Suspect in Oroville school shooting sat in San Bernardino County jail weeks earlier but was released

Three weeks before Glenn Litton shot and wounded two kindergarten students at a Christian elementary school in Northern California, he appeared in a criminal courtroom in San Bernardino County via a video stream.

The 56-year-old was arrested on a felony warrant stemming from a 2020 second-degree burglary charge out of Redlands.

Litton pleaded not guilty to the charge and was released of his own recognizance from a Rancho Cucamonga jail days before Thanksgiving. A judge ordered him to appear back in court in early December, according to the San Bernardino County district attorney’s office.

But he missed his Dec. 4 court date and instead appeared at Feather River Adventist School near Oroville, Calif. armed with a ghost gun. There, Litton shot 5-year-old Elias Wolford and 6-year-old Roman Mendez during the middle of the school day before turning the gun on himself, authorities said. Both children remain in critical but stable condition.

The shooting remains under investigation by both the FBI and Butte County authorities. But investigators said they discovered writings from Litton, identifying himself as “Lieutenant Glenn Litton” who sought to carry out “countermeasure in necessitated response” to U.S. involvement in “genocide and oppression of Palestinians along with attacks towards Yemen.”

Authorities have not revealed where Litton obtained the handgun he used in the shooting. Sometimes referred to as a privately made firearm (PMF) or ghost gun, these guns can be assembled through various means, including gun kits purchased online or with parts made with a 3-D printer.

The Supreme Court heard arguments in October on the federal agency’s rules on the regulatory definition of a firearm, which starting in 2022 includes weapon parts from kits and privately manufactured firearms.

Authorities say Luigi Mangione, the man accused of gunning down a UnitedHealthcare executive in the streets of Manhattan earlier this month, used a ghost gun with a silencer.

It’s unclear how Litton obtained his gun and that could prove difficult for authorities. More than 25,000 ghost guns were recovered in the U.S. by law enforcement in 2022 and the success rate for tracking down the origins of guns used in a crime is incredibly low, according to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

“A ghost gun is one that effectively has no identity,” said Garen Wintemute, director of the California Firearm Violence Research Center with UC Davis and an emergency room physician. “It has no history, it can’t be traced, and by usual method.”

Ghost guns recovered by police in California spiked from 2013 to 2021, but those numbers have decreased in recent years, according to the California Attorney General’s office. Regulations in California and on the federal level are responsible for how individual parts of firearms are labeled and include serial numbers, Wintemute said. But there will always be the possibility of a ghost gun appearing in an investigation.

“People will continue to make firearms illegally without serial numbers, and they will use them in crime,” Wintemute said.

Authorities described Litton as a man with a lengthy criminal record who had bouts of mental health issues. He was convicted of felony forgery in 2003 in Butte County.

In March, he worked at a CVS Pharmacy in Phoenix, Ariz., but on his second day on the job a manager reported Litton stole $1,166 from the cash registers, according to authorities.

Litton reappeared in Northern California on Nov. 12 when a detailing business reported to the Chico Police Department that Litton rented a Chevrolet Silverado 1500 with U-Haul stickers and never returned the vehicle. A GPS device on the truck showed that the truck was in San Francisco.

The South San Francisco Police Department arrested Litton and the San Mateo district attorney’s office charged him with felony embezzlement of a leased or rented vehicle; being in possession of a forged driver’s license and other charges. He had a forged driver’s license with the name “Michael Sanders” and was booked into a San Mateo jail.

But on Nov. 20 he was extradited to San Bernardino County where he was brought to answer for the second-degree burglary charge out of Redlands, according to court records. He was released from custody on Nov. 21 shortly after 6 p.m., but there is no information about where he went after his court date.

Litton was spotted around Chico in early December, according to authorities, and was reportedly staying at hotels in the area. He was also spotted working out at local gyms, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said.

On Dec. 4, Litton was spotted at a Motel 6 in Chico, then caught a bus at 7:46 a.m. and arrived in Oroville at 8:30 a.m. with a large duffle bag. Shortly before 11 a.m. he purchased energy drinks at a Raley’s Supermarket and then ordered an Uber under the name “Mark Hansen” according to the Butte County Sheriff’s Office.

He asked to be dropped off at Feather River Adventist School where he made an appointment to meet with staff for a tour. Litton used the name “Michael Sanders” and claimed he was interested in enrolling a child at the school, according to authorities.

After the tour, Litton walked toward a bathroom and that’s when staff heard gunshots and screaming.