Two killed, child injured in shooting at Chico library

Gunfire inside the Butte County Library’s Chico branch turned a place built for open access into a crime scene, leaving two adults dead and a child injured. Police said the library at 1108 Sherman Avenue was open when multiple 911 calls came in at 5:12 p.m. on Monday, June 22, 2026, reporting shots fired, screaming and panic inside the building.

Chico Police Chief Billy Aldridge said officers arrived at 5:18 p.m. and entered the library shortly after. The suspect fled out the back and was taken into custody outside the building without incident, and police said no shots were fired between officers and the suspect. Officials said there was no ongoing threat to the public, but the violence had already cut through one of the city’s most accessible civic spaces, a place meant for children, readers and neighbors to move in and out without a barrier.

The victims were two adults and one juvenile. The child was taken to Enloe Hospital with injuries described as minor or non-life-threatening, while the names of the deceased were being withheld until next of kin were notified. Investigators had not released the suspect’s identity or a motive as of the initial reports, and multiple agencies including the FBI were assisting with the case.

Family reunification efforts were set up at Chico First Assembly of God Church as police and emergency personnel worked the scene. Surrounding streets, including Sherman Avenue near East 3rd Avenue, East First Avenue and Arbutus Avenue, were expected to remain closed for hours while investigators processed the library and the area around it. The Butte County Library branch remained part of a broader shutdown, with library branches closed on Tuesday, June 23, 2026.

The shooting underscored the strain now placed on everyday public institutions that were designed to stay open, low-cost and welcoming. Libraries have long served as one of the last truly open civic spaces in American life, where children, students, job seekers and families can enter without an appointment or a purchase. Events like this force communities to confront a hard tradeoff: how to protect public access without turning the places people rely on most into fortified spaces defined by suspicion and screening.