Haley calls for mental health reform after Iowa school shooting

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley called for mental health reform following Thursday’s deadly school shooting in Perry, Iowa.

“We have to deal with the cancer that is mental health. We have to,” Haley told voters at a CNN town hall in Des Moines. “One in 3 people have a mental health issue, but if treated they can live a perfectly normal life. What we see is that 80 percent of mass shooters are in some sort of crisis at the time that they do that. We have got to do better. The problem is we don’t have enough mental health therapists.”

“The second thing is we have got to secure our schools the same way we secure our airports and our courthouses,” she continued. “And that means we make sure we have whatever we need to make sure nothing comes through bulletwise or otherwise.” 

Haley said schools should have security officers at the front and at one point of entry, and a mental health counselor on duty. 

A gunman opened fire at Perry High School in Dallas County, Iowa, on Thursday, killing one student and injuring four students and a school administrator. Police said the gunman died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to NBC News.

Haley first reacted to the news on X, formerly known as Twitter, offering her condolences to those who were impacted by the shooting. 

“No parent, student, or teacher should have to wake up and face news about a school shooting,” she said. “My heart aches for the victims of Perry, Iowa and the entire community.