Mary Alexander & Associates Files Lawsuit Against Seventh-day Adventist Organizations Over Feather River School Shooting
Mary Alexander & Associates Files Lawsuit Against Seventh-day Adventist Organizations Over Feather River School Shooting
PR Newswire
OROVILLE, Calif., Sept. 10, 2026
OROVILLE, Calif., Sept. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Mary Alexander & Associates, P.C. filed a lawsuit in Butte County Superior Court on behalf of four young students harmed in the December 2024 shooting at Feather River Adventist School near Oroville, California.
The lawsuit names the Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, General Conference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists and North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists. The plaintiffs include the two kindergarten students who suffered gunshot wounds during the attack, as well as two siblings who were on campus and suffered severe emotional and psychological injuries from the shooting.
The shooting occurred on Dec. 4, 2024, after gunman Glenn Litton gained access to the school by falsely claiming that he wanted information about enrolling a grandson. According to the newly filed complaint, school officials escorted Litton around the campus while children attended classes and recess. This meeting concluded, the school principal failed to escort Litton off campus and instead permitted him to leave the office unaccompanied, and allowed to freely wonder the campus.
Litton then followed two kindergarten students, ages 5 and 6, into a school bathroom and shot them. One child suffered three gunshot wounds and extensive internal injuries. The second suffered a gunshot wound to his spine that caused paralysis in his legs, spent approximately two weeks in intensive care, was hospitalized another three months, and continues to experience significant limitations in his ability to walk.
"This case is about one of the most fundamental responsibilities a school assumes when parents place their children in its care: protecting them from preventable danger," said Mary E. Alexander, founding attorney of Mary Alexander & Associates, P.C. "A stranger entered this elementary school under false pretenses and was allowed to move freely through a campus full of very young children without supervision. The consequences for these children and their families are devastating and lifelong."
The lawsuit alleges the tragedy resulted not only from Litton's criminal actions, but also from systemic failures in the way the school and its operators handled campus visitors and student safety.
Among other allegations, the complaint contends the defendants failed to:
- adequately supervise campus visitors and school personnel responsible for student safety;
- prevent visitors from accessing students while unaccompanied by school officials or security;
- adequately secure the campus and monitor unknown guests;
- implement appropriate procedures for screening for weapons;
- adequately supervise and protect children entrusted to the school's care;
- adopt and implement an adequate school safety and threat-assessment plan; and
- properly train administrators, staff and volunteers regarding campus visitors and security.
The complaint alleges that allowing Litton to remain on campus and around children without supervision created a foreseeable risk and that proper supervision and reasonable safety measures could have prevented him from gaining unsupervised access to the students.
"This lawsuit asks why basic safeguards failed at a place where kindergartners and elementary school children should have been safe," Ms. Alexander said.
The case is Does v. Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists, Butte County Superior Court, Case No. 26CV03397.
About Mary Alexander & Associates, P.C.
Mary Alexander & Associates, P.C. represents people who suffered serious injuries because of the negligence and misconduct of others. The firm handles complex personal injury, wrongful death, premises liability, negligent security and cases involving injuries to children throughout California.
SOURCE Mary Alexander & Associates
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