(Radio Iowa) – The director of the Iowa Department of Public Safety talked in detail for the first time today (Friday) about the investigation into the January shootings at Perry High School that left the principal, one student and the 17-year-old student shooter dead. Director Stephan Bayens talked about the potential motive, and says they found was no theme from a belief system standpoint, no evidence to substantiate any claim of bullying or the existence of a grievance. “There is significant evidence of this shooter’s fascination with prior school shootings. There is evidence of copycat behavior from the school shooter regarding prior school shootings where significant details reside in the public domain,” Bayens says.

He says the victims were not targeted and appeared to have been a product of immediate availability, there was evidence of meticulous week long planning, rather than an unprepared emotional response. Bayens says they recovered writings from the shooter that indicated he was suicidal.  “He desired to be famous, he desired to commit suicide, he desired to take others with him,” he says. Bayens says the primary weapon used in the shooting was a 20 gage Remington 870 shotgun. ” There was significant investigative efforts made to identify the source of the shotgun. I can say that agents were able to trace the original purchaser of that shotgun, and it happened roughly 20 years before the shooting,” he says. “We traced it through successive purchasers where we could but eventually that shotgun was sold in a private sale, and at that point in time, the trail went cold. The last time we could put that shotgun in a particular person’s hand was roughly 10 to 15 years prior to the shooting.”

Steven Bayens, Iowa Public Safety Commissioner

Bayens says they can say that the shotgun did not come from the parents home, and though not confirmed, is likely that the shotgun came from a large gun collection within the extended family, and that the shotgun was likely taken without the owner’s knowledge. The shooter also had Ruger 22 caliber revolver that was not used and had been legally purchased by the shooter’s father in 2020. It was unsecured in the family home. There was also an improvised explosive device, that investigators found was not particularly complex. He says there were some red flags surrounding the shooter.  ” I can say that there was no evidence that any other person knew of the shooter’s specific intentions on January 4th,” Bayens says. “That being said, I can say that others were aware of the shooter’s general interest in school shootings. Others were aware with of his fascination for violence.”

Bayens says there had been concerns in school before the shooting. “We can say that the shooter in this case, did have broad behavioral issues, had broad mental health concerns, and that many of these concerns were present years in advance of the shooting on January 4th,” he says. Bayens says the Iowa D-C-I’s investigation was purely criminal in nature and not an audit or a review of the processes, and it was turned over the county attorney to determine charges.

The Dallas County Attorney announced Thursday there would be no charges in the shooting.