The “ghost gun” used in a Northern California school shooting in December 2024 was allegedly purchased from a convicted felon in Arizona months before the shooting.
After conducting multiple search warrants, the gun was originally tracked to Steven Lyons, 77, of Buckeye. Lyons purchased the gun legally in April 2024 from a widow whose husband had previously owned it legally. Then, police say Lyons sold it to Jesse Kitagawa Jr., 45, on April 8, 2024, not knowing Kitagawa was a convicted felon.
Kitagawa sold the Glock 19 ghost gun to the suspected school shooter, 56-year-old Glenn Litton, two days later at a motel in Chandler for $300, Butte County Sheriff’s Office detectives said.
The Feather River Adventist School in Oroville, California in Butte County is where the shooting happened. The alleged gunman critically injured two kindergarten boys, ages five and six, and died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound on Dec. 4, 2024, according to the Butte County Sheriff’s Office.
Kitagawa was taken into custody by the Phoenix Police Department in early January 2025. According to court documents, he told police during an interview on Jan. 9 that he recognized the gun, sold it to Litton in April 2024, and acknowledged he was a felon and prohibited from owning a gun.
He faces one charge of possession of a weapon by a prohibited person, a Class 4 felony. His criminal record dates back to 2001 and has faced multiple charges related to marijuana, credit card theft and DUI, according to court records.
A ghost gun does not have a serial number and can be constructed out of parts from different guns, making it difficult to trace. A homemade, 3D-printed gun, classified as a ghost gun, was allegedly used just hours before the Feather River school shooting to kill UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York on Dec. 4, 2024.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Police: Arizona man accused of selling gun to suspected school shooter