Multiple Shootings at Amish SchoolHouse

Re: Multiple Shootings at Amish SchoolHouse

Miller wrote:

Report of Shooting at Amish Schoolhouse
Police Surround Amish Schoolhouse in Pennsylvania After Report of Shooting

Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/amish_school_shooting&printer=1

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October 2, 2006
Students Killed by Gunman at Amish Schoolhouse
By JOHN HOLUSHA

A lone gunman walked into a one-room schoolhouse in a largely Amish community in southeastern Pennsylvania today and shot as many as 10 girls, killing three immediately and then turned the gun on himself, dying at the scene, according to the state police.

The man, identified as Charles Carl Roberts, 32, who lived in the area, was evidently nursing a long-ago grivance expressed in notes left for his wife and children, said Jeffrey Miller, commissioner of the state police. He he said the gunman lined the girls against the blackboard, bound their feet and shot them execution-style in the head.

Three of the girls were dead at the scene, and seven others were rushed to nearby hospitals, some of them severely wounded. An earlier report quoted a local coroner as saying there were six people dead. At a news conference this afternoon, Commissioner Miller said that several victims had been taken to hospitals and that he did not know what their conditions were.

"There was some issue in the past" that had left the gunman with a desire to harm female students, Commissioner Miller said. The gunman released about 16 boys in the class, a pregnant teacher's aide and three women with small children before the shooting, began, Commissioner Miller said. The principal teacher escaped at that time and ran to a nearby property to call 911.

The gunman evidently chose the small, private Amish school in Lancaster County about 35 miles west of Philadelphia because the security would be lax,Commissioner Miller said. He said when police tried talk to the gunman over loudspeakers to begin negotiations, Mr. Roberts made a cellphone call from inside the building threatening to start shooting unless police pulled back.

He was armed with an automatic pistol and a shotgun and had barricaded the doors to the school with structural lumber to slow down the police, who tried to charge in once the shooting started.

Police said the gunman worked as a truck driver who collected mild from nearby farms for processing and sale. Police said he dropped his own children at a nearby bus stop before borrowing a relative's pick-up truck and heading for the Amish school.

Commissioner Miller of the State Police said the gunman was not wanted for any crimes and apparently did not have a criminal record.

NYTimes.com

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The motive
At a press conference, the police reported the killer had molested two female children twenty years ago. He said he had been having urges the last two years to repeat the child molestation.

One assumes he wanted to kill girls so he wouldn't be tempted to molest them.

One sad, sick man.

BBB

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How many more, like him, are out there, waiting to commit crimes?

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BBB

Miller wrote:

How many more, like him, are out there, waiting to commit crimes?

The killer apparently attended to molest the girls before he killed them. If they were destined to die, at least they died before they were raped.

BBB

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I also heard on the radio, that the killer had lost a daughter, at a very young age.

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Well, here's a link to all that -
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/03/amish.shooting/index.html

In the meantime, an a2ker lives close by, and he and his neighbors are very very stunned and sad.

I - of course - have trouble hearing about all these kinds of incidents. But with the peaceful Amish being the victims, its more crushing than usual to hear about.

That sounds odd, as if the other times this kind of situation haven't been so very crushingly tragic. That's not what I mean. It's more a near poetic sense of a precious layer of human effort being breached.

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Each and every day, a neighbor said, the killer would walk his two kids to the bus stop.

I always find it hard to believe that a person doesn't really understand and know the person, they've married.

I think finding out your husband is a cross-dresser would be a surprise. But to find out he is a pedophile, would scare me to death .

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People can be, not always, but can be, defensively screening of their real selves and good at it. Sometimes it takes a lack of imagination or perception on the mate's part, and I suppose it can be a willed denial.

This can all happen easily when the social melieu disapproves of whatever attribute is in question.

When I was young and far away, I was very in love with a man who turned out to be - I found out fifteen years later, by my own inference and a happenstantial discussion with an associate - to be gay. Since he was just about the best most loving lover I've run across, and I, at the time of our romance, had zilch knowledge of sexual variety, even though I'd read Kinsey - I was dumbfounded. When precisely I was most dumbounded is a little hard to decifer. I think it was at the beginning, when he disappeared, that I was most confused. I was hurt for a long time, until I figured it out.

This was long ago - I mention it as a vote for the possibility of surprise. This fellow and I are now lifelong friends, and actual sexual attraction is a distant memory (not to dump either, there is still strong regard).
I didn't mean to make any connection with gay and violence. More to talk about secret selves even within communicating relationships.

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I think too, that age has a lot to do with it. Older should mean wiser and having more life experiences.

But, the world of today, is not our Mother's world. That's for sure.

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Cosider the % of the daily news, that now's being devoted to the issue of "pedophiles". Crying or Very sad

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The more I read about this guy - the angrier I get- and that's not typically my reaction. I think as Osso says, the whole image of those peaceful children and people being assaulted with such violence (I mean, they even strive not to harm the environment in the ways that they live) is incomprehensible- but I also think he's just a coward, and manipulative to an evil degree. What he did negates any sympathy or empathy I might have had for any of his regrets or problems.

He chose a defenseless woman and children in an isolated one room schoolhouse as his target. I'd hazard to guess there was not even a phone at their disposal to call for help (unless Amish ways have changed recently). I'm sure this was part of his calculation, and a testament to his cowardice.

In his letter, he referenced the pain he felt at losing his young daughter - how could he then inflict such pain on these families - knowing and I believe having calculated exactly what the cost of his actions would be to them.

I can't judge because I don't know - but I believe a man who was this unstable had to exhibit some symptoms. Whether anyone took them seriously or not is the question. I know I've been guilty in the past of trying to overlook what I didn't want to believe about someone I have loved- or more selfishly - overlooked stuff in people because I was dependent upon them for one thing or another.

This guy makes my blood boil. If he hadn't killed himself- this is someone who might have turned this pacifist (me) into a murderer. If he'd done this to my child - I wouldn't be able to be responsible for what I'd try to do to him, given the chance. I'm so sick of people like this preying on children...it makes me feel physically ill.

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The murderer wsnt gay, he was a paedophiile with some major problems that resulted in violence.
Its been a surreal 5 days around here , the contrast of the "world" bursting in on the Amish, just for the news byt was handled with great care by the Amish themselves. They used every opportunity to express that forgiveness is their way and the will pray for Mr Roberts as they do for their slain little girls.
Its a lesson that is probably missed as the newsgirls with their "bullet proof" hair helmets intrude on everyone with their wireless mikes.
When news coverage goes past its duty to inform and then winds up being an embarrassment to those who want to show our feelings of sorrow and a little of the Amish "life must go on "spirit, its no longer providing a useful commodity.

I was walking in Georgetown on Wednesday(the only nearbysettlement with a store and a post office) because my wife needed some material for a quilt. I walked outside the dry goods and was immediately accosted by a female reporter who wanted to hear whatever noise I could provide regarding the events. I was quite rude to her and asked her to let me know when her mother dies so I can be there to get into her face. She called me a "F***head" , and (this I cannot believe) she actually asked me if I knew who I was talking to"
I smiled and walked awy to get a soda

I lit up a cigar and glowered at the team of television technicians (who , to me , looked like high school kids,two of them even had acne). Apparently their job was to support the "talent". One of the technicians gave me a smile and a thumbs up signal and then looked around to make sure he wasnt seen , then went back to fiddling with knobs in the Chevy van satellite truck.

The world will pack up and leave soon, and its up to us who daily see the people whove lost their daughters. We bear the responsibility to help in the healing,to accept the forgiveness and behave somewhat like them as we , once again, move on with our seasonal chores.
Those of us who are neighbors of the town and the Amish families, we kept away from the four funerals yeasterday. Even so, on the news was an audience of newsreporters along the sides of the roads as the cortege of buggies and hearses passed by to go to the Amsih cemetery. The newspeople became the news. Even the local station, embarrassed at the size of the audience all standing there with mikes and shouting questions at the passing buggies, made a comment that we need the Amish to show us the simple gifts . Helmet head lady reporter, it turned out, was from Philly. . Ill bet shes a big deal in Philly.

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farmerman wrote:

She called me a "F***head" , and (this I cannot believe) she actually asked me if I knew who I was talking to"

You could have replied "I don't know WHO you are, but I know WHAT you are."

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The Amish have periodic "disciplines" which, are standards of life handed down by the Amish Bishops through their "safety and living committees" They do have a severe life, but theyve accomodated themselves to our modern ways. They dont have a universal tabboo of things like electricity. They can have electricity, but they must generate it themselves. Thier customs demand an independence that doesnt want them to be physically conected to the outside world. So, the Amish have huge propane tanks that they use to generate about 6KW to distribute electricity as they need it. First to the milk coolers and the milking machines, then to the pumps and refrigeration. Only then, if theres enough , they will use it to run a radio or TV for the news and weather and Christian stations (of which Lancaster county has a number of}
They also use cell phones. However, their social customs rely upon personal contact, so they dont use cells for anything but business. If they want gossip (they love gossip) they must pack up the buggy and, carrying some food as a donation to the gossip party, they go visit. Ive often driven up to an Amish farm looking for someone and walking by the house, I can often hear laughter and women talking like any other "power lunch group" at a mid city restaurant.

Men and women alike gather in groups just to talk and discuss the issues of the day that affect them and the immediate world.
Ive had more Amish men, this week since the shootings, stop me and instruct me as to the proper way to handle this event in my dealings with the Amish community.

Anger and retribution is unknown to them. Mrs Roberts (the wife of the murderer) was visited by the Amish and "English" neighbors as much as were the families of the slain girls. My secretary is part of a Mothers prayer group in which Mrs Roberts was also a member. The mothers have been reaching out and caring for her as well. The "Helmet headed" reporters dont understand that . "I couldnt be as forgiving" said one on the news. Well, helmet heads of the world, those who read the news off prompters, This is not your world apparently. Mrs Roberts had no knowledge of her husbands dementia. She is as innocent as the girls who were shot.

The Amish are still waving at us as we drive through the countryside on our way to work or errands.
The solidarity among the various communities is based upon a shared sorrow and an attempt to get on with life. The English and the Amish are now full of mutual understanding, almost like a mini -version of all the worlds good will we had bestowed on us after 9/11.
Unlike that event, I hope, here, we can maintain the feelings and good will in our communities.

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Thanks for your posts, farmer, on this & the other thread.
Fascinating reading.
The Amish sound such sane & civilized people. I'm full of admiration & respect at the way that they've handled the killings & then the intrusion of the media into their community.

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Chai(runs with scissors) Tea

Now ya tell me, why is it that the best comebacks surface AFTER the occassion to use them.

I wanted to ask her whether her hair was bullet proof., but that too was after my little hissy fit.

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farmerman wrote:

The murderer wsnt gay, he was a paedophiile with some major problems that resulted in violence.
Its been a surreal 5 days around here , the contrast of the "world" bursting in on the Amish, just for the news byt was handled with great care by the Amish themselves. They used every opportunity to express that forgiveness is their way and the will pray for Mr Roberts as they do for their slain little girls.
Its a lesson that is probably missed as the newsgirls with their "bullet proof" hair helmets intrude on everyone with their wireless mikes.
When news coverage goes past its duty to inform and then winds up being an embarrassment to those who want to show our feelings of sorrow and a little of the Amish "life must go on "spirit, its no longer providing a useful commodity.

I was walking in Georgetown on Wednesday(the only nearbysettlement with a store and a post office) because my wife needed some material for a quilt. I walked outside the dry goods and was immediately accosted by a female reporter who wanted to hear whatever noise I could provide regarding the events. I was quite rude to her and asked her to let me know when her mother dies so I can be there to get into her face. She called me a "F***head" , and (this I cannot believe) she actually asked me if I knew who I was talking to"
I smiled and walked awy to get a soda

I lit up a cigar and glowered at the team of television technicians (who , to me , looked like high school kids,two of them even had acne). Apparently their job was to support the "talent". One of the technicians gave me a smile and a thumbs up signal and then looked around to make sure he wasnt seen , then went back to fiddling with knobs in the Chevy van satellite truck.

The world will pack up and leave soon, and its up to us who daily see the people whove lost their daughters. We bear the responsibility to help in the healing,to accept the forgiveness and behave somewhat like them as we , once again, move on with our seasonal chores.
Those of us who are neighbors of the town and the Amish families, we kept away from the four funerals yeasterday. Even so, on the news was an audience of newsreporters along the sides of the roads as the cortege of buggies and hearses passed by to go to the Amsih cemetery. The newspeople became the news. Even the local station, embarrassed at the size of the audience all standing there with mikes and shouting questions at the passing buggies, made a comment that we need the Amish to show us the simple gifts . Helmet head lady reporter, it turned out, was from Philly. . Ill bet shes a big deal in Philly.

\

Wherever she goes she brings her internal littleness with her.

I am so glad that the wife and family of the killer are being treated ith compassion and care, and their terrible tragedy acknowledged and comforted, as well.

Go Amish!

That is class, as well as compassion.

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You might be interested to see how these events were covered in other countries. This is a report from my morning paper. (Melbourne, Oz.) :

Amish lay children to rest

http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2006/10/06/amish_buggies_wideweb__470x311,0.jpg

The funeral procession for Naomi Rose Ebersol makes its way through Georgetown.
Photo: AP

October 6, 2006 - 6:54AM

Amish families streamed down closed roads in a mournful parade of horse-drawn buggies today, to bury schoolgirl victims of the Pennsylvania shootings which wracked their peaceable community.

As four of the five young girls killed on Monday were laid to rest, tales of selfless heroism emerged of one victim who reportedly asked killer Charles Roberts to "shoot me first," to save her classmates.

And the grief looked set to deepen, as US media reports said one critically wounded schoolgirl had been taken off life support in hospital and brought back to her spartan Pennsylvania home to die.

The reclusive Amish sect, which disdains trappings of the modern world, turned in on itself, as hundreds of mourners gathered at simple funeral rites for each child.

Each girl was to be buried in a plain pine coffin, using no metal in accordance with the Amish belief that all human remains should return to dust.

The dead were dressed by female relatives in plain white dresses, and laid out at home in open caskets as mourners arrived to pay respects, said Rita Rhodes, a local midwife who delivered two of the victims.

Those laid to rest today were Marian Fisher, 13, Naomi Rose Ebersole, seven; Mary Liz Miller, eight, and her seven-year-old sister, Lena, who all died in the simple one-room schoolhouse before Roberts turned the gun on himself.

Police sealed off roads leading into the small town of Nickel Mines. There was also a no-fly zone to stop media helicopters buzzing overhead. ...... <cont.>

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/10/06/1159641490704.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

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Multiple Shootings at Amish SchoolHouse

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