AP – Two children were in “extremely critical condition” after being shot at a K-8 school in Northern California in the United States (US) and the gunman died at the scene, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot, police said.
The gunman may have targeted the Feather River School in Palermo because of its religious affiliation, but isn’t believed to have had a prior connection to the victims or the school, Butte County Sheriff Kory L Honea said. He didn’t explain further.
“Whether or not this is a hate crime or whether or not it’s part of some sort of larger scheme at this point I don’t have enough information to provide an answer to that,” he said.
The wounded children, boys aged five and six, are kindergarteners at the school and are being treated at a trauma centre in the Sacramento area, officials said.
“I am thankful that they’re still alive, but they’ve got a long road ahead of them,” Honea said.
The shooting occurred shortly after 1pm at the private school with fewer than three dozen students in Palermo, which has about 5,500 people and is about 104 kilometres north of Sacramento.
It was the latest among dozens of school shootings across the US 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.
