OROVILLE, Calif. — A gunman who critically wounded two kindergarten boys at a small religious school in Northern California on Wednesday used a fabricated story about enrolling a grandson to gain access to the campus before opening fire, authorities said Thursday.
The suspect, identified as 56-year-old Glenn Litton, shot the children, ages 5 and 6, at the Feather River School of Seventh-Day Adventists in Oroville before turning the gun on himself just yards from the school playground, according to Butte County Sheriff Kory L. Honea. The boys remain in critical condition at a local hospital.
Litton used a so-called “ghost gun,” an unregistered firearm that is difficult for investigators to trace. Sheriff Honea revealed that Litton, who had a lengthy criminal record related to theft and identity fraud, had no documented history of violent crimes but was known to struggle with mental illness.
According to writings recovered by investigators, Litton believed he was carrying out “counter-measures” in response to U.S. involvement in Middle Eastern conflicts, specifically in Palestine and Yemen. Honea said Litton’s rationale for targeting the Seventh-Day Adventist school remains unclear. Litton himself had attended a Seventh-Day Adventist school as a child in another town, and officials believe he may have had a familial connection to Feather River School.
“That’s a motivation that was in his mind,” Honea said during a press conference. “How it was that he conflated what’s going on in Palestine and Yemen with the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, I can’t speculate. I’m not sure that we’ll ever know that.”
Authorities also revealed that Litton had scheduled a similar appointment at another Seventh-Day Adventist school for Thursday, suggesting the attack in Oroville may have been part of a broader plan.
Law enforcement is continuing to investigate the shooting, which has shocked the tight-knit Oroville community and raised fresh concerns about campus security and the threat posed by untraceable firearms.
The suspect’s writings suggest a delusional attempt to connect global conflict to local targets, leaving the community searching for answers in the aftermath of the attack.
