Kindergartener injured in Northern California school shooting may lose use of legs, aunt says
PALERMO — One of the two kindergarteners injured in a Northern California school shooting in early December may not regain the use of his legs, the family told CBS Sacramento on Thursday.
The family said that Elias Wolford, 5, suffered damage to his spinal cord. Wolford's aunt Tawnee Preisner said doctors told her that Wolford was able to move his legs when he was first admitted to the hospital, but that movement was lost after his first surgery and has not yet returned.
"He has lost movement. We are hoping that it would come back and it was just swelling. We knew that there was some spinal damage, but we were all hoping, but at this point, it looks like he is not going to regain it with the swelling going down," Preisner said.
Wolford and Roman Mendez, 6, were both shot at the Feather River School of Seventh-Day Adventists in Butte County on December 4, 2024.
Wolford was shot in the stomach while Mendez suffered two gunshot wounds that resulted in internal injuries. Both of the young victims had been hospitalized in critical condition but were deemed stable five days after the shooting. Wolford's family created a GoFundMe to help with his recovery efforts.
The suspect was identified as 56-year-old Glenn Litton. A California Highway Patrol officer found Litton later that day with a self-inflicted gunshot wound and a gun next to him. He was declared dead shortly after.
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said Litton was found to have a lengthy criminal history and attended another Adventist school as a child in the nearby town of Paradise.