Private funeral services scheduled for Dylan Butler, Perry High School shooter

The family of Dylan Butler, the Perry High School student who shot and killed the principal and another student and wounded five other people at the school Jan. 4, will hold private family funeral services for the 17-year-old, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to an obituary posted online Monday.

No date or location was given for the services.

Authorities have said Dylan killed middle-schooler Ahmir Jolliff, 11, and wounded Principal Dan Marburger, 56, who died in a Des Moines hospital on Sunday. Four students and two staff members also were wounded. One of the two students who remained hospitalized as of Friday went home on Monday, according to a Facebook posting by his mother.

Dylan's obituary talks of his love for the outdoors as a child growing up on an acreage outside the small Guthrie County town Jamaica: fishing, trips to a sandbar on an ATV and playing in the snow with the neighbor dogs.

More: Perry School Board puts off vote to reopen schools after shooting, parents question security

After his sister's birth, the family moved to Perry, where Dylan enjoyed swimming and running around with the neighbor children, the obituary said. They Butlers later moved to a new home surrounded by timber, where Dylan went exploring with his sister and hunted for mushrooms with his father, the obituary says.

Dylan also loved all genres of music and had learned to play the piano and the guitar, the obituary said.

"Dylan was a kindhearted soul and had a compassionate and caring heart and was accepting of everyone," it says. "He liked all things vintage and nostalgic."

Dylan's parents Jake and Erin Butler released a statement earlier this month saying they had "no inkling" their son "intended the horrible violence" when they dropped him off at school the morning of Jan. 4.

"We simply do not understand how this could happen and why Dylan chose to do what he did," they said, adding "we could not have imagined that Dylan would carry out such a heinous act,"

Jake Butler is manager of Perry's airport.

Perry shows grace to shooter's parents

Claire Marburger, the daughter of Dan Marburger, urged the community in a Facebook posting the night after the shooting to show grace to the Butler family, "as we are not our kids mistakes and actions or our parents mistakes and actions."

Organizers are raising funds to support all families impacted by the shooting, and have made a point of including the Butlers.

More: Perry High School classes of 2014, 2024 work together on memorial after Jan. 4 shootings

Dylan's parents, in their message, said, "We cannot repay the grace we have been shown in public and private. We are helping authorities and will continue to help to provide answers to the question of why our son committed this senseless crime."

No update on shooting investigation

Mitch Mortvedt, spokesperson for the state Division of Criminal Investigation, said Monday there were no updates available about the Perry investigation.

In addition to Dylan's parents, survivors include his sister, Chloe; grandmothers Barb Butler of Perry and Pam Munson of Madrid; and grandfather Ray Munson of Woodward. It said the in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Raccoon Valley Pet Rescue.

Chris Higgins covers the eastern suburbs for the Register. Reach him at chiggins@registermedia.com or 515-423-5146 and follow him on Twitter @chris_higgins_.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Private services scheduled for Dylan Butler after fatal Perry shootings