Who are authorities protecting in Perry school shooting?
Residents deserve more than the silent treatment
Kudos to The Des Moines Register for trying to pry some information out of authorities about the investigation into January’s school shooting in Perry that left a student, the high school principal and the shooter dead plus several other students wounded.
In the wake of the school shooting in Georgia this week, Register reporters rightly thought to ask for updates on the Perry shooting. It’s been nine months – plenty long enough for any investigations to be concluded. What they found out should raise all kinds of red flags. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation has wrapped up its investigation and handed it over to Dallas County Attorney Jeannine Ritchie who says she’s not going to release the report.
She needs to re-think her position. There are so many important, unanswered questions. Where did the shooter get the gun? That is not an unreasonable question considering the father of the Georgia school shooter has been charged with murder and manslaughter for allowing his 14-year-old son to have access to an assault rifle.
Have authorities learned why the Perry school shooter decided to start killing people? Was he bullied? Were there earlier signs of distress or danger, as in the Georgia case? Did authorities find any online threats he made prior to the shooting? Did they discover internet searches that demonstrated an interest in school shootings?
The people of Perry have a right to know about the tragic shooting at their high school. It is not acceptable for the county attorney or the DCI to simply say nothing.
Who are they protecting?
What possible reasons could the authorities have for not providing at least some information? Are they protecting whoever owned the gun? Are they protecting students who may have bullied the shooter? We don’t even know if he WAS bullied, but in the absence of reliable information, people will dream up their own conclusions, and that can’t be good for the healing process in Perry. The authorities are inviting trouble if they leave it up to the rumor mill to fill in the blanks.
On Friday, the Register followed up and tried knocking again on the door that authorities slammed in their faces. The second day story quotes Perry’s mayor, the head of the teachers’ union, and a parent of an injured student who all want the county attorney to release the DCI report.
Mayor Dick Cavanaugh: “I’m hoping we’ll at least get some details, (even) if they don’t release the whole report.”
Parent Bobbi Bushman, whose son suffered multiple gunshot wounds: “This report can give the victims’ families answers and closure we so desperately need.”
Perry teachers’ union head Mandy Meyers: “We firmly believe that for us to heal and emerge stronger, it is our right to be fully informed by receiving the final report from Dallas County Attorney Jeannine Ritchie when the investigation is completed. This information may also help prevent another shooting in another school or community.”
Randy Evans, executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council (to which I donate proceeds from paid subscriptions to this column) told the Register that Iowa law does not require the DCI or the county attorney to keep the investigative report secret. The authorities are making this judgment call on their own. The question is why.
My years of covering the Iowa DCI has shown them to be professional, responsible and with a full understanding that releasing accurate information to the public is an important part of their role. Perhaps there’s a middle ground here. Let’s hope wisdom prevails and if the full investigative report can’t be released, at least some of the key questions can be answered. To continue to stiff-arm citizens is inviting an open wound to fester.
The Iowa Writers’ Collaborative political podcast, Iowa Down Ballot, is out with another edition this week, moderated by Ty Rushing. Click here to listen or download it from wherever you get podcasts.
Want to check out some other writers in the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative? Here’s a link to who they are and what they write.
This is absolutely a matter of public concern and there is no reason for the full report to be kept secret. Perhaps the DSM Register, other Iowa media and the Freedom of Information Council should all sue to demand release of the report.
In a growing stable of outstanding columns from Dave this one stands out as it is deeply affecting, brilliantly constructed. A must read on many levels.