In a statement released on Monday, the parents of the 17-year-old who shot and killed a sixth grader and injured seven others at his small-town high school in Iowa last week said they "had no inkling he intended the horrible violence he was about to inflict."
In the statement, Dylan Butler's parents stated that they are working with detectives to "answer the question of why our son committed this senseless crime."
"We have been attempting to make sense out of the senseless as the minutes and hours have passed since the horrors our son Dylan inflicted on the victims, the Perry School, and the community," Jack and Erin Butler stated in the statement. "We are absolutely inconsolable, and we have unfathomable sorrow for the departed, his family, the injured, and their families."
On the first day of school following winter break, Dylan Butler killed one student and seriously injured two other students, the principle of Perry High School, and two other staff members. Ahmir Jolliff, 11, will have his burial on Thursday, one week after the incident. His family has scheduled this event.
To gain a deeper understanding of what transpired and why, investigators have stated that they are questioning numerous witnesses in addition to going over reams of paper and electronic data they have collected. There have been no updates on the incident as of Monday from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, which is leading the investigation.
According to an FBI spokesman, prior to the incident, the organization had not received any tips or information about Dylan Butler via its National Threat Operations Center.
In support of stricter gun control legislation in the state, several hundred students and other demonstrators marched to the state Capitol in Des Moines, which is located roughly 40 miles (64 kilometers) from Perry, on Monday.
Following the shooting, the Butlers expressed their gratitude for the "grace we have been shown in public and private." The family has received an abundance of support, with volunteers offering to bring them meals and locals posting condolences on the town's Facebook page.
Residents of the community quickly ordered "Perry Stong" T-shirts, car decals, and yard signs as they raised money to cover the shooting victims' medical expenses, while scouts in the area spent the weekend gathering teddy bears to donate to Perry elementary school pupils. Dylan's family is also being commemorated at the same time. even by the relatives of the dead student.
Ahmir's mother, Erica Jolliff, began her interview with the Associated Press on Friday night by expressing her grief for the boy who killed her son.
"We sincerely regret Dylan's loss and offer our condolences to his family; they are in our thoughts and prayers," she said.
Although there has been some resistance in the community against the display of solidarity for the Butler family, Erin Owen, the town's Facebook page administrator and person spearheading the fundraiser for the victims, said most people welcome it.
"I believe that initially there may be some limited tunnel vision. And then it gets more acceptance when the community kind of speaks up and offers an other viewpoint. "They're suffering loss as well," she said.
The relatives of school shooters are frequently vilified and scrutinized for any clues they may have overlooked that something was wrong.
The parents of an Oxford High School student who killed four other classmates are being charged with involuntary manslaughter in Michigan. Ethan Crumbley is accused of having a gun in his home and of having his mental health issues disregarded by James and Jennifer Crumbley.
Furthermore, Nancy Lanza, who lawfully acquired the firearms discovered at the Sandy Hook School in 2012, is typically left off of the list of those killed. Adam Lanza, her son, shot and killed her, then killed 20 first-graders and six teachers.
One problem is the expanding effort to restrict the use of mass killers' names and photographs and deny them popularity after their deaths in order to prevent posthumous celebrity from serving as inspiration for more murders.
Compared to a more general declaration on forgiveness, Owen believes it to be more practical. With only 8,000 residents, Perry is small enough that most individuals have been impacted in some way. She added that the town had experienced other terrible child deaths in recent years, training the locals to deal with this catastrophe.
Even those who were not directly impacted were either close to Dylan's family or knew someone who had a child enrolled in the school. After working for many years as the city's director of public works, where he received recognition for his efforts to clean up Perry following a severe wind storm in 2020, his father is currently the director of the airport. In addition, his mother held a position on a city development board and ran a small business.
Audi Sorber, who volunteered to bring a lunch on Monday, said, "Everyone in town knows them and they're the sweetest people and everybody's hurting so everybody is at least trying to come together on a common ground."
