The teenage gunman who shot dead a child and injured five others at a high school shooting in Iowa posted a picture of himself online inside the bathroom at the school "waiting" before the massacre, police have said.
Police said Dylan Butler, a 17-year-old student, carried a pump-action shotgun and handgun into Perry High School, northwest of Des Moines, shortly before 7.40am as students returned from their Christmas break on Thursday.
Students fled into classrooms and barricade themselves in offices as the shooter went on his rampage.
A sixth grader, understood to be aged 11 or 12, was killed.
The school’s principal, Dan Marburger, who was rushed to hospital and was in surgery for his gunshot wounds while four students were injured. Police said one of the injured was in a critical condition.
Butler, who was found dead with a gunshot wound, is believed to have then taken his own life.
A “pretty rudimentary” improvised explosive device was found by investigators, police said, and rendered safe.
Police said the suspect’s motive was being investigated and authorities were looking into “a number of social media posts” he made around the time of the shooting. Shortly before Thursday’s shooting, Butler posted a photo on TikTok inside the school, the official said.
The photo was captioned “now we wait” and the song “Stray Bullet” by the German band KMFDM accompanied it.
Investigators have also found other photos Butler posted posing with firearms, a source said.
Two students and a mother said Butler was a quiet person who had been bullied for years.
Hundreds of people gathered for a candlelight prayer vigil for the victims at a park where hours earlier, students had been brought to reunite with their families after the shooting.
