Why Iowa caucus sites were moved out of Perry High School after shooting that killed two
Perry in Iowa still struggling to deal with the tragic deaths of a student and the principal of Perry High School, who died after a gunman opened fire on January 4. Before the Iowa caucus started, Dallas County Republicans moved caucus sites out of Perry High School. Raymond Knapp, Dallas County GOP committee member, decided that the caucus would take place at Perry Elementary School instead, out of respect for the community.
There’s a lot of people, and it’s hard to imagine how many feelings it brings up of people who didn’t even have children in the school at the time,” said Knapp, according to ABC.
“In fact, I myself am going to put in a plank in for the platform committee to somehow provide financing for schools to take and train teachers… to be able to carry and not allow them to say this is a gun-free area.,” he said. “And so, I have always felt that we need to make sure that our teachers have equal power to protect the children that they dearly love and care aboutand. That’s the thing Dan stood between the shooter and kids because that was what he was trying to do. But all he had to give his life was.”
Perry High School principal Dan Marburger died ten days after being shot during the tragedy. The shooting also killed Ahmir Jolliff, 11, and injured many others. The shooter, Dylan Butler, 17, then turned the gun on himself.
Before Marburger’s death, the Uvalde Foundation For Kids, a national nonprofit organization formed in response to the Uvalde massacre in May 2022, had announced that it had started an emergency fund to assist with his medical bills because of his heroic actions. Marburger reportedly died while trying to save his students.
Butler reportedly had plans to murder many others, but the shooting took place before the school day had started and therefore were not many students and staff in the building.”
