According to the Butte County sheriff on Thursday, the man who shot two kindergarteners at a Christian school in Northern California had a history of mental illness and had entered the building by pretending to be interested in enrolling a relative.
Around 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Glenn Litton, 56, shot and murdered the two boys, ages 5 and 6, at the Feather River Adventist School near Palermo, according to authorities.
On Thursday, their condition remained critical. At a news conference on Thursday, Sheriff Kory Honea stated that the 5-year-old had one gunshot wound to the abdomen and the 6-year-old had two bullet wounds.
“It’s likely that they will require additional surgeries,” he stated. According to Honea, they have a very long road to rehabilitation ahead of them.
According to Honea, investigators discovered a statement that Litton wrote claiming to be a lieutenant in the international alliance and mentioning a reaction to America’s involvement in attacks against Yemen and the genocide and oppression of Palestinians.
According to the sheriff, detectives were unable to locate such a group.
According to Honea, this person did have some serious mental health problems. He seems to have combined knowledge from other sources to create a reality that may not be accurate or comparable to our own.
Honea stated that Litton had a fairly obvious history of mental health problems, but officials were unable to provide information on any particular mental health diagnoses for Litton on Thursday.
Although I don’t want to increase the stigma by implying that all persons with mental health disorders are aggressive, I believe it’s a contributing factor in the problem, he said.
Butte County District Attorney Michael Ramsey stated during the press conference that Litton has serious mental health problems since he was sixteen, according to probation reports from 2015 and 2022.
Honea and other officials said Litton was effectively homeless, spending time in the Chico region and Sacramento, and had served time in prison for identity theft and other larceny offenses.
According to Honea, Litton is thought to have targeted the around 35-student school due to its association with the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
He may have considered targeting another school, but in the end, he decided on the Feather River school. According to Honea, investigators also discovered that he had studied an Adventist school in Red Bluff, northwest of Chico.
As a child, Litton had gone to a Seventh-day Adventist school in the Butte County hamlet of Paradise. According to Honea, Litton has no current affiliation or engagement with the school he targeted, though it’s possible that he had a relative who went there years ago.
A few days prior to the incident, he made an appointment with the school using a forged ID, claiming to be interested in enrolling a grandson, according to Honea.
According to Honea, that was a ploy to lure Litton, who doesn’t have a grandson, onto campus. According to the sheriff, Litton left after what was characterized as a friendly conversation with the principal of the school, then turned toward a playground and started shooting.
At 1:08 p.m., the school reported an active shooter to 911. Litton died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound by the time a California Highway Patrol officer reached the school, according to Honea.
A tree-lighting ceremony in downtown Oroville, which is nearby, will feature a vigil on Friday.
The shooting has shaken the school and conference community, according to Laurie Trujillo, director of communication for the Northern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. On Thursday, all of its schools were closed.
“We are absolutely devastated by this senseless act of violence,” she remarked. “Our church members here in the Northern California Conference continue to pray for all of those who have been affected by this tragedy.”
To reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, text or call 988, or chat online at 988lifeline.org, if you or someone you know is experiencing a crisis. For more assistance, go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources.
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