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

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 walking to the bathroom during lunchtime on Wednesday at Feather River Adventist School. It was a quick trip before they had to return to their classroom.

Shortly after, instead of the previous situation occurring, they were injured by a shooter who fired at them.

Roman Mendez, aged 6, and Elias Wolford, aged 5, were quickly taken from their small school near Oroville, California. One was taken by ambulance and the other by helicopter to hospitals urgently.

Vanessa Diaz expressed her distress over the situation, mentioning that her brother Roman is currently in the intensive care unit and unconscious. She described the situation as heartbreaking.

The boys were in better condition on Thursday, described as "critical but stable" by the Butte County Sheriff’s Office. This gave hope to the rural community located 60 miles north of Sacramento, which has experienced a lot of sadness in recent years. Residents were coming together to raise funds, hold vigils, and collect money to help the victims and their families, just like they had done before in this farming area.

Residents in this area experienced the devastating Camp fire six years ago, resulting in the loss of 85 lives and the destruction of the town of Paradise, located about 20 miles away. The year before this fire, residents in Oroville were forced to quickly evacuate due to fears that the nearby Oroville Dam would collapse.

During a shooting incident on Wednesday, the authorities suspect 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. The shooter ultimately took his own life.

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