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Two young children in kindergarten are in stable condition after being shot by a gunman at their rural school in Northern California. The suspect, 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. This was just a quick trip before they returned to class.
Instead, shortly after, they were shot and suffered severe injuries from a gunman.
Two young boys, Roman Mendez, aged 6, and Elias Wolford, aged 5, were quickly taken from their school located 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 being in the intensive care unit and unconscious. She described the situation as heartbreaking.
The Butte County Sheriff’s Office announced on Thursday that the boys are now in "critical but stable" condition, providing some hope to the rural community located about 60 miles north of Sacramento. This community has experienced a lot of tragedy in recent years. Residents are coming together to organize fundraisers, hold vigils, and raise money to support the victims and their families, similar to how they have supported each other 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 approximately 20 miles away. Additionally, a year before the fire, residents of Oroville had to quickly evacuate their homes due to concerns about the Oroville Dam potentially overflowing.
During the shooting on Wednesday, authorities suspect that the shooter, named Glenn Litton, 56, intentionally 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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