Law enforcement officials have revealed that a school shooter who left two children wounded last Wednesday at a Christian elementary school in California planned “child executions” as “counter-measures” against America’s “involvements in genocide and oppression of Palestinians.”
According to The Los Angeles Times, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea identified the shooter, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, as 56-year-old Glenn Litton. The outlet noted that Honea described the shooter as a mentally ill, homeless man who had a lengthy criminal record.
The Los Angeles Times reported that law enforcement officials indicated that Litton targeted the Feather River School of Seventh-Day Adventists due to the school’s connection with the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Law enforcement officials discovered a statement left by Litton that he planned “child executions” in response to “America’s involvements in genocide and oppression of Palestinians” and U.S. attacks in Yemen.
“That’s a motivation that was in his mind,” Honea said. “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.
In Litton’s statement that was recovered by police officials, the school shooter claimed that he was attacking the Christian school on behalf of the “International Alliance.” However, law enforcement officials have not discovered any evidence of the alleged organization, according to The Los Angeles Times.
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Honea told news reporters, “We believe that this was an isolated incident and he was a sole individual who targeted this school based on the beliefs that he held.”
According to The Los Angeles Times, Honea also confirmed that Litton had a criminal history that spanned four decades and included convictions in Arizona, California, and Nevada for fraud, identity theft, forgery, and theft.
In addition to identifying the shooter, Honea also identified the two injured students as 5-year-old Elias Wolford and 6-year-old Roman Mendez. As of Thursday afternoon, the two students were hospitalized in critical condition.
“They have a very long road ahead of them in terms of recovery,” Honea said. “It’s very likely that they are going to have to have a number of surgeries going forward, but the fact that they are currently still with us, I think, is a miracle.”
The Los Angeles Times reported that the shooting incident took place shortly after Litton had a meeting with the principal regarding the enrollment of a fictitious grandson at the school. Honea said the meeting was a “ruse” that allowed Litton to gain access to the school. Instead of leaving the school after the meeting, Litton reportedly went to the school’s playground, where he shot the two students before killing himself.