Daniel Trotta
(Reuters) – A gunman shot and wounded two children, ages 5 and 6, at a California school on Wednesday before fatally shooting himself in what investigators said was an attack targeting the school’s affiliation with the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
The two wounded boys were in extremely critical condition and were being treated at a trauma center, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said at a news conference.
“I’m thankful they’re still alive, but they have a long way to go,” Honea said.
The shooting happened shortly after 1 p.m. (2100 GMT) at the Feather River Seventh-day Adventist School in a rural community near Oroville, California, about 55 miles (89 km) north of Sacramento.
The gunman scheduled a meeting with the school administrator to discuss student enrollment in an apparently cordial meeting, Honea said.
But right after the meeting, the shooter opened fire on students outside the classroom, then turned the gun on himself, Honea said.
A California Highway Patrol trooper who responded to a 911 call about an active shooter found the gunman dead at the scene with a gun near his body. Officials transferred the remaining 35 students to the church where they were reunited with their families.
“We have received some information that leads us to believe that the entity responsible for the shooting targeted this school because of its affiliation with the Seventh-day Adventist Church,” Honea said, without providing specifics.
The church, a Christian denomination, observes the Sabbath and adheres to a kosher Jewish diet, advocating vegetarianism.
Feather River School serves children in kindergarten through eighth grade, roughly ages 5 to 13, according to its website.
Local officials sent out a statewide alert to alert other church-affiliated schools, and officials were sent to Seventh-day Adventist schools in the nearby cities of Chico, Oroville and Paradise, Honea said.
