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Community Rallies Together After California School Shooting: Kindergartners in ‘Critical but Stable’ Condition

In Citizen
January 18, 2025

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Two young children in kindergarten are in "critical but stable" condition after being shot at their school in Northern California. The shooter, who has a criminal record and mental health issues, targeted the boys on the rural campus. They were quickly taken to hospitals for treatment.

Written by Soumya Karlamangla and Orlando Mayorquín

Soumya Karlamangla provided coverage from San Francisco, while Orlando Mayorquín reported from Oroville, California.

Two young children in kindergarten were going to the bathroom during lunchtime on Wednesday at Feather River Adventist School. It was meant to be a quick trip before returning to their classroom.

Instead, not long after, they were shot and severely injured by someone with a gun.

Two young boys, Roman Mendez, age 6, and Elias Wolford, age 5, were quickly taken from their small school near Oroville, California. One was transported by ambulance and the other by helicopter, both being rushed to hospitals urgently.

Vanessa Diaz expressed her distress over the situation, stating that it is devastating to see her brother Roman in the intensive care unit, where he is still unconscious.

The Butte County Sheriff’s Office announced on Thursday that the boys are now in a "critical but stable" condition, providing some hope to the rural community located about 60 miles north of Sacramento. This area has experienced a lot of hardship in recent years, but residents are coming together to organize fundraisers, hold vigils, and raise money to support the victims and their families, as they have done before in this agricultural region.

In the past, people living in this area experienced the devastating Camp fire, which resulted in the loss of 85 lives and the destruction of Paradise, a town located approximately 20 miles away. Additionally, just a year before this fire, residents in Oroville had to quickly pack up their belongings and evacuate due to concerns that the Oroville Dam could potentially overflow.

During the shooting on Wednesday, it is believed by authorities that the shooter, Glenn Litton, 56, specifically chose to target the parochial school due to its connection with the Seventh-day Adventists, a Protestant Christian group. Litton later took his own life.

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