2006 — Oct 2, West Nickel Mines Amish School Shooting, Lancaster County, PA[1] — 5-6

— 5-6  New York Times (David Kocieniewski and Gary Gately). “Man Shoots 11…” 10-3-2006.

— 5-6  Lancaster Online. “Nickel Mines, 5 Years Later: A daily walk for Amish…” 10-2-2011.

— 5-6  LancasterPA.com. “Amish School Shooting.”

 

Narrative Information

 

LancasterPA.com: “….The shooting took place at the West Nickel Mines Amish School, located about 12 miles southeast of Lancaster City. Nickel Mines is just a crossroads within Bart Township, a local municipality with a population of roughly 3,000 Amish and English (the Amish term for the non-Amish). The school was a typical Amish one-room school with a school bell on the roof, two outhouses, a ball field, and an enclosed schoolyard. It was built in 1976. On the blackboard was a sign with a teddy bear. The sign read “Visitors Bubble Up Our Days”. Twenty-six children, ages 6-13, from three different local Amish church districts attended this school.

 

“Charlie Roberts was a milk truck driver who serviced the local community, including the farms of some of the victims’ families. Nine years earlier his wife Amy gave birth to their first child, a baby girl. However, the baby died after living only 20 minutes. Apparently his daughter’s death affected him greatly. He never forgave God for her death, and eventually planned to get revenge.

 

“On the morning of October 2nd Roberts said goodbye to two of his own children at the school bus stop, then drove to the West Nickel Mines Amish School. When he walked in the door, some of the children recognized him. That day the school had four adult visitors – the teacher’s mother, her sister, and two sisters-in-law. One of the women was pregnant. When the young teacher saw his guns, she and her mother left the other adults with the children and ran to a nearby house for help. A call was made to 911.

 

“The pregnant visitor was trying to comfort 7-year old Naomi Rose when Roberts ordered the adults to leave. Then he told the boys to leave. The boys huddled near an outhouse to pray. Roberts had the 10 girls lie down facing the blackboard and he tied their hands and feet. Roberts told the girls he was sorry for what he was about to do, but “I’m angry at God and I need to punish some Christian girls to get even with him.”

 

“When the state police arrived, Roberts ordered them to leave the property or he would shoot. He told the girls, “I’m going to make you pay for my daughter.” One of the girls, 13-year old Marian, said, “Shoot me first.” Roberts began shooting each of the girls before finally shooting himself. When the police broke in to the school, two of the girls, including Marian, were dead. Naomi Rose died in the arms of a state trooper. Emergency personnel arrived quickly, and helicopters flew the wounded to hospitals in Lancaster, Hershey, Reading, and Delaware. Two sisters died later that night in two different area hospitals….

 

“In all, over four million dollars was raised in support of the families….

 

“The horror of this school shooting was the story the reporters came to tell about. However, in the hours and days following the shooting another story developed that also caught the world’s attention – the story of Amish grace and forgiveness….” (LancasterPA.com. “Amish School Shooting.”)

 

NYT: “Nickel Mines, Pa, Oct 2 — A dairy truck driver, apparently nursing a 20-year-old grudge, walked into a one-room Amish schoolhouse here Monday morning and systematically tried to execute the girls there, killing four and wounding seven before killing himself, the police said. [A fifth child died in a Delaware hospital early Tuesday of wounds from the shooting, The Associated Press reported.]

 

“The heavily armed gunman first ordered the 15 boys in the room to leave, along with several adults, and demanded that the 11 girls line up facing the blackboard. As the gunman lashed the students’ legs together with wire and plastic ties, the teacher dashed from the room and called the police around 10:35 a.m.

 

“The gunman, identified as Charles C. Roberts, 32, killed himself as the police stormed the West Nickel Mines Amish School, which is set back in a cornfield on a street of stone houses, barns and silos in Lancaster County, about 50 miles west of Philadelphia. Several of the wounded were in critical condition in area hospitals. “He wanted to find female victims,” said Col. Jeffrey B. Miller, commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police. “This was a target of opportunity.”

 

“Mr. Roberts had no criminal record or history of psychiatric illness, the authorities said. But notes he left at his home — where he lived with his wife, Marie, and their three children — said he was distraught about a slight that had occurred more than 20 years ago. The police would not describe the incident that had upset him. But Colonel Miller said Mr. Roberts, who lived near the school but was not Amish, did not appear to have been motivated by religious bias. The police said they were looking into a report that the couple lost an infant daughter in 1997.

 

“When Mr. Roberts arrived at the school shortly before 10:30 a.m., he was carrying a 9-millimeter handgun, Colonel Miller said, and asked the teacher, “Have you seen anything like this?” referring to the weapon. “Can you help me find it?”

 

“When the state police arrived around 10:45, Mr. Roberts had barricaded the doors with bolts and lumber he had brought in his pickup truck, Colonel Miller said.

 

“After a brief cell-phone exchange with his wife and then with the state police, Mr. Roberts began shooting, aiming the handgun and a shotgun at the children as they stood lined in front of the room. As the police began charging the building around 11, Mr. Roberts fired a shot into his head, Colonel Miller said. “He was angry with life; he was angry at God,” Colonel Miller said. “It appears he chose this school because it was close to his home, it had the female victims he was looking for, and it probably seemed easier to get into than some bigger school.”…

 

“The police did not release the names of the victims but said all had been girls from 6 to 13.

 

“Once the police entered the building, they found a cache of weapons and supplies that indicated Mr. Roberts had prepared for a long siege. He had a 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistol, two shotguns, a stun gun, two knives, two cans of gunpowder and 600 rounds of ammunition.

 

“In a toolbox near his body, the police discovered bolts he had used to barricade the school doors with two-by-fours, pliers and wires he had used to bind the girls’ legs. Another five-gallon bucket he brought into the building contained earplugs, bathroom tissue and a clean change of clothing, the police said.

 

“Mr. Roberts lived just over a mile from the school in the town of Bart, in a modular home that had a trampoline and sandbox in the yard and was already decorated for Halloween. Neighbors said he was jovial and generally well liked, and they were struggling to understand what had driven him to violence….

 

“The police said, however, that Mr. Roberts’s co-workers had noticed changes in his behavior over the past several months. While he had long been known as an upbeat and outgoing person, this year he began to appear sullen, his co-workers told the police. Then, late last week, Mr. Roberts once again appeared upbeat at work, Colonel Miller said. “We think that’s when he decided to do what he did,” Colonel Miller said. “It’s like his worries and burdens were lifted from him.”

 

“The police said most of Mr. Roberts’s weapons appeared to be legal. He bought the 9-millimeter semiautomatic, which he fired at least 13 times during his rampage, from a store five miles from the schoolhouse in 2004. The shotguns and ammunition also appeared to be legal, the police said, although it was not clear whether his possession of a stun gun violated any law.

 

“The police said Mr. Roberts had bought the ammunition and other supplies from area stores over the past several months, so there was no glaring sign that might have alerted store owners that he was about to burst out in violence….

 

“Colonel Miller said that once the gunfire began troopers charged the building and broke in through several windows in the school. By the time they arrived, however, the children lay dead or wounded in the front of the classroom and Mr. Roberts’s body was a few feet away. One child died in the arms of a trooper as he rushed her out of the building to get medical help, Colonel Miller said….” (New York Times (David Kocieniewski and Gary Gately). “Man Shoots 11, Killing 5 Girls, in Amish School.” 10-3-2006.)

 

Lancaster Online: “….A few outward things have changed in Nickel Mines in the past five years…. Here in this quiet valley, the yellow West Nickel Mines School building has vanished, torn down shortly after the shootings. The site now is an ordinary green pasture. The New Hope School was built a short distance away, not far from the homes of some of the families who lost daughters that day. Children still walk across farm fields to the school every morning. At recess, they pour out of its doors to pick up sides for baseball or other games in the play yard, now removed from the main road.

 

“But the families and community have been forever changed by what happened. Seven families lost or had daughters injured that day. Two of those families suffered both hardships. Lost were: Naomi Rose Ebersol, 7; Lena, 7, and Mary Liz Miller, 8; Anna Mae Stoltzfus, 12; and Marian Fisher, 13. Naomi, Anna Mae and Marian are buried in a row in a simple Amish cemetery. The Miller sisters are in the same cemetery, buried next to an uncle….

 

“Sarah Ann Stoltzfus, now 13, was shot in the back of the head, the bullet exiting her right temple, where it left a 3-inch hole. She lost 5 percent to 10 percent of her brain tissue due to the shooting and its aftermath, her parents say. The parents, like other family members of the girls, asked that their names not be used. Remarkably, she now has only a small scar under her hairline and is an “A” student at New Hope. She is the only girl from the shootings who is still a New Hope “scholar,” as Amish families call students….

 

“Rachel Stoltzfus, also 13, was shot in the arm and the jaw. She had bone grafting done in her jaw, but also has only a small scar. She still needs some dental work, but otherwise is physically recovered. She works as a hired girl for a neighboring family, her parents say.

 

“Two of the girls still have physical problems from the shootings. And when they hurt, the whole community hurts, families say. Barbie Fisher, who is 16, has had several surgeries and still has some problems with her shoulder. She also is working as a hired girl.

 

“The most severely injured girl is the youngest survivor. Now 11, Rosanna King is in a wheelchair and does not walk or talk. She is awaiting treatment for a hip problem. This little girl, who attends a special-needs school for Amish children, uses a specialized computer mounted on the front of her wheelchair. Two cameras in the computer track her eyes and, with them, she can move a cursor. If she stares at an image for a fixed time, she can activate links that take her to photos of family and friends, a box that plays a recording that says “Thank you,” or a recording of her brothers singing. She also can use the cursor to go to a keyboard and spell out messages. She recently spelled “Hi Leroy,” to one of her brothers. Her father says, “We have lots of reason to believe she knows everything that goes on.”….

 

“One of the babies born to a Nickel Mines family – a family who lost two daughters – was born the day before Rosanna’s Sept. 11 birthday, about one year ago. The family named the baby after Rosanna. “She gave us hope,” says the mother. “She was sent home to die and did not. There was hope there.”….

 

“Emma Fisher was the only girl to escape the schoolhouse that day. She said she heard a voice, which some believe was heaven-sent, urging her to slip out quietly, saying, “If you go out, don’t run.” Though she was not injured, one of her sisters, Marian, died and the other, Barbie, was hurt. The girl’s parents say Emma struggled with her feelings after the shootings, wrestling with survivor’s guilt….

 

“Some of the boys who were in the schoolhouse that day also have struggled with survivor’s guilt. Roberts allowed them to leave with their teacher and some adults who were visiting. Some of the boys had sisters who remained behind….

 

“The grandfather of one of the victims recalls a letter that came from an older woman from New York. She apologized for only sending $5, saying she wanted to give more but simply didn’t have it….

 

“Most of the families have attended an annual Amish event known as the Sudden Death Reunion. Held in a different Amish community each year for those who have lost loved ones, mostly children, the event draws hundreds. It mixes hymn singing with formal and informal collective sharing of experiences. “We just know that there’s more people who are going through the same thing … and we’re all in the same boat,” says a mother who lost two daughters in the Nickel Mines shootings. Everyone benefits from being together. “Sharing your grief with others helps with the healing,” says one mother. “That’s huge, sharing the grief,” agrees her husband. “I have to think of a saying, ‘A burden shared is a burden divided, and a joy shared is a joy multiplied.’….

 

“Many of the families also have framed prints of a painting of the former school. “The Dawning of a New Day” was painted by State Trooper Glenn E. Blue, who was one of the first officers on the scene and continues to have a special relationship with the families. The painting shows the school as it once was. Five white doves, flying heavenward, represent the five girls who died. Five other doves, perched on the roof, symbolize the five girls who were shot and survived.

 

Forgiveness

 

“Not only do the families have to face their own grief and pain, they have to confront who caused it. Roberts, in their view, was a sick man. Some think he was tormented by the devil. “I look at the whole event as something that Satan planned, and Charlie was his tool,” says one father. The families immediately forgave Roberts and reached out to his family even in their grief, an act that impressed the world. But the families say the path to forgiveness is ongoing and must be walked every day….

 

“On the anniversary of the shootings, the families who had children in the school that day always gather. This year, the families planned to get together with some of the rescue personnel who were at the schoolhouse….” (Lancaster Online. “Nickel Mines, 5 Years Later: A daily walk for Amish…” 10-2-2011.)

Sources

 

Lancaster Online (Ad Crable and Cindy Stauffer) “Nickel Mines, 5 Years Later: A daily walk for Amish on path of grief and forgiveness.” 10-2-2011. Accessed 8-23-2015 at: http://lancasteronline.com/news/nickel-mines-years-later-a-daily-walk-for-amish-on/article_3e48d95b-61d4-52ba-bade-7bffc61a7961.html

 

LancasterPA.com. “Amish School Shooting.” Accessed 8-23-2015 at: http://lancasterpa.com/amish/amish-school-shooting/

 

New York Times (David Kocieniewski and Gary Gately). “Man Shoots 11, Killing 5 Girls, in Amish School.” 10-3-2006. Accessed 8-23-2015 at: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/03/us/03amish.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

 

 

[1] Ten girls aged 6-13 shot, five of whom died, before killer committed suicide in the schoolhouse.