According to the Butte County sheriff, authorities suspect that the gunman may have targeted the California Seventh-Day Adventist school where two young boys were gravely injured in a shooting on Wednesday due to its involvement with a particular denomination.
Following a meeting with the principal regarding the enrollment of a student, the gunman opened fire on the campus of the Feather River School of Seventh-Day Adventists near Palermo at approximately 1 p.m., according to Sheriff Kory L. Honea.
The principal discovered that the pupils had been shot shortly after the meeting ended, according to Honea, after hearing gunfire and screams.
According to Honea, the two pupils, who were boys, ages five and six, were in “extremely critical condition” in a hospital on Wednesday night.
“I can tell you that the injuries are very, very serious,” he stated.
According to him, a handgun was discovered close to the gunman, who was dead from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound when police arrived.
The shooter’s motivation and motivations were still being investigated.
“We have received some information that leads us to believe that the subject responsible for the shooting targeted this school because of its affiliation with the Seventh-Day Adventist Church,” Honea stated.
Honea warned that the probe, which he described as complex, was still in its early stages.
According to Honea, there is no relationship between the shooter and the school victims.
According to him, investigators are attempting to ascertain whether the discussion regarding a family member’s potential enrollment was genuine or only a ploy to gain access to the university. According to the administrator, the meeting was friendly and nothing worried him.
According to Honea, there are roughly 35 pupils enrolled in the K–8 Feather River School of Seventh-Day Adventists. It is located in Butte County, about 60 miles north of Sacramento, close to Palermo and south of Oroville.
According to Honea, the kids that were shot are kindergarteners.
Until authorities arranged buses to bring the other schoolchildren back to their parents at a church in Oroville, they were confined in a gymnasium.
Sixth grader Joselyn informed Sacramento’s NBC affiliate KCRA that she heard the gunfire.
I also witnessed the shooter striding back and forth across a window. She then informed the station that we were rushing to the gym. When I noticed a shadow with a gun behind me, I ordered most people to flee even faster.
Although the sheriff’s office stated that it was alerting other law enforcement agencies just out of caution, the incident is thought to have been limited to that specific school.
The shooter’s name was kept a secret Wednesday evening. According to Honea, the name was kept a secret because potential associates were being questioned.
He used an Uber to get to the school. According to Honea, the driver has been identified and was being questioned about any remarks made by the shooter during that ride.
A request for comment on Wednesday night was not immediately answered by Uber.
Around 1:08 p.m., the California Highway Patrol received 911 calls from cell phones, and sheriff’s deputies and the agency promptly arrived, according to Honea.
He said the first person on the site, a member of the Highway Patrol, discovered the gunman dead.
The probe is being supported by the FBI.
At a press conference on Wednesday evening, Sid Patel, special agent in charge of the FBI office in Sacramento, stated, “We’re doing an entire work-up of the subject, to get a better understanding of his motivation, ideology, and what else could help understand today’s situation and incident.”
Honea described the shooting as awful and horrifying.
“When you’re talking about little kids like this, who can’t defend themselves, it really does tear at the heart,” he stated.
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