Authorities reported that two children were injured in a shooting at a small religious school in Palermo, California. The incident took place at the Feather River School of Seventh-Day Adventists, a K-8 school with a small student body. The gunman, who was found deceased near the playground, is believed to have taken his own life.
The injured children were transported to nearby hospitals, with one of them requiring an airlift. Details about their identities and conditions have not been disclosed by officials at this time.
The shooting took place around 1 p.m. in the rural town of Palermo, located approximately 65 miles north of Sacramento. Palermo, with a population of around 5,500 residents, was shaken by this tragic incident involving the school’s students.
It was the the latest among dozens of school shootings across the U.S. in recent years, including especially deadly ones in Newtown, Connecticut; Parkland, Florida; and Uvalde, Texas. The shootings have set off fervent debates about gun control and frayed the nerves of parents whose children are growing up accustomed to doing active shooter drills in their classrooms.
But school shootings have done little to move the needle on national gun laws. Firearms were the leading cause of death among children in 2020 and 2021, according to KFF, a nonprofit that researches health care issues.
“My heart is breaking for everyone impacted by this tragedy,” Assemblyman James Gallagher, whose area includes Palermo, said in a statement. “As a community, we’ll all be hugging our loved ones closer today as we pray for the victims and try to make sense of something so senseless.”
Butte County Sheriff Kory L. Honea said the shooter did not appear to have a connection to the school, and the motive was not immediately known. They were working to identify him.
Near the school’s slide and other playground equipment was the shooter’s body, covered in a blue tarp, as officers stood nearby to secure the scene. The school abuts ranchland where cattle graze.
Honea said 911 calls reported “an individual on campus who had fired shots at students.” When deputies arrived they found the gunman on the ground, dead after apparently shooting himself, Honea said.
Authorities rushed students off the grounds and to the Oroville Church of the Nazarene to be reunited with their families, the sheriff’s office said.
Representatives for the Northern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists could not immediately be reached for comment.
The school has been open since 1965, according to its website.
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