A young boy who was critically injured in a Northern California school shooting had a heartbreaking message for his father when he woke up from surgery.
Elias Wolford, 5, has been recovering from injuries he sustained when a deranged gunman shot him on the playground at Feather River Adventist School in Palermo on Wednesday.
The bullet went through his chest and abdomen, piercing multiple organs, family members said in an online fundraiser.
Wolford had to be airlifted to a hospital due to the extent of his injuries, and underwent emergency surgery to stop the bleeding upon arrival.
The kindergartener mostly stayed asleep following the surgery, as he remained heavily sedated, but did wake up at one point to ‘communicate with his dad,’ Wolford’s aunt, Tawnee Preisner, told KCRA.
‘He was making the sign of like a gun and was trying to tap his dad’s arm like, “I got shot,”‘ she recounted.
‘It’s just really, really devastating for kids to go through this,’ the worried aunt continued. ‘There’s so much emotional trauma.
‘Basically for my nephew, this has shattered his childhood. A kid can’t get shot and just go on.’
Elias Wolford, five, has been recovering from injuries he was shot on the playground at Feather River Adventist School in Palermo on Wednesday
Police say a gunman opened fire at the small Christian school as children were returning to class from recess on Wednesday
‘What this shooter did was, it stole his normal childhood,’ Preisner added. ‘And for all the other kids at the school too. Like, they were in a private school feeling like this is their safe zone.’
Preisner also said that the timing of the shooting – which also left Wolford’s friend, six-year-old Roman Mendez critically injured – could not have been worse.
‘For this to be happening right before Christmas is just completely devastating,’ she said. ‘You know, all kids are just so excited for Christmas. What Christmas he could have had normally was just taken away from him.’
Police say gunman 56-year-old Glenn Litton targeted the private Christian school, with fewer than three dozen students, in response to the American actions against Palestinians, Action News Now reports.
He had arrived at the school just before noon on Wednesday under the ruse that he wanted to enroll a child in the school, officials claimed.
Litton even met with the principal of the school, who told investigators it was a ‘cordial’ visit, with no signs of hostility, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said.
But as Litton was leaving the campus and was headed toward the parking lot, he suddenly changed direction and started walking toward the playground, where children were heading back to class after recess.
Litton was then caught on surveillance camera reaching under his jacket, into his waistband where he had hid a handgun and opened fire shortly after 1pm.
Police identified the suspect as 56-year-old Glenn Litton, who took his own life after shooting Wolford and another kindergartener, Roman Mendez
An ensuing investigation determined he carried out the attack in response to the American actions against Palestinians
Wolford was shot once and Mendez was shot twice, before Litton took his own life.
His body was found near the slide and other playground equipment on the grounds of the school, which abuts ranchland where cattle graze.
An ensuing investigation found that Litton had also scheduled an appointment to visit a different Seventh-Day Adventist school in Red Bluff on Thursday, which police say was his back-up target.
Litton had attended a Seventh-Day Adventist school in Paradise, California, himself, as a child, Honea said.
But he apparently attacked the school over outrage about America’s support for Israel, writing at one point: ‘Countermeasure involving child executions has now been imposed at the Seventh-Day Adventist school in California, United States by the International Alliance.
‘Lt. Glenn Litton of the Alliance carried out countermeasure in necessitated response to America’s involvement in Genocide and Oppression of Palestinians along with attack towards Yemen.’
Both Walford and Mendez were left in critical condition from the shooting
Honea said he did not find any evidence of an organization called the International Alliance, and noted that Litton suffered from mental health issues and had previously served time in prison for identity theft and stealing.
He was also recently homeless and was living at hotels.
Still, the FBI wants to learn more about Litton’s beliefs and ideology from those who knew him.
In the meantime, Wolford’s parents have taken off work because ‘everything is just focused on their son right now,’ Preisner said.
‘He’s in critical condition,’ she noted. ‘I mean a 9mm shot to a little kid is – it’s a wonder he’s alive and it’s a miracle.’
She then asked for prayers for her nephew and ‘all the children involved,’ and asked people to donate to the online fundraiser for Wolford’s medical expenses.
