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Community Comes Together to Support Kindergartners After Tragic School Shooting in Northern California

In Citizen
January 19, 2025

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Two young children in kindergarten are currently in a ‘critical but stable’ condition after being shot by a gunman at their rural school in Northern California. The suspect, who has a history of criminal activity and mental health issues, shot the boys and 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 walking to the bathroom during lunchtime on a Wednesday at Feather River Adventist School. It was just a quick trip before they returned to their classroom.

Shortly after, they were shot and seriously injured by a person 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 urgently heading to hospitals without any delay.

Vanessa Diaz expressed her distress at the situation, noting that her brother Roman is currently in the intensive care unit and is 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", 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 already coming together to organize fundraisers, vigils, and gather money to help the victims and their families, just like they have done in the past in this agricultural area.

In the past six years, the people living in this area experienced the devastating Camp fire, which resulted in the loss of 85 lives and the destruction of the town of Paradise, located around 20 miles away. Additionally, a year before the fire, residents in Oroville had to quickly pack up their belongings and evacuate the town in fear of a potential emergency at the Oroville Dam.

During the shooting on Wednesday, it is believed by authorities that the gunman, named Glenn Litton, targeted 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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