PALERMO, Calif. — Two children are in "extremely critical condition" after being shot Wednesday at a tiny religious K-8 school in Northern California and the gunman is dead after apparently shooting himself, sheriff's officials said.
2 kindergarteners wounded and gunman dead after shooting at California religious school
Two children are in "extremely critical condition" after being shot Wednesday at a tiny religious K-8 school in Northern California and the gunman is dead after apparently shooting himself, sheriff's officials said.
By The Associated Press
The gunman may have targeted the Feather River School of Seventh-Day Adventists in Palermo because of its religious affiliation, but isn't believed to have had a prior connection to the victims or the school, Butte County Sheriff Kory L. Honea said. He didn't explain further.
''Whether or not this is a hate crime or whether or not it's part of some sort of larger scheme at this point I don't have enough information to provide an answer to that,'' he said.
The wounded children, boys ages 5 and 6, are kindergarteners at the school and are being treated at a trauma center in the Sacramento area, officials said.
''I am thankful that they're still alive, but they've got a long road ahead of them," Honea said.
The shooting occurred shortly after 1 p.m. at the private school with fewer than three dozen students in Palermo, which has about 5,500 people and is about 65 miles (104 km) north of Sacramento.
It was the the latest among dozens of school shootings across the U.S. in recent years, including especially deadly ones in Newtown, Connecticut, Parkland, Florida, and Uvalde, Texas. The shootings have set off fervent debates about gun control and frayed the nerves of parents whose children are growing up accustomed to doing active shooter drills in their classrooms.
But school shootings have done little to move the needle on national gun laws. Firearms were the leading cause of death among children in 2020 and 2021, according to KFF, a nonprofit that researches health care issues.
''My heart is breaking for everyone impacted by this tragedy," Assemblyman James Gallagher, whose area includes Palermo, said in a statement. "As a community, we'll all be hugging our loved ones closer today as we pray for the victims and try to make sense of something so senseless.''
Honea said they had received information that the shooter was in a meeting with an administrator about enrolling a child at the school, but it seems that was his first visit to the school and he had no prior connection to the victims. Shortly after, shots rang out, Honea said.
Honea said they were trying to contact the shooter's family before releasing his name.
Near the school's slide and other playground equipment was the shooter's body, covered in a blue tarp, as officers stood nearby to secure the scene. The school abuts ranchland where cattle graze.
Authorities rushed students initially to a gymnasium where they stayed until a bus arrived to take them off the grounds and to the Oroville Church of the Nazarene to be reunited with their families, Honea said.
Rev. Travis Marshall, the senior pastor for the Oroville Church of the Nazarene, called the reunification between parents and their children ''very moving.''
''Some of the children were incredibly emotional,'' he said. ''One woman was raising her hands up, praising the Lord'' when she found her child.
Sixth grader Jocelyn Orlando described what happened to CBS News Sacramento.
''We were going in for lunch recess and basically everybody in my classroom heard shooting and most people were screaming,'' she said. ''We all went into the office, we closed the curtains, locked the doors, basically did what we would do in a school shooting, and then one of the teachers came and we all ran into the gym.''
Representatives for the Northern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists could not immediately be reached for comment.
The school has been open since 1965, according to its website.
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