The parents of the 17-year-old who killed a sixth grader and wounded seven others in a shooting at his small-town Iowa high school last week said in a statement Monday that they “had no inkling he intended the horrible violence he was about to inflict.”
Butler’s parents said in the statement they are cooperating with investigators in an attempt to “provide answers to the question of why our son committed this senseless crime. “
“As minutes and hours have passed since the horrors our son Dylan inflicted on the victims, the Perry School and the community, we have tried to make sense of what is meaningless,” Jack and Erin Butler said in the statement. “We are devastated and our pain for the deceased, his family, the injured and his families is immeasurable. “
Dylan Butler took his own life after killing one student and wounding Perry High School’s principal, two other staff members and four other students on the first day of classes after winter break, leaving some with significant injuries. The family of 11-year-old Ahmir Jolliff is planning to hold his funeral Thursday — one week after the shooting happened.
Investigators have said they are reviewing reams of electronic and physical evidence they’ve gathered and are interviewing dozens of witnesses to better understand what happened and why. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, which is taking the lead in this case, didn’t release any updates on the shooting Monday.
An FBI spokesperson said the company did not obtain any recommendations or information related to Dylan Butler through its National Threat Operations Center prior to the shooting.
Also on Monday, several hundred academics and other protesters marched to the state Capitol in Des Moines, about 64 miles from Perry, to call for stricter gun legislation in the state.
RELATED: Despite Latest Wave of Mass Shootings, Senate Democrats Struggle to Draw Attention to Gun Control
The butlers said they were grateful for the “grace that has been shown to us publicly and privately” since the shooting. There has been an outpouring of support for the family, with some citizens providing their information on the city’s Facebook organization and volunteers to bring them in. Meals.
City Scouts spent the weekend collecting teddy bears to give to students at Perry Elementary School, while locals eagerly asked for T-shirts, car stickers and road signs with the name “Perry Stong” to raise cash to pay for the medical wishes of shooting victims. At the same time, Dylan’s circle of relatives is also remembered. Even through the circle of relatives of the murdered student.
In an interview Friday with The Associated Press, Ahmir’s mother, Erica Jolliff, first spoke in mourning for the boy who killed her son.
“We send our condolences to the family of Dylan, they’re in our prayers and we’re truly sorry for his loss as well,” she said
Erin Owen, who runs the city’s Facebook page and hosts a fundraiser for victims, said there was some reluctance online to come forward for the Butler family, but most people accepted it.
“I think at first there might be tunnel vision. And then, as the network steps in and gives you another perspective, the reception is broader. “He noted, “They’re also suffering losses. “
Families of school shooters are vilified and asked about symptoms they might have missed that something was wrong.
In Michigan, the parents of a teenager who killed four top students at an Oxford school face involuntary manslaughter charges. James and Jennifer Crumbley are accused of making a gun available to Ethan Crumbley in his home and ignoring his mental fitness needs.
And in the 2012 Sandy Hook School massacre, Nancy Lanza, who legally purchased guns found at the scene, is usually excluded from the count of the slain. Her son, Adam Lanza, killed her before fatally shooting 20 first-graders and six educators.
One issue is the growing movement to deny mass killers notoriety after their deaths, limiting the use of their names and images, so posthumous fame won’t be a motivating factor for future killings.
Owen believes he is more pragmatic than broad about forgiveness. Perry has a population of about 8,000, making it small enough for most people to be affected in some way, and he said the city has noted other tragic child deaths in recent years. , preparing the network to respond to this tragedy.
Even those who weren’t directly affected knew someone with a child at school or were close to Dylan’s family. His father is the city’s airport manager after serving as director of public works for years, where he praised him for helping clean up Perry after a devastating windstorm in 2020. His mother was also a small business owner and served on a city progression board.
“Everyone in the city knows them and they are very kind people and everyone is suffering, so at least everyone is looking to come together on not unusual ground,” said Audi Sorber, who signed up to bring food next Monday.