The Iowa principal who bravely risked his own life to help students escape during a school shooting in early January has died, his family said.
Principal Dan Marburger died Sunday morning, Caldwell Parrish Funeral Home & Crematory confirmed, days after a gunman opened fire during breakfast in the Perry High School cafeteria on Jan. 4.
“And lost his battle. He fought hard and gave us 10 days that we will cherish forever,” the Marburger family wrote in a post on the GoFundMe page earlier Sunday.
Marburger reportedly confronted the shooter, 17-year-old Dylan Butler, and tried to distract and calm him down so the student could run to safety.
Butler opened fire, critically wounding Marburger, wounding six others, and killing 11-year-old high school student Ahmir Jolliff with three shots.
The shooter, who was armed with a pump-action shotgun, a handgun and explosives, then killed himself.
Perry High School Principal Dan Marburger has died after being critically injured in a shooting at his school on January 4, 2024. Facebook / Claire Marburger Police officers at the scene of a school shooting in Perry, Iowa. AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, file
Marburger was hailed as a hero after the shooting, with the Iowa Department of Safety saying he “acted selflessly and put himself in harm’s way in an apparent effort to protect his students.”
A spokesman for the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said Marburger did “pretty important things” to protect his students, while Superintendent Perry Clark Wicks called him a “hero.”
His daughter, Claire, called her father a “gentle giant” in a heartbreaking post the night of the incident, and said she knew as soon as she heard about the shooting that her father had fought to protect his students.
“As soon as I heard about a gunman, I immediately felt that my Dad would be a victim because he would put himself in harm’s way for the benefit of the children and his staff,” Claire wrote. “That’s it dad.”
Marburger was shot while trying to distract the shooter and protect the students. Allison Ullmann/The Perry Chief / USA TODAY NETWORK Marburger has been principal of Perry High School since 1995. Facebook / Claire Marburger
Condolences flooded Perry’s Facebook page after news of Marburger’s death spread, with more than 200 people posting within an hour.
The principal has held his position at Perry High School since 1995.
Butler began filming shortly after 7:30 a.m. on January 4, the first day back from winter break.
Ahmir Jolliff, 11, was killed in the shooting. Erica Jolliff via AP The shooter has been identified as 17-year-old student Dylan Butler. Dylan Butler/Facebook Butler posted a photo of himself on TikTok in the bathroom at school before the shooting. Tooktoomuch/Tiktok students protest stricter gun control laws after the shooting at Perry High School in the Iowa state capitol building in Des Moines on January 8, 2024. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images
Shots spilled from the cafeteria, but the early hours meant fewer students and staff were in the building, “which contributed to the good outcome in that sense,” according to Dallas County Sheriff Adam Infante.
The motivation behind the shooting remains unclear, but classmates say Butler was the target of bullying and that his younger sister had also recently started being bullied.
With Postal wire
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