Iowa school principal distracted gunman before being shot

A school principal in Iowa tried to "talk down" a gunman before he was shot, his daughter has said.

Dan Marburger is one of five injuries after a 17-year-old student opened fire at Perry High School on Thursday.

In a Facebook post, his daughter said her "gentle giant" father tried to distract the gunman to give students an opportunity to escape.

One unnamed sixth grader was killed in the shooting and four Perry High School students were injured.

Little is known about the injured students, though police have said they attended Perry High School.

Officials said on Thursday that one student remains in critical condition.

The four others harmed in the shooting are now in stable condition, which includes Mr Marburger.

In a Facebook post late Thursday night, Claire said her father underwent surgery after being taken to hospital. She noted that his efforts at the school did not shock her.

"It 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," she wrote. "That's just Dad."

The suspect was later identified as Dylan Butler, a 17-year-old student who was found dead at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Reports of an active shooter came in at 07:37 local time (13:37 GMT) on Thursday morning, and the first officer reached the scene within minutes, police said.

Later that evening, members of the community gathered in Wiese park, lighting candles to commemorate the victims of the shooting that rocked the small city of nearly 8,000 people north of Des Moines.

One woman at the vigil spoke about the child that was killed in the shooting, CBS reported.

With her own kid by her side, she told the crowd that "the young man killed today was an amazing little boy, and he was the sweetest."

"I know his family and I want them to realize how amazing he was," she said.

Police said they responded to the shooting within minutes and found the suspect dead

A local TV station spoke to Kevin Shelley, a parent of a 15-year-old, who said his son had been shot in the hallway, but would survive.

A bullet had grazed the teenager's arm before he ran into a classroom to seek shelter with other students.

Dallas County Sheriff Adam Infante told reporters that because the shooting unfolded early in the morning, "luckily, there was very few students and faculty in the building," which he added contributed to a smaller number of victims.

Ryan Burger, a computer teacher at the high school, said at the vigil that he and his colleagues routinely go through training to prepare in the event of a shooting.

But he added that while he was ready for it physically, it was still an emotional shock.

"Every time we had professional development time, we'd be going through this stuff, you never imagine it could happen," Mr Burger said, according to the Des Moines Register.

The middle school was cleared at about 08:25 local time and the high school was cleared at 08:27 local time. The two schools are on the same campus.

The shooting comes days before the Iowa caucuses begin on 15 January, kicking off the 2024 Republican primary process.

One of the candidates, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, was scheduled to campaign in Perry. The event was cancelled and replaced by a prayer and discussion between Mr Ramaswamy and local residents.

Nikki Haley, another candidate for the Republican nomination, offered her sympathies to the victims at the start of a CNN town hall on Thursday night.

Ms Haley blamed the shooting on "the cancer that is mental health".

Her remarks were denounced by the Democratic National Committee, who accused her of "siding with the gun lobby over the safety of America's children".