The Iowa high school shooting has many victims

(CNN) — Several people were shot Thursday morning at Perry High School near Des Moines, an Iowa County sheriff said.

A law enforcement official told CNN that the attacker had died. The number of victims and the extent of their injuries were not immediately clear, Dallas County Sheriff Adam Infante said.

The sheriff declined to say whether anyone had died or answer questions.

“There is no further threat to the public,” Infante told reporters at a brief news conference outside the school after the attacker had been identified.

The shooting occurred on the first scheduled day of school for the new semester, according to the school district, after a year that saw more than 80 school shootings (more than any year since CNN began tracking in 2008).

Authorities in Perry, Iowa, responded to a call of an active shooter on campus within 7 minutes at 7:37 p.m., Infante said. “There were very few students and teachers in the building,” he said, adding that classes had not yet started.

Law enforcement is seen outside of Perry High School. (Credit: Andrew Harnick/AP)

By late morning, “I think all the kids have gathered,” he said, referring to parents and others who came to the school when they heard there had been a shooting.

Authorities plan to hold another news conference this Thursday afternoon, the sheriff said. Meanwhile, investigators are talking to the victims and their families to find out what happened, he said.

The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) confirmed that their agents responded to the scene, as did Iowa State Patrol Sergeant Alex Dinkla and police vehicles from multiple cities.

“We are assisting the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the lead investigative agency,” the FBI said in a statement.

The White House is aware of and following up on reports of the shooting at a high school in Perry, Iowa, an official told CNN.

“Multiple law enforcement and medical personnel are on the scene of the shooting at Perry High School,” noted a Dallas County Facebook post. “The site has been secured and the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office will release more information as it becomes available.”

Police went to Perry High School this Thursday. (Credit: Andrew Harnick/AP)

CNN affiliate KCCI reported that classes at Perry High School were canceled for the day. Additionally, there will be no classes for students at Perry Elementary School tomorrow following the shooting at Perry High School.

In a post on Facebook, the school confirmed the cancellation of classes and said the Perry Public Library will have counseling services from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. local time “for anyone who needs it.”

Perry is located outside of Des Moines, about 65 miles northwest, and has a population of about 8,000, according to the US Census Bureau. The Perry Community School District — made up of a high school, middle school and elementary school — serves about 1,800 students, according to its website.

There were more than 80 school shootings in the United States last year, more than any year since 2008, when CNN began tracking shootings.

Development News*

CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz, Betsy Klein and Holmes Lybrand contributed to this article.