Mass shooting at high school in Iowa with police reporting 'multiple victims'

Authorities in Iowa have confirmed multiple people have been injured after a shooter opened fire in a school this morning.

The shooting took place before classes began at Perry High School in Iowa today (4 January), when there were fewer students and staff in the building.

In a press conference following the shooting, Sheriff Adam Infante the fact school had not yet started led to a 'good outcome' in terms of the number of people who were harmed.

However, Infante confirmed there were multiple gunshot victims of the shooting. He declined to state a specific number, or whether any of the gunshots had proved fatal to victims.

Victims of the shooting are being taken to MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center, while other students from the school had been moved and reunited at a designated area.

Armed law enforcement swarmed the school within minutes after receiving reports of an active shooting situation, which began coming in at about 7:47am local time.

The sheriff added that officers have identified the shooter, but did not confirm whether they were a student of the school. He assured there was no further risk to the public.

"The community is safe,” he said. “We’re just now working backwards trying to figure out everything that happened.”

NBC News

Kevin Shelley, whose 15-year-old son is a student at the school, told the Des Moines Register his son had been grazed by a bullet in the back and arm.

“My son was inside, said he heard gunshots and immediately started running,” Shelley said. “They got into a classroom with a teacher that kept them hidden and safe.”

After escaping the school, the teenager was reunited with his dad and is now recovering at home.

Linda Andorf, board president for the Perry Community School District, described the news of the shooting as 'terrible'.

Per NBC News, she said: "It is horrendously awful. People need to figure out their life. This is just disgusting. It's terrible."

Perry High School is part of part of the Perry Community School District, which serves around 1,785 students, and is located about 25 miles northwest of Des Moines.

Police are expected to share more details on the shooting in another press conference later today.

White House officials have said President Joe Biden is tracking the news of the Iowa shooting, while senior staff have been in touch with the Iowa governor’s office in relation to the situation.