PERRY, Iowa (WHO) — Multiple law enforcement agencies were responding to a Perry, Iowa, high school on reports of a shooting Thursday morning.
The first reports about a possible active shooter situation at Perry High School came in around 7:40 a.m.
A woman who answered the Perry Police Department phone confirmed the shooting at the school but did not provide any further information.
Nexstar’s WHO reported police and Iowa State Troopers blocked off the streets surrounding the school, where multiple ambulances were seen entering and leaving.
Some students were seen having tearful reunions with parents near the area of the building that houses the town’s middle school and high school.
Erica Jolliff said that 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.”
Sgt. Alex Dinkla of the Iowa State Police said he didn’t yet have information on the shooting but planned an update for 10:00 a.m. A media staging area was set up near the high school. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation will conduct the press conference with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office and the Perry Police Department.
FBI agents from the Omaha-Des Moines office were on the scene to help with the investigation led by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.
“There are a bunch of speculative numbers floating around,” said Dirk Cavanaugh, Perry’s mayor. “We have no confirmed numbers of who was involved yet.”
The high school is part of the 1,785-student Perry Community School District. Thursday was the first day back in school for students following the holiday break.
Phone messages left with the Perry School Board’s president and vice president and an email message left with Superintendent Clark Wicks were not immediately returned.
Perry is about 40 miles northwest of Des Moines.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
