On Wednesday a 56-year-old white man entered a school in Northern California with a “ghost gun” then shot and critically injured two kindergarteners before killing himself on the playground. For some reason, though, you’re not seeing videos of Gov. Gavin Newsom everywhere talking about the need for “common sense gun control laws” and finger-wagging.
Newsom didn’t even mention the victims’ names in the one statement he made.
Heartbreaking.
Once again, a community is shattered by senseless gun violence. Our hearts are with the children, their families, and everyone impacted by this horrific tragedy.
To the survivors of gun violence: You are never alone. California stands with you. https://t.co/zIjxV4CM95
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) December 5, 2024
Elias Wolford, age 5, and Roman Mendez, age 6, were shot. Elias was shot once in the abdomen, and Roman was shot twice. Both are in critical condition with internal injuries, said Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea:
“The fact that they are currently still with us is a miracle,” Honea said of the children, adding they will likely face additional surgeries and “have a very long road ahead of them, in terms of recovery.”
The shooter, Glenn Litton, is a convicted felon who federal probation officers noted was mentally ill in a 2015 document, so he should not have had access to a firearm under current state and federal laws. He also used a “ghost gun,” or an unserialized firearm, according to reports, which is illegal. Is it possible that Newsom didn’t mention strengthening so-called gun safety laws because he had an “a-ha!” moment and realized that criminals don’t follow laws?
Doubt it. The more likely reason is because the school Litton targeted, Feather River School of Seventh-Day Adventists, is a private Christian school and because his motive was retribution against the United States for “Genocide and Oppression of Palestinians along with attacks towards Yemen.”
Countermeasure involving child executions has now been imposed at the Seventh Day Adventist school in California, United States by The International Alliance. I, Lieutenant Glenn Litton of the Alliance carried out countermeasure in necessitated response to Americas involvement with Genocide and Oppression of Palestinians along with attacks towards Yemen.
We can’t fully dismiss Litton because he’s a nutjob, though. It’s easy for the truly evil people behind Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Iranian regime to radicalize these nutjobs online and encourage them to carry out these “countermeasures” in the United States, and requires a much lower level of financial investment and overall risk than attempting an overt strike or even activating sleeper agents they have in the country. We need to be on the lookout for these types of threats in our own communities, though it’s an admittedly difficult task.
Another possible reason for Newsom’s relative silence on this case is that Litton was a mentally ill homeless person who’d been arrested three times in the last month in various California jurisdictions and released on his own recognizance (yes, even as a convicted felon!), so it highlights Newsom’s utter incompetence in dealing with homelessness and crime.
Law enforcement officials have documented Litton’s history of mental illness back to when he was a teenager, though Honea said investigators have not found a concrete diagnosis.
In recent years, Litton searched online for guns and explosives and wrote notes to himself to plan a non-specific mass incident, though Butte County District Attorney Michael L. Ramsey said they were “just ruminations.” Litton was a convicted felon and therefore could not legally possess a firearm.
Contrast that with Newsom’s response when a Muslim boy in Illinois – which, obviously, is not the state he leads – was stabbed to death in another religiously-targeted killing:
My heart broke when Wadea al-Fayoume, a 6-year-old child, was stabbed to death in Chicago—he and his mother viciously attacked because they were Palestinian and Muslim. I grieved not just for Wadea and his family but for all who felt less safe after that devastating tragedy, who wondered whether they or their children might also be targeted because of their Muslim faith or Palestinian heritage. This sort of horror doesn’t just inflict violence on one life or one family—it tears at the safety and belonging of whole communities.
Not a hint of any grief Newsom feels for the Wolford and Mendez families as they pray that their children survive, or for the boys themselves, who will have to live with the memories of this horrific, terrifying attack if they pull through.
At a press conference Thursday, the Butte County Sheriff’s Department outlined Litton’s most recent law enforcement contacts:
- 03/03/24- Litton was the suspect in a theft of approximately $1166 in Phoenix, Arizona. Litton got a job at CVS and on the second day of Litton’s employment, the manager reported Litton stole $1166 from the cash registers.
- On 11/12/24, Litton was listed as the suspect in a Chico PD case. It was reported to Chico PD that Litton rented a white Chevrolet Silverado 1500 with U-Haul stickers from Full Attack Motorsports Detailing in Chico, CA. Litton did not return the U-Haul truck and the truck was reported as stolen. Chico PD attempted to contact Litton by phone but did not make contact with Litton. A GPS on the truck showed the truck in San Francisco at the time Chico PD took the stolen vehicle report.
- 11/12/24- Litton was arrested by South San Francisco PD for fresh charges of 10855 VC (embezzled leased or rented vehicle), 470b PC (possess driver’s license/ID commit forgery, 472 PC (forge official seal), 530.5(a) PC (use other’s ID and outstanding warrant for 459 PC.)
- During a search of Litton’s person on 11/12/24, a forged California driver’s license was located with the name “Michael Sanders,” and a photograph of Litton. Litton was transported to 11/12/24 to San Mateo County Jail.
- On 11/20/24, Litton was transported from San Mateo County to the San Bernardino County – West Valley Detention Center, where Litton was booked for a Sheriff’s Automated Warrant for Burglary.
- On 11/21/24, Litton pleaded not guilty and was released on O.R. by the court. Litton was released from the West Valley Detention Center on 11/21/24 at 1811 hours.
Sometime between November 21 and December 4 Litton made his way from San Bernardino County in Southern California back up to Oroville/Chico. He made an appointment to tour Feather River Christian School, saying that he was interested in having his grandson attend the school, under the name Michael Sanders, and that’s how he accessed the school grounds:
Litton met with school staff using the name “Michael Sanders,” and under the guise that he was interested in enrolling a child into the school. Litton received a tour of the school.
After the tour of the school, Litton walked towards the bathroom and staff heard gunshots and screaming.
Litton also had an appointment to tour another Christian school nearby, Red Bluff Seventh-Day Adventist School, scheduled for Thursday, December 5. Authorities believe that was his backup plan.
Elias Wolford and Roman Mendez remain in critical condition at last report.
Please pray for little Elias. He is one of the two shooting victims at Feather River Adventist School in CA yesterday. pic.twitter.com/FNuJikwhQW
— Jbov (@jbov280) December 6, 2024
A candlelight vigil will be held Friday evening in Feather River.