A suspected gunman shot two kindergarten students on Wednesday at a private religious school in Northern California, and later died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.
The incident occurred at about 1 p.m. local time at the Feather River School of Seventh-Day in Oroville, California, according to Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea. The California Highway Patrol (CHP) and Butte County Sheriff’s Department received 911 calls reporting that there was an active shooter at the school, Honea said.
County deputies and the CHP immediately responded to the scene, and located a deceased adult male who appeared to have sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Honea said. A handgun was also found near the man’s body.
Responding deputies then discovered two kindergarten boys, ages 5 and 6, who had sustained gunshot wounds. Honea said the two boys were transported to local hospitals for treatment and were in “extremely critical condition,” as of Wednesday night.
“I’m thankful that they are still alive, but they have a long road ahead of them,” Honea said during a news conference Wednesday night.
After securing the campus, Honea said students were taken by a school bus to the Oroville Church of the Nazarene to be reunified with their parents.
The Feather River School of Seventh-Day Adventists is a private K-8 religious school that has been open since 1965, according to its website. As of 2022, the school had only 33 students and five teachers, including the principal who is one of the teachers.
Oroville is a town in Butte County with a population of over 19,000 people. It is about 72 miles north of Sacramento, California.
“My heart is breaking for everyone impacted by this tragedy. We will never understand why or how someone could do a thing like this,” Assemblyman James Gallagher, who represents Butte County, 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.”
Wednesday’s incident is the latest among dozens of school shootings that have occurred in the U.S. over recent years. Several have made national headlines, sparking public outrage and debates about gun control, including the Apalachee High School shooting that left four people dead and nine injured earlier this year.
As of November, there have been at least 36 school shootings this year that resulted in injuries or deaths, according to data compiled by Education Week, a news organization that covers K-12 education.
Authorities: Suspect may have targeted school for religious affiliation
While authorities have identified the suspected shooter, Honea said they are unable to release his identity at this time.
“This is a complex investigation. We requested the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Honea said. “We are still in the process of interviewing people who he may have been associated with, and we have other procedural matters that we have to deal with before we make his identity known.”
Honea said authorities were still investigating the suspect’s activities before the shooting. The suspect had made an appointment with the school to meet with an administrator to discuss the possibility of enrolling a family member as a student, according to Honea.
He added that investigators are trying to determine the legitimacy of the suspect’s inquiry or “if that was instead a ruse to get onto the campus.”
The suspect had been dropped off at the school by an Uber driver, who authorities were able to identify and interview, according to Honea. The shooting occurred after the suspect met with a school administrator on Wednesday.
“I’m told that meeting was cordial. There wasn’t anything about the meeting that gave rise to concerns by the administrator,” Honea said.
The sheriff said authorities later received information that the suspect may have targeted the school for its affiliation with the Seventh Day Adventist Church but noted that the shooting remains an “isolated incident.”
Out of an abundance of caution, the sheriff said authorities have alerted law enforcement agencies throughout California about the shooting and its potential connection to the Seventh Day Adventist Church.
