Two kindergarten students, ages 5 and 6, are in “extremely critical condition” after a shooting at a small Seventh-day Adventist School in California — with the suspected gunman dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot.
Gunfire broke out around 1 p.m. at the Feather River School of Seventh-Day Adventists in Palermo, an elementary school with an enrollment of only 33 students.
“This is horribly tragic,” Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said during a news conference near the school, shared by KCRA.
Students have been taken to a nearby church to be picked up by their parents. Google maps“It is hard to come up with the words. We’re operating on adrenaline, doing the things that need to be done…we worked hard to make sure that students are reunified with their parents.”
The two male students, who suffered gunshot wounds, were taken to a hospital, one by helicopter, Honea said, adding they they are in “extremely critical condition.”
Police on the scene of the shooting on Wednesday. Fallon Ortiz
The remaining youngsters were taken to the Oroville Church of the Nazarene, where they were picked up by their parents.
Honea said the suspected shooter — who has not yet been identified — was dropped off at the school by a gray four-door sedan, that may have been a ride-sharing service, for a meeting with the principal about potentially enrolling a student. A child was not believed to be present during the meeting, the sheriff added.
Authorities said they have not yet verified if the purpose of that meeting was legitimate, as they are still in the early stages of the investigation.
“Shortly after concluding that meeting, the principal heard shots being fired, heard screams, and that’s when they determined or found that the two students had been shot,” Honea said.
“We’re no stranger to those kinds of things, but when you’re talking about little kids like this, who can’t defend themselves, it really does tear at the heart.”
Officials confirmed the male gunman was found at the scene with a self-inflicted gunshot wound near a slide on the playground.
He is not believed to have any connection to the school or the students, according to the sheriff, who added the shooter may have targeted the school because of its affiliation with the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.
Following the shooting, the school was sent into lockdown and roads in the rural area around the school were closed as police investigated.
Palermo is about 65 miles north of Sacramento.
With Post wires
