Arizona Man Arrested for Allegedly Selling Gun to Oroville School Shooter
![Arizona Man Arrested for Allegedly Selling Gun to Oroville School Shooter](https://www.crimevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/kitagawa-fitted-800x500_c.png)
Above: Jesse Kitagawa Jr.
(Butte County Sheriff’s Office)
BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. — An Arizona man has been arrested for allegedly selling a firearm to Glenn Litton, the man identified as the perpetrator of a school shooting in Oroville, California, in December of 2024.
On December 4, 2024, at 1:09 p.m., the deputies responded to a report of a school shooting at the Seventh Day Adventist School on Cox Lane in Oroville, the Butte County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release. Deputies arrived about one minute after being dispatched.
Investigators say that Glenn Litton, 56, used a handgun to critically injure two kindergarten students, aged five and six. After shooting the children, Litton used the same gun to take his own life.
Litton, a convicted felon, was legally prohibited from owning firearms.
Investigators say the gun used was a Glock 19 “ghost gun” — a gun which lacks serial numbers and can be assembled from various parts.
BCSO and the FBI traced the gun’s components and reportedly linked it to Steven Lyons, 77, of Buckeye, Arizona. Lyons had legally bought the gun in April 2024 from the widow of its original owner, authorities said.
Detectives learned Lyons sold the gun to Jesse Kitagawa Jr., 45, of Phoenix, Arizona, on April 8, 2024. Kitagawa, also a convicted felon, was not allowed to own firearms, but Lyons followed state laws because Kitagawa allegedly showed an Arizona driver’s license and claimed he could legally possess guns.
Kitagawa is accused of selling the gun to Litton on April 10, 2024, in Chandler, Arizona, for $300. Detectives say Litton practiced with the gun at a Phoenix shooting range and bought ammunition there. He returned to California on April 19, 2024.
On January 9, 2025, detectives searched Kitagawa’s home in Phoenix and arrested him on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm.