Moments before a 17-year-old unleashed gunfire at Iowa鈥檚 Perry High School, killing a sixth grader and wounding five other people, the student is believed to have posted a foreboding TikTok video.
On the morning shooter Dylan Butler opened fire, a TikTok post believed to be from the shooter shows him inside a school bathroom posing with a blue duffel bag, captioned: 鈥淣ow we wait.鈥
The song 鈥淪tray Bullet,鈥 by the German band KMFDM, accompanies the post 鈥 which has been removed from the platform. The band鈥檚 lyrics have also been cited by the student gunmen who carried out the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado, where 13 victims were killed, .
The gunman in Iowa 鈥渕ade a number of social media posts in and around the time of the shooting鈥 on Thursday morning, said Mitch Mortvedt, assistant director of the Iowa Department of Public Safety Division of Criminal Investigation. 鈥淟aw enforcement are working to secure those pieces of evidence,鈥 he added.
New details also are emerging about whether Butler may have been bullied, though his motive might never be confirmed because the gunman is dead. He was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Mortvedt said.
Still, investigators are trying to determine why Butler entered the school with a pump-action shotgun and small-caliber handgun, Mortvedt said. Officers also discovered a rudimentary explosive device after the killer went on the deadly rampage before classes started on the first day back to school since winter break.
The attack marked the second shooting on a U.S. school property in just the first few days of this year. Last year, more than 80 such shootings erupted on school grounds nationwide, a CNN analysis shows.
So far this year, the U.S. this also has suffered an average of at least one mass shooting every day in which at least four victims are shot, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
Now, survivors and witnesses in a small city near Des Moines are echoing the same sentiment as others who have suffered the terror of mass shootings in America:
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 feel real,鈥 . 鈥淭his is like one of those things where you see on TV and you鈥檙e like that never gonna linger its way toward my community, but it does happen. It鈥檚 really real.鈥
As students dug into cafeteria breakfasts and wrapped up band practice Thursday morning, one of their peers stepped into the building with two guns and began firing 鈥 sending kids and teachers scrambling for safety.
The shooting happened before the classes at Perry High School, which shares a campus with Perry Middle School. 鈥淚t鈥檚 our understanding that there was a breakfast program going on, so there may have been students of different grades 鈥 in the school at that time,鈥 Mortvedt said.
At first, the gunshots were mistaken by some as disruptive noise 鈥 a popped balloon, a dropped bag 鈥 two witnesses said.
Then the horror of reality set in.
鈥淭he whole cafeteria went silent,鈥 high school student Angie Orellana told锘 CNN. 鈥淭hen more shots continued, and everything just went into chaos. I just saw the principal start running and all my friends, and I just got out of there.鈥
Nearby, Kares was wrapping up jazz band practice when she heard four shots resonate through the hall. A burning smell lingered in the air. Then another shot came.
鈥淥ur band teacher looked at us, and he just goes, 鈥楻un!鈥欌 she told CNN鈥檚 Anderson Cooper. 鈥淣one of us hesitated. We just all got up and ran.鈥
Kares and her friends ran outside, trying to get 鈥渁nywhere away from school,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e just kept going.鈥
Perry High School Principal Dan Marburger tried to save students by talking to and distracting the shooter during the deadly attack, his daughter posted on social media.
鈥淎s I heard of a gunman, I instantly had a feeling my Dad would be a victim as he would put himself in harms way for the benefit of the kids and his staff,鈥 she wrote. 鈥淚t is absolutely zero surprise to hear he tried to approach and talk Dylan down and distract him long enough for some students to get out of the cafeteria.鈥
The principal was wounded in the shooting and underwent surgery. He鈥檚 in stable condition, his daughter said.
More than 150 federal, state and local officers arrived to find students and staff sheltering in place or running from the building, Mortvedt said.
Inside, officers discovered the wounded gunman, as well as the explosive device, which authorities rendered safe, Mortvedt said.
The sixth grader who was killed has not been publicly identified. Four other students were injured, Mortvedt said.
One of the five people hospitalized with gunshot wounds has been released, Iowa Methodist Medical Center said. The hospital received three patients from the school shooting, and the other two remain hospitalized, spokesperson Mark Tauscheck said Friday.
The other patients are being treated at MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center, but a spokesperson said the hospital 鈥渃annot provide patient status.鈥
All Perry district schools will be closed Friday, and counseling will be available.
While the motive in the attack remains unclear, two teens described as friends of Butler said he had been bullied since elementary school, they told ABC News.
鈥淗e got tired, he got tired of the bullying, he got tired of the harassment,鈥 one friend told ABC News.
鈥淲e tried to be there when he needed us,鈥 another friend tearfully told ABC News. 鈥淐learly, we weren鈥檛 there for him enough.鈥
CNN is reaching out to authorities about whether the bullying claims have turned up in their investigation.
Mourners grieved the loss of the slain sixth grader, who was 鈥渢he sweetest boy 鈥 the one you want your kids to be friends with,鈥 Perry resident Jessica Conrad told CNN.
The principal was identified as one of the wounded in a statement from the in eastern Iowa, where Marburger graduated. The district learned of his injury through 鈥渇amily connections we have in our area,鈥 it said. Marburger has worked at schools in Perry for at least 25 years, according to the Perry Community School District鈥檚 directory.
鈥淭his senseless tragedy has shaken our entire state to the core,鈥 Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said Thursday. 鈥淚 want you to know that we鈥檒l work tirelessly to get the answers so that we can prevent it from happening again.鈥
Mourners gathered for a vigil at a local park Thursday night, clutching candles as speakers shared messages of strength, sympathy and unity.
鈥淓ven though we are in a tiny town, the whole world is wrapping its arms around us tonight,鈥 said former Perry school student Andrea Niemeyer, who noted she鈥檚 received condolences from as far as Washington state.
鈥淲e鈥檒l get through this because we have each other,鈥 she added.
Some expressed shock and disbelief, including a mother who said her husband tried to drop their children off early at the school but was turned away.
鈥淚 just found all throughout the morning as the time progressed that I would kind of lose my breath as I realized how lucky that was,鈥 Mindy Farmer said.
Later in the day, the question, 鈥淲hat now?鈥 began to weigh on her, Farmer said. 鈥淚 think you can start to feel kind of powerless.鈥
Several vigil attendees offered up prayers, including local pastor Kathy Benton, who prayed for the students who 鈥渁re going to be dealing with the memories and the sounds and everything.鈥
鈥淲e pray for healing of their minds,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e pray for healing of their emotions.鈥
This is a developing story and will be updated.
CNN鈥檚 Caroll Alvarado, Andy Rose, Hannah Rabinowitz, Amy Simonson, Evan Perez, Aaron Pellish, Sharif Paget, Dakin Andone and Christina Maxouris contributed to this report.
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