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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 record of criminal activity and mental health issues, is in custody. The children are listed in critical condition but are stable.
Written by Soumya Karlamangla and Orlando Mayorquín
Soumya Karlamangla provided coverage from San Francisco, while Orlando Mayorquín reported from Oroville, California.
Two young students in kindergarten were walking to the bathroom during lunch on Wednesday at Feather River Adventist School. It was meant to be a quick trip before returning to class.
However, not long after that, they were shot and severely injured by a shooter.
Two young boys named Roman Mendez, age 6, and Elias Wolford, age 5, were quickly taken away from their school in Oroville, California. One was transported by ambulance and the other by helicopter, both being rushed to hospitals urgently.
Vanessa Diaz expressed her distress at the situation as she visits 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 some hope to the rural community located 60 miles north of Sacramento. This community has faced a lot of sadness in recent years, but residents are rallying together by organizing fundraisers, holding vigils, and raising money to support the victims and their families, just as they have done before in this agricultural area.
In the past six years, the people living in this area experienced the devastating Camp fire that resulted 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 of Oroville had to quickly gather their belongings and evacuate the town in fear that the Oroville Dam, which loomed overhead, would burst at any moment.
During the shooting that occurred on Wednesday, it is believed by the authorities that the shooter, named Glenn Litton, who was 56 years old, specifically chose to target the parochial school due to its connection to the Seventh-day Adventists, a Protestant Christian group. Litton ultimately took his own life after the incident.
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