An Iowa principal who placed himself in harm’s way to defend students during a school shooting earlier this month died Sunday.
He was the principal of Perry High School and his name was Dan Marburger since 1995.
Condolences poured in for him
The state Department of Public Safety stated that Marburger "acted selflessly and placed himself in harm's way in an apparent effort to protect his students" the day following the shooting.
The announcement was made by the family on a GoFundMe website. According to Marburger's wife Elizabeth's post, he passed away on Sunday morning at around eight in the morning. It stated, "Dan lost his battle." He bravely battled and granted us ten days that we will always cherish.
After learning of Marburger's passing, approximately 200 individuals sent condolences on the Perry Facebook page in the first hour following the post.
Governor Kim Reynolds, a Republican from Iowa, expressed her sympathies.
"The news of Dan Marburger's passing has devastated our entire state," she stated in a statement on Sunday. "Dan bravely put himself in danger to keep his students safe, and in the end, he sacrificed his own life to save them. He did courageous and unselfish deeds that would go on in his memory forever. I hope he finds peace," she added.
On Sunday, Reynolds issued an order for all Iowa flags to be lowered to half-staff, and they were to stay there until dusk on Marburger's funeral and burial day. As a show of respect, the statement noted that individuals, organizations, businesses, schools, and local governments are all urged to fly the flag at half staff for the same amount of time.
Marburger's daughter shared a heartfelt post
Claire Marburger, the daughter of the principle, referred to her father as a “gentle giant” and stated that it was understandable that he would want to keep his children safe in a Facebook post made the evening of the incident.
Upon learning about the gunman, I immediately sensed that my father would be targeted because he often places himself in danger for the sake of the children and his employees, his daughter expressed. That's just who he is, the post read.
The incident
On January 4, just before classes were about to resume on the first day back from winter vacation, there was gunfire shortly after 7:30 a.m. According to Mortvedt, the shooting started in the cafeteria where pupils from various grades were eating breakfast. It subsequently spread outside the cafeteria but stayed inside the school's north end.
The incident when a teenager, 17, opened fire in the school cafeteria when students were preparing to leave for class. This incident left Marburger badly injured. Six other persons were hurt in addition to the 11-year-old middle school student who was murdered in the incident. The accused also perished from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
