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Community Support and Resilience: Kindergartners Recovering After California School Shooting

In Citizen
January 18, 2025

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Two young children in kindergarten were taken to hospitals in Northern California after being shot by a gunman at their rural school. The suspect, who has a criminal record and mental health issues, is in custody. The children are in a ‘critical but stable’ condition.

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 just a quick trip before they returned to their classroom.

Rather, shortly after that, they were both shot and received severe injuries from a gunman.

Two young boys, 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 urgently taken to hospitals without delay.

Vanessa Diaz expressed her distress over the situation, stating that it is terrible to see her brother Roman in the intensive care unit where he is still unconscious. She described the experience as heartbreaking.

The Butte County Sheriff’s Office announced on Thursday that the boys’ condition had improved to "critical but stable", bringing hope to the rural community located about 60 miles north of Sacramento. This community has experienced a lot of sadness in recent years. Residents were already coming together to organize fundraisers, hold vigils, and collect money to help the victims and their families, just as they had done before in this agricultural area.

Residents in this area experienced a devastating wildfire known as the Camp fire six years ago, resulting in the loss of 85 lives and the destruction of the town of Paradise, located around 20 miles away. Additionally, a year before this fire, residents in Oroville had to quickly evacuate their homes due to concerns about the Oroville Dam potentially collapsing.

During the shooting on Wednesday, investigators think that the shooter, who was named Glenn Litton and was 56 years old, specifically chose to target the parochial school because it was associated with the Seventh-day Adventists, a Protestant Christian group. After the shooting, he took his own life.

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