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Community Support and Resilience: Kindergartners Recovering After Tragic School Shooting in Northern California

In Citizen
January 19, 2025

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

Authored 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 going to the bathroom during lunchtime on Wednesday at Feather River Adventist School. It was just a quick trip before returning to their classroom.

Shortly after, instead of being safe, they were shot and severely injured by a shooter.

Two young boys, Roman Mendez who is 6 and Elias Wolford who is 5, were quickly taken from their school near Oroville, California. One was transported by ambulance and the other by helicopter to hospitals with urgency.

Vanessa Diaz expressed her distress over the situation as she visits her unconscious brother Roman in the intensive care unit. She described the experience as heartbreaking.

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

In the past, people living in this area experienced the devastating Camp fire, which resulted in the loss of 85 lives and the destruction of Paradise, a town located about 20 miles away. Additionally, a year before the fire, residents of Oroville had to quickly gather their belongings and evacuate the town in fear that the Oroville Dam might overflow.

During the shooting on Wednesday, the authorities suspect that the shooter, named Glenn Litton, 56, specifically chose to target the parochial school because it is associated with the Seventh-day Adventists, a Protestant Christian group. Litton later took his own life.

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