Antioch High School Shooting Update One Year

Months of continuing investigation into the murder-suicide inside Antioch High School one year ago tomorrow has confirmed that shooter Solomon Henderson, 17, acted alone and had no co-conspirators.

Shortly after 11 a.m. on January 22, 2025, Henderson entered the school's cafeteria during a lunch period, and within 17 seconds, randomly fired a total of ten shots from a nine-millimeter semi-automatic pistol. Student Josselin Corea Escalante, 16, was shot in the back and fatally wounded. A 17-year-old male student suffered a graze wound to the arm.

As to the motive, detectives closely scrutinized on-line material left by Henderson, including writings on non-traditional websites and in journal entries, before concluding that Henderson idolized mass murderers from around the world, referred to them as "saints," and longed to have the "sainthood" that he believed they had achieved. Henderson mirrored antisemitic and white supremacist ideologies, and was strongly influenced by satanic and violent extremist material on the Internet.

While the investigation into the actual shooting incident resulted in no criminal prosecution, an arrest warrant for Henderson's mother, Chrysta Thomas, 40, is outstanding on a charge of unlawful gun possession by a convicted felon. Laboratory analysis of the pistol Henderson used led to the discovery of Thomas' DNA profile on the gun. Records reflect Thomas has a 2010 felony conviction in Los Angeles for possession of a stolen vehicle.

Detectives learned that Henderson's family moved out of their Carefree Lane home in Antioch to an unknown destination a short time after the school shooting. Thomas' name has been entered into the FBI's National Crime Information Center computer system with nationwide extradition.