2 kindergarteners wounded and gunman dead after shooting at California
religious school
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[December 05, 2024]
PALERMO, Calif. (AP) — Two children were in “extremely
critical condition” Wednesday after being shot at a tiny religious K-8
school in Northern California and the gunman died at the scene,
apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot, police said.
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 Christian
school with fewer than three dozen students in Palermo, which has about
5,500 people and is about 65 miles (104 kilometers) 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.
Honea said the gunman was dropped off by an Uber driver who is being
interviewed by detectives.
He said the shooter was in a meeting with an administrator about
enrolling a child at the school, which he described as “cordial.” But it
seems that was his first visit to the school and he had no prior
connection to the victims. Shortly after that, shots rang out, Honea
said.
The gunman's body was found near the slide and other playground
equipment on the grounds of the school, which abuts ranchland where
cattle graze. A handgun was found nearby, Honea said.
Honea said they were trying to contact the shooter’s family before
releasing his name.
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Police officers stand near a body covered by a tarp outside of
Feather River Adventist School after a shooting Wednesday, Dec. 4,
2024, in Oroville, Calif. (Michael Weber/The Chico Enterprise-Record
via AP)

Laurie Trujillo, a spokesperson for the Northern California
Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists, said in a statement that they
were “deeply saddened by the events that occurred today at our
Feather River school.” She added that they are grateful to the
sheriff’s office for acting quickly to protect the students.
The Seventh-Day Adventist Church is a Christian denomination in
which members consider the Bible their only creed and believe that
the second coming of Christ is near. The Feather River School has
been open since 1965, according to its website.
After the shooting, 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.
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.”
Assemblyman James Gallagher, whose area includes Palermo, said his
“heart is breaking for everyone impacted by this tragedy.”
“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," he said in a statement.
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