2 Kindergarteners in ‘Extremely Critical Condition’ After Christian School Shooting

Two kindergartners were seriously injured in a shooting at a small Christian high school in Northern California on Wednesday, authorities said.

After entering the school and opening fire on students, the suspected gunman died of what officials believe was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Two boys, ages 5 and 6, were rushed to a hospital and were in “extremely critical condition” Wednesday night, according to Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea.

Authorities in Butte County responded to 911 calls for reports of an active shooter at Feather River Adventist School just outside of Oroville, Calif., shortly after 1 p.m. 13 local time, Honea told reporters. A trooper with the California Highway Patrol was the first to arrive on the scene and found the two injured students and the suspect’s body with a gun nearby.

The sheriff said the suspected shooter had met with a school administrator earlier in the day to discuss enrolling a student at the school, which teaches kindergarten through eighth grade and has a total of 35 students, according to Honea.

It’s unclear whether the encounter was legitimate or a ruse for the suspected gunman to get inside, the sheriff said.

The meeting was described as “cordial” and didn’t set off any alarm bells with school administrators, the sheriff said.

A few minutes after that meeting, the shots rang out, he explained.

The sheriff told reporters that authorities have identified the shooter and said he may have targeted the school because of its affiliation with the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we sent out an alert to law enforcement agencies throughout the state of California alerting them to this shooting and advising them that the subject may have targeted this school due to its affiliation with that particular religious organization. ” Honea said.

“Our request from these law enforcement agencies was to be vigilant and make sure these schools are safe and the students are still safe,” he added.

The sheriff said authorities are not ready to release the suspect’s identity.

The suspect was dropped off at the school by an Uber driver who had been located in the aftermath of the shooting and undergoing interviews with police.

Otherwise, authorities are still trying to piece together a timeline of his whereabouts leading up to the shooting.

“We’re working to essentially reconstruct this person’s activities throughout today as well as in the past to determine why … he did the things he did,” Honea said.

The sheriff’s office is leading the investigation into the shooting. The FBI helps process the crime scene and also dig into the suspect’s background.

Butte County is about 65 miles north of Sacramento.