Iowa School Shooter Used KMFDM’s “Stray Bullet” In Alleged TikTok Before Tragedy

The person who carried out the recent school shooting in Iowa is reported to have made multiple social media posts around and during that time. One of the posts features a song that has since been removed from TikTok. 

The morning of the tragic school shooting at Iowa’s Perry High School, the 17-year-old shooter reportedly uploaded a TikTok post inside the school bathroom. The post was captioned: “Now we wait,” and was accompanied by the song “Stray Bullet,” by the German band KMFDM. 

According to CNN, the Iowa Department of Public Safety Division of Criminal Investigation states that law enforcement officials are currently working to secure those posts as evidence. 

KMFDM has been in the music industry for about 40 years, and has pioneered the industrial metal genre, establishing themselves as artists who are not afraid to embody anarchy and reject the systems of capitalism and American fascism. Their music has always been reflective of their unapologetic socio-political commentary. 

They performed at The Fillmore in San Francisco last year, in May 2023. Their recent album, HYËNA, was released in September 2022. Following this recent tragedy, The song “Stray Bullet,” by KMFDM is no longer available on TikTok, which is the platform the shooter allegedly used to post that morning. 

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat

Robyn Violanda: I am a fourth-year student at the University of California, Santa Barbara. As a first-generation Asian American, I appreciate music as an art medium that touches people and uplifts the voice and talents of an artist. I have loved music since I started singing Filipino ballads at 3-years-old, and have deepened my love for all genres of music growing up in the Bay Area. My favorite genres of music are R&B, Rap, Hip-Hop, and Pop. During my time in college, I appreciated music not only as an art form, but as a historical and cultural artifact. The role of music in politics, social movements, and as a signifier of an era fascinates me as a student majoring in Communication and Sociology, and minoring in Asian American Studies. For me, music has been therapeutic and cathartic to listen to, but can be even more engaging when I learn about the artists, their inspiration, and their own creative spark. My interest in creative spaces and the world of entertainment has energized my passion for writing about music and its impact and presence in modern pop culture.
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