(Photo by Getty Images)
Iowa Department of Public Safety Commissioner Stephan Bayens said Friday that while the agency’s investigation into the Perry school shooting is now officially closed, much of the information gathered by investigators will remain confidential.
The statement followed Thursday’s announcement by the Dallas County Attorney’s Office that no criminal charges will be filed in the Jan. 4, 2024, shooting that resulted in the death of a student, a school principal and the shooter.
A published summary of the findings of the DPS’ Division of Criminal Investigation indicates, as expected, that 17-year-old Dylan Butler acted alone in the shooting, and also that he was “driven by a desire to commit suicide with the hostile intent of taking others with him.”
Bayens said Friday that while an unspecified number of individuals were aware of Butler’s mental health issues, his interest in school shootings, and unspecified “warning signs” prior to Jan. 4, those concerns were not relayed to any law enforcement agencies before the shooting.
Iowa Department of Public Safety Commissioner Stephan Bayens. (Photo courtesy State of Iowa)
“There is no evidence that any other person knew of the shooter’s specific intentions on Jan. 4,” he said. “Others were aware of the shooter’s general interest in school shootings. Others were aware of his fascination with violence. Others were aware of his concerning behaviors. The evidence bears that out. Those concerns — along with a number of other warning signs — were unreported or otherwise unrecognized. But we can say the shooter in this case did have broad behavioral issues, and had broad mental health concerns, and that many of these concerns were present years in advance of the shooting on Jan. 4.”
Butler entered Perry High School at 7:12 a.m. on the morning of Jan. 4, armed with a shotgun, revolver and a rudimentary explosive device. He shot and killed 11-year-old Ahmir Jolliff, as well as Principal Dan Marburger, and wounded two staff members and four students before taking his own life.
The investigative summary in the case was released Thursday after state lawmakers, open-government advocates and school employees objected to Dallas County Attorney Jeannine R. Ritchie’s decision last month to keep all the findings confidential.
At a press conference Friday, Bayens reiterated much of the information that was disclosed Thursday. He said that while the DCI’s investigation is now officially closed, there are four reasons for continuing to keep some information confidential. He cited privacy laws, Butler’s desire for notoriety, the potential for copycat shootings and his respect for the victims’ families.
“The shooter in this case desired notoriety,” Bayens said, “and I’m not inclined to be a tool toward that end.”
This investigation ranks among the most exhaustive and complex investigations the DCI has undertaken in its 100-year history.
– Iowa Department of Public Safety Commissioner Stephan Bayens
He added that he felt that by disclosing some of the withheld information he would be dishonoring the families of the victims and also “glorifying a day of evil.”
Bayens said that while the shooting lasted 4 minutes and 21 seconds, the DCI’s investigation of the incident was among the biggest in the agency’s history and involved 180 interviews by law enforcement personnel, multiple search warrants and subpoenas, and agents “turning over every conceivable stone” in their search for answers.
“The number of hours they poured into this case was staggering,” Bayens said. “This investigation ranks among the most exhaustive and complex investigations the DCI has undertaken in its 100-year history.”
With Butler identified as the shooter within minutes of shots being fired, the subsequent investigation focused on Butler’s motives and planning. Bayens said the evidence shows Butler was not ideologically motivated or triggered by bullying, but was suicidal and driven by a desire for notoriety while remaining “disjoined, fractured and inconsistent in thought.”
He said the evidence also indicates that while Butler expressed to others a fascination with violence and an interest in school shootings, he had not articulated to anyone a plan to actually engage in a shooting. Signs of his interest in violence surfaced a year before the shooting, Bayens said, but the evidence indicates he began planning the shooting roughly six weeks before the event and began preparing for it four weeks in advance.
“There was evidence of meticulous, week-long planning rather than an unprepared emotional response,” Bayens said. “He said as much in his own hand. We recovered writings from the shooter that indicated just that. He desired to be famous. He desired to commit suicide. He desired to take others with him. He told us as much.”
The shooting victims, Bayens said, were not specifically targeted and appeared to have been shot due to their physical locations as Butler moved through the building.
Ritchie and Bayens have said investigators were unable to determine where Butler obtained the shotgun from which he fired 23 shots, although Bayens said it may have been taken from the home of a member of his extended family without the owner’s knowledge.
The revolver that Butler carried but didn’t use had been left “unsecured” in his family’s home and was accessible to him, Ritchie said.