Family gives encouraging update on kindergartner injured in California school shooting

Chris Biderman, The Sacramento Bee on Dec 31, 2024

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The family of a kindergartner wounded in early December in a Butte County school shooting offered an encouraging update on New Year’s Eve.

Debbie Wolford, the grandmother of Elias Wolford — who was injured from a gunshot wound Dec. 4 at Feather River Adventist School in Oroville — wrote on social media Tuesday that 5-year-old boy is in stable condition after undergoing three surgeries and having interventional tubes removed. Family said he is regaining movement and feeling in his extremities.

“Elias is experiencing some sensation in his left leg and feeling in his right leg, along with slight movement. Just yesterday, he managed to wiggle his left foot, which is an encouraging sign!” Debbie Wolford wrote.

“We are planning to transfer him soon to a specialized hospital that focuses on spinal rehabilitation, where he will receive the dedicated care he needs.”

Elias was shot once in the abdomen, while 6-year-old Roman Mendez was sustained two gunshots wounds. Roman was released from the UC Davis Medical Center on Dec. 20, according to a GoFundMe page that’s been verified to The Sacramento Bee by a family member. The page had raised more than $45,000 as of Tuesday.

There is also a GoFundMe for Wolford, who had a bullet go through multiple organs before exiting. He was airlifted to a hospital for emergency surgery to stop the bleeding, according to the crowdfunding page, which had raised nearly $102,000 as of Tuesday evening.

The shooter, 56-year-old Glenn Litton, fatally shot himself after shooting the two boys and was identified by authorities Dec. 5. Litton had a lengthy criminal history, Butte County investigators said, spanning more than three decades and multiple states.

Officials said Litton was “best described as homeless” with “severe mental health issues” and that he had also considered another parochial school in Northern California to target.

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