Several people were injured this Thursday in a shooting at a high school in the city of Perry, in the state of Iowa, as reported by the US Police, who have indicated that the attacker died after a self-inflicted gunshot.
According to these local media, there is a strong police and medical presence around the school and nearby streets are blocked. A medical helicopter was also seen landing at the school.
Although there is no official information on the number of deaths or injuries, NBC stated that three people were injured, including two students and an institute worker. One of those people could be seriously injured, according to NBC.
Sheriff Adam Infante told the press that “there is no longer any danger to the population” and confirmed that the attacker had been identified by the authorities, although he did not want to say more about his identity or his state of health. An AP source later detailed that the alleged perpetrator of the shooting had committed suicide.
Likewise, Infante specified that the police arrived at the scene of the shooting “in seven minutes” and “located several gunshot victims.” “We don’t know exactly how many people are injured, we are working on that,” he added.
“Fortunately there were very few high school students and teachers in the facility” because of the early hour and classes had not yet started, he continued. According to local media, it was the first day of school after the winter holidays.
The shooting took place just two weeks before the Republican Party begins its primary process in Iowa to choose its candidate for the November elections, in which former President Donald Trump (2017-2021) is the favorite.
One of Trump’s rivals, Vivek Ramaswamy, was scheduled to hold a campaign event in that town this Thursday. “We are praying this morning for the Perry community in Iowa,” he said in a message on X (formerly Twitter).
For his part, US President Joe Biden has already been informed of the shooting, according to a senior US official, who added that White House staff are in contact with the Iowa governor’s office.