7 views 3 mins 0 comments

Community Rallying Together: Kindergartners Are ‘Critical but Stable’ After California School Shooting

In Citizen
January 18, 2025

Prom

Backed by

Two young children in kindergarten were taken to hospitals in stable condition after being injured in a shooting at their rural school in Northern California. The suspect, who has a criminal record and mental health issues, shot the boys on the school campus.

Authored by Soumya Karlamangla and Orlando Mayorquín

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

On Wednesday during lunchtime, two kindergarten students from Feather River Adventist School were walking to the restroom, planning to return to class afterwards.

After that, not long after, they were shot and seriously injured by someone with a gun.

Two young boys named Roman Mendez, aged 6, and Elias Wolford, aged 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 her brother Roman’s current condition in the intensive care unit, where he is still unresponsive. She described the situation as heartbreaking.

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

In Oroville, six years ago, people experienced the Camp fire that resulted in the deaths of 85 individuals and the devastation of Paradise, a town located approximately 20 miles away. Additionally, a year prior to the fire, residents in Oroville had to quickly gather their possessions and evacuate the town due to concerns about the potential collapse of the Oroville Dam.

During the shooting on Wednesday, it is believed by authorities that the gunman, named Glenn Litton, targeted the parochial school because of its connection to the Seventh-day Adventists, a Protestant Christian group. Litton later took his own life.

We are currently experiencing difficulties in accessing the article’s content.

To use this website properly, make sure to activate JavaScript in

We appreciate your understanding as we confirm your access. If you are currently in Reader mode, please close it and sign in to your Times account, or consider subscribing to access all of The Times content.

We appreciate your patience as we confirm your access.

Are you currently a member? Please sign in.

Interested in accessing all the content from The Times? Subscribe now.

Prom

Index of the website

Navigation to find information on