A tragic shooting at a kindergarten this week in California may have been motivated by the gunman’s delusional beliefs about ‘genocide’ in Gaza.

On Wednesday afternoon, a deranged man drove up to the Feather River Adventist School in Oroville. Posing as a grandfather interested in enrolling a child, he spoke with staff who described the meeting to the Los Angeles Times as “cordial” before walking toward the parking lot as if departing. Instead, he turned toward the playground where students were finishing recess and opened fire.

The attack left two kindergartners fighting for their lives. Elias Wolford, 5, sustained a gunshot wound that tore through his chest and abdomen, while Roman Mendez, 6, was hit twice, suffering severe internal injuries. Both boys remained in critical condition Thursday, facing what doctors say will be multiple surgeries and a long recovery.

A California Highway Patrol officer reached the scene at 1:10 p.m., finding the attacker, later identified as Glenn Litton, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot. Sheriff’s deputies arrived minutes later to find the two critically wounded boys and rendered lifesaving aid.

According to Sheriff Kory Honea, the shooter had left behind a manifesto claiming that the “child executions” were in retaliation for “America’s involvement in genocide and oppression of Palestinians.” He also claimed to be acting on behalf of an “International Alliance,” though authorities found no evidence such an organization exists.

“We believe that this was an isolated incident and he was a sole individual who targeted this school based on the beliefs that he held,” said Honea.

Investigators say Litton had a severe mental illness and had a four-decade criminal history, with convictions for theft, fraud, and forgery. Just weeks earlier, San Francisco police had arrested him with a stolen U-Haul truck and forged license. The forged license reportedly had the name Michael Sanders, which is the same name Litton used when scheduling his appointment at the kindergarten.

“We will never understand why or how someone could do a thing like this. I am grateful for the bravery of the law enforcement, fire and medical personnel who responded to this attack to stop the shooter and rescue the victims,” Assemblymember James Gallagher (R-Yuba City) said in a sober statement.

“As a community, we’ll all be hugging our loved ones closer today as we pray for the victims and try to make sense of something so senseless.”