Two children were critically injured after being shot by a gunman at a Seventh-day Adventist school in Northern California on Dec. 4, with the shooter later dying at the scene, police said.
The shooting took place just after 1 p.m. on the campus of Feather River Adventist School, located in a rural community near Oroville, California, about 55 miles (89 km) north of Sacramento.
The injured 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.
A preliminary investigation suggests the gunman had met with the principal of the school to discuss the possibility of enrolling a student before opening fire, Honea said. The meeting had been cordial and did not raise any concerns among school officials, he said.
Shortly after the meeting concluded, shots were fired and screams were heard, according to the sheriff.
When law enforcement officers arrived at the school they found two students who had sustained gunshot wounds.
The two children are in an “extremely critical condition” and have “a long road ahead,” of them, the sheriff said.
The other children at the school were sequestered in a gymnasium until authorities arranged for a school bus to transport them to a church in nearby Oroville, where they were reunited with their parents, he said.
Officers found an adult male—believed to be the suspect—near the school’s playground. Honea said the suspect appeared to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot. A handgun was found next to the individual and was secured by officers, the sheriff said.
Police believe they know who the individual is but have not conclusively located his next of kin or any associates.
The suspect was dropped off at the school by an individual driving a grey four-door Sedan who then exited the school and traveled towards highway 70, Honea said. Police have identified the owner of that vehicle as an Uber driver and are currently interviewing him.
Law enforcement officers are investigating what motivated the shooter to carry out the attack and are receiving assistance from the FBI, Honea said.
They are also working to determine if the meeting with the principal was genuine or just a ruse to get onto campus.
Honea stressed that the case is “complex,” and still in the early stages, meaning new information will likely come out in the following days and weeks.
He told reporters that the gunman may have targeted the school because of its religious affiliation, but the shooter isn’t believed to have had a prior connection to either the victims or the school.
“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,” the sheriff told reporters.
Although police believe the shooting attack was a one-off, Honea said law enforcement officials are on high alert in the area, particularly around schools affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we sent an alert out to law enforcement agencies throughout the state of California, advising them of this shooting and advising them that the subject may have targeted this school because of its affiliation with that particular religious organization,” Honea said.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom condemned the shooting in a post on social media platform X. He said it was “heartbreaking.”
