Gunman dead, two students hospitalized following elementary school shooting
BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - A suspected gunman is dead, and two students are in the hospital following a shooting Wednesday at a California elementary school.
The 911 calls began coming in at 1:08 p.m. about a gunman on campus at the Feather River Adventist School.
"Dispatch were advised there was an active shooter on the campus," said Sheriff Kory Honea with the Butte County Sheriff's Office (BCSO).
By 1:10 p.m. California Highway Patrol (CHP) was on the scene.
"That officer immediately went on the campus," Honea shared.
Campus staff and students directed the officer to the shooter.
"That subject was deceased and appears to have been appears to have a self-inflicted gunshot wound," Honea added.
By 1:14 p.m., Butte County Sheriff's Deputies arrived. They began rendering aid to two Kindergarten boys, ages five and six, who had been shot.
"Those two children were transported to local hospitals. They are currently in extremely critical condition," Honea said.
The children were taken to area hospitals as law enforcement secured the campus and brought the remaining students to an off-campus reunification center.
Then, they began their investigation. Honea says they learned the shooter had been dropped off by an Uber driver. They say he was at the school to meet with the principal about potentially enrolling a student.
"I'm told that that meeting went was cordial. There wasn't anything about the meeting that gave rise to concerns by the administrator," Honea explained.
Deputies are still trying to figure out if the meeting has truth to it, or if it was just a ruse to get on to the campus.
Shortly after the meeting is when deputies say the shooting happened.
Deputies believe this was a targeted attack on the school due to its affiliation with the Seventh Day Adventist Church.
"Now, whether or not this is a hate crime or whether or not it's part of some larger scheme, I mean, at this point, I don't have enough information to to provide an answer to that," Honea expressed.
