Investigators on Thursday identified the gunman who opened fire at a tiny religious school in Butte County, California, where critically wounded two kindergartners before killing himself.
The man, identified by the sheriff as 56-year-old Glenn Litton, may have targeted Feather River School of Seventh-Day Adventists in Palermo on Wednesday because of its religious affiliation. Still, he isn't believed to have had a prior connection to the victims or the school, Butte County Sheriff Kory L. Honea said.
“Whether or not this is a hate crime or whether or not it’s part of some sort of larger scheme at this point, I don’t have enough information to provide an answer to that,” he said.
Litton had a lengthy criminal history and attended a separate Adventist school as a child in the nearby town of Paradise, Honea said.
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The two children, boys ages 5 and 6, were in “extremely critical condition” after being shot and the suspect died at the scene, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot, police said.
Six-year-old Roman Mendez suffered two gunshot wounds that resulted in internal injuries, and 5-year-old Elias Wolford was shot in the stomach and suffered internal injuries, Honea said.
The wounded children are being treated at a trauma center in the Sacramento area, officials said.
“It is very likely that they are going to have to have a number of surgeries going forward, but the fact that they are currently still with us is something that we should all be very thankful for,” Honea said on Thursday.
The shooting occurred shortly after 1 p.m. at the private K-8 Christian school with fewer than three dozen students in Palermo, which has about 5,500 people and is about 65 miles (104 kilometers) north of Sacramento.
It was the latest among dozens of school shootings across the U.S. in recent years, including especially deadly ones in Newtown, Connecticut, Parkland, Florida, and Uvalde, Texas. The shootings have set off fervent debates about gun control and frayed the nerves of parents whose children are growing up accustomed to doing active shooter drills in their classrooms.
But school shootings have done little to move the needle on national gun laws. Firearms were the leading cause of death among children in 2020 and 2021, according to KFF, a nonprofit that researches health care issues.
Honea said the gunman was dropped off by an Uber driver who detectives are interviewing.
He said the shooter was in a meeting with an administrator about enrolling a child at the school, which he described as “cordial.” But it seems that was his first visit to the school and he had no prior connection to the victims. Shortly after that, shots rang out, Honea said.
The gunman's body was found near the slide and other playground equipment on the grounds of the school, which abuts ranchland where cattle graze. A handgun was found nearby, Honea said.
Honea said they were trying to contact the shooter’s family before releasing his name.
Laurie Trujillo, a spokesperson for the Northern California Conference of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, said in a statement that they were “deeply saddened by the events that occurred today at our Feather River school.” She added that they are grateful to the sheriff’s office for acting quickly to protect the students.
The Seventh-Day Adventist Church is a Christian denomination in which members consider the Bible their only creed and believe that the second coming of Christ is near. The Feather River School has been open since 1965, according to its website.
After the shooting, authorities rushed students initially to a gymnasium where they stayed until a bus arrived to take them off the grounds and to the Oroville Church of the Nazarene to be reunited with their families, Honea said.
Travis Marshall, the senior pastor for the Oroville Church of the Nazarene, called the reunification between parents and their children “very moving.”
“Some of the children were incredibly emotional,” he said. “One woman was raising her hands up, praising the Lord” when she found her child.
Assemblyman James Gallagher, whose area includes Palermo, said his “heart is breaking for everyone impacted by this tragedy.”
“As a community, we’ll all be hugging our loved ones closer today as we pray for the victims and try to make sense of something so senseless," he said in a statement.
Gov. Gavin Newsom late Wednesday said the incident was "heartbreaking."
"Once again, a community is shattered by senseless gun violence. Our hearts are with the children, their families, and everyone impacted by this horrific tragedy," Newsom wrote on social media platform X. "To the survivors of gun violence: You are never alone. California stands with you."
