A KINDERGARTENER injured in a school shooting made a heartbreaking gesture to his dad after waking up from surgery, his family has said.
Little Elias Wolford, five, was left with pierced organs after being shot in the playground of his school in California last week.
His friend, Roman Mendez, who is six years old, was shot in the stomach by Glenn Litton, a 56-year-old gunman. The incident took place at Feather River Adventist School in Oroville, which is approximately 60 miles away from Sacramento, on Wednesday.
Elias’ family revealed the bullet went through his chest and abdomen, piercing several organs in the process, according to a GoFundMe post.
He has since undergone surgery.
His aunt, Tawnee Preisner, revealed the boy tried to communicate with his dad after waking up from the surgery.
“He was making the sign of a gun and was trying to tap his dad’s arm like ‘I got shot,” she told the NBC affiliate KCRA-TV.
Preisner said Elias’ childhood had been shattered in the process.
She was left devastated at what unfolded just weeks before Christmas.
“What Christmas he could have had normally was just taken away from him,” she added.
Cops warned that both Elias and Roman had long roads ahead of them following the chaos that erupted at the religious school.
Elias’ family said he is “slowly making improvements.”
On Monday, they revealed he had his vent tube removed and is breathing on his own.
Litton opened fire on the students before turning the gun on himself.
He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Cops then uncovered a chilling motive as part of their investigation.
Who was Glenn Litton?
GLENN Litton was a career criminal who shot two kindergartenders at a religious school in California before turning the gun on himself.
- Litton was 56 years old when he died and had spent time in jail days before he opened fire on Feather River Adventist School in Oroville
- On November 12, he was jailed for having a fake ID and failing to return a rental car
- In March, cops suspected he stole $1,166 from a CVS in Phoenix, Arizona, while he worked there
- Litton was handed his first prison sentence in 1991 for theft
- He has several other convictions for crimes like theft, fraud, and forgery in the 1990s and early 2000s
- He was booked in the Butte County Jail for forgery in 2003, but the office didn’t hear from him again until the shooting
- Litton had a lengthy history of mental health issues
- He attended the Paradise Adventist School in Paradise, California, as a child
Police claimed Litton opened fire in response to America’s actions in the Middle East.
Litton met with the principal of the school and claimed he was interested in enrolling a student there.
He wanted to enroll his grandson, who didn’t exist, as reported by the CBS affiliate KOVR-TV.
Surveillance footage, released by cops, showed Litton walking toward the bathroom.
Cops detailed Litton’s final movements in the lead-up to the shooting.
At around 7:45 a.m., he got on a bus at Chico, which is about 30 minutes from the school.
Around 45 minutes later, he was seen carrying a duffel bag after getting off in Oroville.
He was making the sign of a gun and was trying to tap his dad’s arm like ‘I got shot
Tawnee Preisner
Litton then bought energy drinks before booking an Uber at 11:45am.
The Uber collected him approximately 15 minutes later.
Litton was dropped off at the school at around 12:15pm.
Police swarmed the school less than an hour after Litton was dropped off.
Police also uncovered Litton’s lengthy rap sheet.
He had previously been jailed for having a fake ID and not returning a rental car.
He had been hit with theft, fraud, and forgery convictions throughout the 1990s and 2000s.
