By Michael GryboskiMainline Church Editor Thursday, December 05, 2024

A gunman attacked a small Seventh-day Adventist-affiliated school in California on Wednesday, seriously wounding two male students before dying from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

On Wednesday afternoon, a shooter entered the campus of Feather River School of Seventh-Day Adventists in Palermo, a small kindergarten through eighth-grade school of fewer than 40 students.

The unnamed shooter, who, according to The Associated Presshad no previous ties to the school, reportedly attended a meeting with an administrator about possibly enrolling a child.

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However, shots soon rang out, with two students being wounded. The gunman's body was later discovered near some playground equipment, with a handgun located nearby.

Butte County Sheriff Kory L. Honea said at a press conference that while a motive was currently unknown, it was possible that the school was attacked for its religious affiliation.

“Whether or not this is a hate crime or whether it's part of some kind of larger scheme at this point, I don't have enough information to answer that,” Honea said, as quoted by AP.

The two injured children — a 5-year-old boy and a 6-year-old boy — were in “critical but stable condition” as of Thursday, according to a statement from the sheriff's office.

Siddhartha Patel, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Sacramento Field Office, said during the press conference that investigators will do “a complete investigation of the subject to get a better understanding of his motivation, ideology and what else could help. [us] understand today's incidence situation.”

The Northern California Conference of Seventh Day Adventists posted a statement to Facebook on Thursday saying they were “deeply saddened by the events that occurred yesterday at Feather River School.”

“Our students, faculty and staff have been reunited with their families. Two of our students are being treated for their injuries. Join us as we lift these children, their families and our staff in prayer,” the conference added.

“We are grateful to the brave officers of the Butte County Sheriff's Department who acted quickly to protect our students. We will continue to work closely with Sheriff Kory Honea and his team throughout this investigation.”

G. Alexander Bryant, president of the North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, issued a statement on Thursday calling the incident an act of “senseless violence”.

“We fully support our Adventist leadership in the Northern California Conference as they work closely with local authorities to deal with this tragedy. All levels of ministry are involved in supporting members of our church and others in the community who are in crisis,” said Bryant.

“Once again, we encourage our members and others to be prayerful and help protect the privacy of this small, close-knit community during this very difficult time.”