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PERRY, Iowa — A 17-year-old opened fire at a small-town Iowa high school on the first day of school after the winter break, killing a sixth grader and wounding five others as students barricaded in offices and fled in panic.

The suspect, a student at the school in Perry, died of what investigators believe was a self-inflicted gunshot wound, an Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation official said. Authorities said one of the five people wounded was an administrator, later identified as Perry High School Principal Dan Marburger by an eastern Iowa school district where he graduated from high school.

Authorities identified the shooter as Dylan Butler, 17, but provided no information about a possible motive. Two friends and their mother who spoke with The Associated Press said Butler was a quiet person who was bullied for years.

Perry has about 8,000 residents and is about 40 miles northwest of Des Moines. The high school and middle school are connected, sitting on the east edge of town.

Authorities said the shooter had a pump-action shotgun and a small-caliber handgun. Mitch Mortvedt, the state investigation division’s assistant director, said during a news conference that authorities also found a “pretty rudimentary� improvised explosive device and rendered it safe.

The suspect’s motive is being investigated and authorities are looking into “a number of social media posts� he made around the time of the shooting, Mortvedt added.

A law enforcement official briefed on the investigation said federal and state investigators are interviewing Butler’s friends and analyzing Butler’s social media profiles. Investigators found posts of Butler posing with firearms, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Sisters Yesenia Roeder Hall and Khamya Hall, both 17, said alongside their mother, Alita, that Butler was bullied relentlessly since elementary school, but it escalated recently when his younger sister started getting picked on, too. Officials at the school didn’t intervene, they said, and that was “the last straw� for Butler.

“He was hurting. He got tired. He got tired of the bullying. He got tired of the harassment,� Yesenia Roeder Hall, 17, said. “Was it a smart idea to shoot up the school? No. God, no.�

Perry High School senior Ava Augustus said she was in a counselor’s office when she heard three shots. She and other people barricaded the door, preparing to throw things if necessary, with a window being too small for an escape.

“And then we hear ‘He’s down. You can go out,’� Augustus said through tears. “And I run and you can just see glass everywhere, blood on the floor. I get to my car and they’re taking a girl out of the auditorium who had been shot in her leg.�

Three gunshot victims were taken by ambulance to Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines, a spokesperson for its health system said. Some other patients were transported to a second hospital in Des Moines, a spokesperson for MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center confirmed.

Mortvedt said one person was in critical condition but the injuries didn’t appear to be life-threatening. The other victims were stable, he said.

Hundreds of community members gathered for a candlelight prayer vigil Thursday evening at a park where hours earlier, students were dropped off to reunite with their families after the shooting.

A post on the high school’s Facebook page said it would be closed Friday, with counseling services planned at the public library Friday and Saturday.

Gov. Kim Reynolds ordered all flags in Iowa lowered to half-staff. “This senseless tragedy has shaken our entire state to its core,� she said.

In Washington, President Joe Biden and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland were briefed on the shooting. FBI agents from the Omaha-Des Moines office are assisting with the investigation led by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

Mass shootings across the U.S. have long brought calls for stricter gun laws from gun safety advocates, and Thursday’s did within hours. That idea is traditionally a non-starter for many Republicans, particularly in rural, GOP-leaning states like Iowa.

As of July 2021, Iowa does not require a permit to purchase a handgun or carry a firearm in public, though it mandates a background check for a person buying a handgun without a permit.

GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy had a campaign event scheduled in Perry at 9 a.m. about 1½ miles from the high school but canceled it to have a prayer and discussion with area residents.

Ramaswamy said the shooting is a sign of a “psychological sickness� in the country. In Des Moines, GOP rival and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said gun violence “is more of a local and state issue� in an interview with the Des Moines Register and NBC News.

An active shooter was reported at 7:37 a.m. Thursday and officers arrived seven minutes later, Dallas County Sheriff Adam Infante said. Emergency vehicles surrounded the middle and high school.

Zander Shelley, 15, was in a hallway when he heard gunshots and dashed into a classroom, according to his father, Kevin Shelley. Zander was grazed twice and hid in the classroom before texting his father at 7:36 a.m.

Kevin Shelley, who drives a garbage truck, told his boss he had to run. “It was the most scared I’ve been in my entire life,� he said.

Rachael Kares, an 18-year-old senior, was wrapping up jazz band practice when she and her bandmates heard what she described as four gunshots.

“We all just jumped,� Kares said. “My band teacher looked at us and yelled, ‘Run!’ So we ran.�

Kares and many others from the school ran out past the football field, as she heard people yelling, “Get out! Get out!� She said she heard additional shots as she ran, but didn’t know how many. She was more concerned about getting home to her 3-year-old son.

Erica Jolliff said her daughter, a ninth grader, reported getting rushed from the school grounds at 7:45 am. Distraught, Jolliff was still looking for her son Amir, a sixth grader, one hour later.

“I just want to know that he’s safe and OK,� Jolliff said. “They won’t tell me nothing.�