Officials in the north California has identified the man who shot two officers at a religious elementary school Wednesday afternoon before turning the gun on himself, the Butte County Sheriff’s Office said.
The man, whose identity officials have not yet released, shot a five-year-old and a six-year-old at Feather River Adventist Day School outside Oroville, a city of 20,000 people in the state’s far north; almost 1pm A California Highway Patrol officer who arrived on the scene minutes later found the man dead from what appeared to be a gunshot wound, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea told reporters.
The children were seriously injured and are in critical but stable condition, the sheriff’s office said Thursday morning.
The sheriff’s office is still in the early stages of its investigation, Honea said, and is being assisted by the FBI.
Investigators made an appointment with the suspect’s administrator to discuss the family’s enrollment at the private school, which serves about 35 students ranging from kindergarten through eighth grade in Little Butte County’s Panorama.
He was dropped off on campus by a bus driver, who is interviewing authorities, and the man’s meeting with school staff was described as “cordial,” Honea said.
“There was nothing about the meeting that raised concerns from the administrator,” he said.
The stabbing happened after the meeting as students were returning to class after a lunch break, sixth-grader Jocelyn Orlando told CBS News Sacramento.
“I was going to lunch at recess and basically everyone in my school heard the shooting and most of them were screaming,” he said. “We all went in, closed the curtains, locked the doors, basically what we would do in a shooting game, then one of the doctors came and we all ran into the gym.”
It appears the man killed himself after being shot, Honea said. A handgun was found near his body, which was near a slide, and another device was found on the school playground.
Authorities believe the shooter has no connection to the victims or the school. They are trying to determine his cause but it is believed that he has the school because of his affiliation with the 7th Adventist Church. Investigators are working to reconstruct his actions before the shooting, and said they are trying to reach Honea and his family before he shares his identity with the public.
Injured children receive trauma treatment in the Sacramento area.
“I’m grateful that they’re still alive, but they have a long way to go,” Honea said.
Butte County has been the scene of frequent tragedies in recent years – mostly fatal fires, including in 2018 camp firewho killed 85 people, and Northern fire complex. In 2022A man opened fire on a Greyhound bus, killing one man, a 43-year-old traveling with his two sons, and injuring four others, including a pregnant woman.
“Here we are again in Butte County with another major incident, a major tragedy,” Honea said. “This company has endured so much for three years, it’s hard to believe we’re back here again.”