-year-old Kills Student, Injures 5 in US School Shooting

Editor/

Police said a sixth grader was killed and five other people were wounded by a 17-year-old suspect in today’s shooting at a small-town Iowa high school.

The shooting started as students were preparing for their first classes after winter break, forcing them to duck into classrooms, barricade themselves in offices or run for an exit, before the suspected shooter was found dead.

Authorities in Perry, Iowa, did not say how many people were injured in the shooting, but hospitals confirmed receiving at least three patients.

The suspect died of what investigators believe is a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and at least one of the victims is a school administrator, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.

Three gunshot victims were taken by ambulance to Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines, a spokesperson for its health system said. Some other patients were transported to a second hospital in Des Moines, a spokesperson for MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center confirmed, declining to comment on the number of patients or their statuses.

Mass shootings across the US have long brought calls for stricter gun laws from gun safety advocates, and today’s did within hours. But that idea has been a non-starter for many, particularly in rural, Republican-leaning states like Iowa.

As of July 2021, Iowa does not require a permit to purchase a handgun or carry a firearm in public, though it mandates a background check for a person buying a handgun without a permit.