By Kyle Werner, Des Moines Register
One year ago on Jan. 4, just before the first day back from winter break had begun in Perry, gunshots rang out in the high school’s common area.
When it was over, four students and two staff members were injured. Eleven-year-old Ahmir Jolliff was killed. The high school principal, Dan Marburger, who distracted the shooter to help students escape, later died from his injuries.
The shooter, 17-year-old student Dylan Butler, fatally shot himself in what investigators later said was an act to gain notoriety.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Perry residents came together to mourn the day’s tragic events, embracing each other and shedding tears during candlelight vigils and, later, funerals.
This week, Perry will look far different as the city and school work hard to move past the tragedy and make the days surrounding the anniversary as normal as possible.
Students will reconvene from winter break on Monday, although school won’t be in session on Jan. 4. There are no planned assemblies or school events for the anniversary out of respect for students “who don’t want to relive” the day, Perry High School senior class President Quin Mahler-Moreno said.
Still, the Perry Ministerial Association will mark the anniversary with a multi-denominational service Saturday.
“As a community, we’re still in it together in our various places of healing,” said Rev. Andrea Brownlee of Perry First Christian Church. “It’s not something that’s ever going to go away.”
In recent years, the town of about 8,000 residents west of the Des Moines has been hit hard by tragedies — the deaths of community members, students and educators, as well as the closing of the Tyson Plant, the community’s largest employer.
But former Mayor John Andorf says Perry is resilient and is moving forward as a community.
“I think Perry pulls together, and we just kind of move forward,” Andorf said.
Lily Smith/The Register
Students and teachers come together to support each other
Perry Schools Recovery Coordinator Mandy Ross said there was “a strong desire” to keep school as normal as possible around the anniversary, but with additional mental health support for students, staff and families. Ross said staff and students helped guide the way the schools will navigate the week.
“One of the things that we’ve really learned is that recovery is such an individualized process,” Ross said.
For Mahler-Moreno, the anniversary is “definitely bringing back some feelings.”
“A lot of people are struggling with just the idea of thinking that it’s been a year because it’s gone by so fast,” she said.
In the first weeks of the new school year, another school shooting happened in Apalachee, Georgia, and Perry increased support services for students and staff.
“Since last January, it’s been a struggle for students and staff,” Mahler-Moreno said. “But, throughout the struggle, the student body has really come together to support each other.”
Some of the ways students are coming together are going to Perry football games, basketball games, swim meets and cross country meets.
“Mr. Marburger had a very positive outlook on everything,” Mahleer-Moreno said. “I think the way that we can honor Mr. Marburger the best is through our actions and through treating people kindly and being there for our peers and showing up to events for students.
“Ultimately, one of the things Mr. Marburger cared about the most was the school and students at the school.”
Marburger was inducted into Perry’s “Wall of Witnesses,” a showcase of influential Perry residents, in September. He also had a bench in front of the high school dedicated to him in November.
Teachers at Perry are finding themselves coming together to support one another, too, said Perry Education Association President Mandy Myers.
“That day kind of brought everybody closer together, and so we’re more understanding of each other,” Myers said. “We think about it every single day. … When we walk through the through the building, we relive it every day.”
Hope and healing service for community on anniversary
A community service hosted by the Perry Ministerial Association at 1 p.m. Saturday will offer a place for the Perry community to come together on the anniversary of the shooting.
“Our hope is to focus on the ways we’ve moved forward from it, and how we continue to come together as a community in different ways,” Brownlee said.
The service will be in the old Ben Franklin building, at 1221 Second St.
“We’re just hoping that people will come and spend some time together on that day, not to remember the hurt and the heartache and the sorrow of it, but to embrace the hope that comes out of being in it together and healing in the presence of one another,” Brownlee said.
The service will have ministers from various churches in Perry. A time for fellowship will follow the service.
‘A resilient community’ comes together to remember and move forward
Recent years have been trying for the Perry community.
“I think we are moving forward, we support each other,” Andorf said. “We have to, you know, what else can we do?”
In 2021, Perry High School senior Melanie Gonzalez drowned the weekend before her high school graduation.
In 2023, two Perry students from nearby Jamaica, Iowa, Walter and Daisy Gavidia, ages 13 and 15, were killed in a car crash. Their 17-year-old sister, Edlyn Gavidia, another Perry student, was left in critical condition.
A month after the crash, a Perry High School industrial technology teacher, Chad Morman, 39, was killed in a single-vehicle crash on Highway 141.
On June 28, the Perry Tyson meatpacking plant, which employed 1,300 Iowans, shuttered its doors after 60-plus years of operation. It was considered to be a cornerstone of Perry’s economy.
“I think Perry is a resilient community,” Andorf said. “We work to survive.”
Perry Mayor Dirk Cavanaugh shares the sentiment that the community is moving on despite the tragedy of the school shooting.
“I’m looking forward to getting past it because it’s going to bring up a lot of memories,” Cavanaugh said. “That will, for some, probably help in their process of healing, and other ones that may make them take a step back. … But we’re making progress, and we’re getting through it and trying to get back to what we’ll call the ‘new normal.'”
Cavanaugh hopes Perry’s new normal will look the same as before the shooting, but it will “have to be different just because of what happened,” he said.
Mental health, crisis resources for Perry students and community
Mental health providers at the Perry Public Library will be available from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for students, family and community members on Friday and Saturday.
On the first day of school Monday, mental health providers will be available for students and staff at each school. They also will be available the following day, Tuesday.
Mental health services will be available at the Perry Public Library from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on those days for parents and the members of the Perry community.
Parents are encouraged to reach out to the schools if concerns arise.
Other resources include:
- Student Assistance Program (EAP/SAP): 800-327-4692 or 515-244-6090
- 24/7 Crisis & Support: Dial 988 (240 languages available)
- Crisis Intervention & Advocacy Center 24-Hour Helpline: 1-800-550-0004
- Your Life Iowa: 855-581-8111
- Text NAMI to 741-741
- Inside Out Wellness (Perry): 844-428-3878
- Heart of Iowa Community Services: 515-993-1722 or 1-877-236-3227
- Project Recovery Iowa: Schedule a conversation by phone or chat at 800-447-1985
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