‘Hero’ principal in Iowa school shooting has died – family

Police respond to Perry High School in Perry, Iowa., Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024. Police say there has been a shooting at the city’s high school.(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Washington, United States — The principal of an Iowa high school who was critically wounded in a school shooting on January 4 while trying to stop the assault has died, his family said Sunday.

“Dan Marburger gave the ultimate sacrifice,” the family posted on the GoFundMe website. “After 10 days, he lost his battle, and this tragedy took his life.”

READ: Sixth-grade student killed in Iowa school shooting, gunman dead

Marburger was the principal of Perry High School in the town of Perry when a teenager armed with a handgun and shotgun opened fire, killing a sixth-grade student and injuring six other people, including Marburger.

“Dan endured significant injuries…  putting himself in harm’s way to ensure as many students and staff could safely exit the building,” the GoFundMe post said.

The 17-year-old shooter died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds paid tribute to Marburger’s “heroic actions,” saying in a statement, “Our entire state is devastated… Dan courageously put himself in harm’s way to protect his students.”

The shooting took place less than two weeks before Monday’s presidential caucuses in Iowa, but gun violence did not emerge as a particularly prominent issue in campaign debates.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said gun violence was mainly a “local and state issue,” not one needing federal attention, while another Republican candidate, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, said she would make mental health “a priority.”

Former president Donald Trump told supporters in Sioux City that the Perry shooting was “just horrible,” but then added, “(we) have to get over it; we have to move forward.”