A boy who was seriously injured in a Northern California school shooting had a heartbreaking message for his father when he woke up from surgery.
Five-year-old Elias Wolford has been recovering from wounds he suffered when a deranged gunman shot him on the playground of Feather River Adventist School in Palermo on Wednesday.
The bullet passed through his chest and abdomen, passing through multiple organs, familiar he said at an online fundraiser.
Wolford had to be flown to a hospital due to the severity of his injuries and underwent emergency surgery to stop the bleeding upon arrival.
The kindergartner remained mostly asleep after surgery, as he remained heavily sedated, but woke up at one point to “communicate with his father,” Wolford’s aunt, Tawnee Preisner, he told KCRA.
“He was making the sign for a gun and trying to hit his father’s arm as if to say, ‘They shot me,'” he said.
“It’s really devastating for children to go through this,” the worried aunt continued. ‘There is a lot of emotional trauma.
‘Basically, for my nephew, this has destroyed his childhood. You can’t shoot a child and move on.
Five-year-old Elias Wolford is recovering from injuries he suffered when 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 returned to class after recess Wednesday.
“What this shooter did was rob him of his normal childhood,” Preisner added. ‘And also for all the other children at school. “They were in a private school and felt like this was their safe zone.”
Preisner also said the timing of the shooting, which also left Wolford’s friend, six-year-old Roman Mendez, seriously injured, couldn’t have been worse.
“For this to be happening right before Christmas is completely devastating,” he said. ‘You know, all the children are very excited about Christmas. The Christmas he normally could have had was simply taken away from him.”
Police say gunman Glenn Litton, 56, attacked the private Christian school, with fewer than three dozen students, in response to US actions against Palestinians. Action News Now reports.
He had arrived at the school shortly before noon Wednesday under the deception that he wanted to enroll a child in the school, officials claimed.
Litton even met with the school’s principal, who told investigators it was a “cordial” visit, with no signs of hostility, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said.
But as Litton left campus and headed toward the parking lot, he suddenly changed direction and began walking toward the playground, where children were returning to class after recess.
Surveillance camera then captured Litton reaching under his jacket, into his waistband, where he had hidden a gun, and opened fire shortly after 1 p.m.
Police identified the suspect as Glenn Litton, 56, who took his own life after shooting Wolford and another kindergartener, Roman Mendez.
A subsequent investigation determined that he carried out the attack in response to US actions against the Palestinians.
Wolford was shot and Mendez twice, before Litton took his own life.
His body was found near the slide and other playground equipment on the school grounds, which borders a ranch where cattle graze.
A subsequent investigation found that Litton had also scheduled an appointment to visit another Seventh-day Adventist school in Red Bluff on Thursday, which police said was his secondary target.
Litton had attended a Seventh-day Adventist school in Paradise, California, as a child, Honea said.
But he apparently attacked the school out of outrage over US support for Israel, writing at one point: ‘The International Alliance has imposed a countermeasure involving executions of children at the Seventh-day Adventist school in California, United States.’
‘Lieutenant. Glenn Litton of the Alliance carried out countermeasures in necessary response to the United States’ involvement in the genocide and oppression of the Palestinians, along with the attack on Yemen.
Both Walford and Mendez were left in critical condition after the shooting.
Honea said he found no evidence of an organization called International Alliance and noted that Litton suffered from mental health problems and had previously served prison time for identity theft.
He also recently became homeless and was living in hotels.
Still, the FBI wants to learn more about Litton’s beliefs and ideology from those who knew him.
Meanwhile, Wolford’s parents have taken time off work because “everything is focused on their son right now,” Preisner said.
“He is in critical condition,” he said. “I mean, a 9mm shot at a little boy is… it’s a miracle he’s alive and it’s a miracle.”
He then asked for prayers for his nephew and ‘all the children involved’, and asked people to donate to the online fundraiser for Wolford’s medical expenses.