Former President Donald Trump told his supporters in Iowa to “move forward” from last week’s school shooting in the state after sharing his condolences for the victims and their families.
“I want to send our support and our deepest sympathies to the victims and families touched by the terrible school shooting yesterday in Perry, Iowa,” Trump said while at a campaign event in Sioux City. “It’s just horrible, so surprising to see it here. But [we] have to get over it. We have to move forward.”
His remarks came after a gunman entered Perry High School on Thursday morning with a pump action shotgun and handgun, killing one student and leaving several others injured, including the school’s principal.
The suspect was identified by police as 17-year-old Dylan Butler, who shot and killed himself as law enforcement responded to the scene, law enforcement authorities have shared in the days since.
A motive has not been shared at this time.
The shooting comes as the state prepares for its caucus, which officially kicks off the election season.
Other Republican nominee hopefuls shared their condolences and thoughts after the shooting, including entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who said that the focus after the tragedy should be on mental health and not “knee-jerk policy reactions.”
“The temptation is just pass some law, paper and over and say we did something in response to this,” Ramaswamy said. “You mark my words: Tomorrow, if not later today, you’re going to hear calls for, ‘Stop the guns, that’s the problem,’ sweeping under the rug this real ailment at the heart and soul of our nation and our culture that has spread to the entire next generation and to the unit of the family. The loss of purpose.”
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley also shared a similar argument while at CNN’s town hall in Des Moines on Thursday evening.
“We have to deal with the cancer that is mental health. We have to,” Haley told voters, adding, “What we see is that 80% of mass shooters are in some sort of crisis at the time that they do that.”
The caucus will be held on Jan. 15, when voters in the state voice their support for the Republican nominee hopefuls.