At least six killed in Amish school shooting

**THL** · 02 Oct 06,, 19:50

It is an AMISH school - what could they have possibly done to anyone? The world is getting sicker and sicker by the day.

At least six killed in Amish school shooting
Gunman among dead, according to state police; others wounded
BREAKING NEWS
NBC, MSNBC and news services

Updated: 1:24 p.m. CT Oct 2, 2006
NICKEL MINES, Pa. - At least six people were killed Monday in a shooting at a one-room Amish school, the county coroner said.

"So far six confirmed dead and the helicopters are pulling into (Lancaster General Hospital) like crazy," Lancaster County Coroner G. Gary Kirchner said.

The shooter was among the dead, state police Cpl. Ralph Striebig said. He was identified as Charles Roberts, a 32-year-old milk delivery driver who lived nearby.

Three girls, all critical with gunshot wounds and ages 6 through 12, were admitted to Lancaster General Hospital, spokesman John Lines told NBC affiliate WGAL-TV.

Police said Roberts had entered the school, sent the male students outside and kept the girls in while blocking the doors.

WGAL-TV also reported that the shooter had entered the school in rural Lancaster County and started making threats.

Some people in the Amish community learned about the situation and contacted police, WGAL reported. Negotiations apparently then took place but at some point at least 10 shots were fired within the school, WGAL said. It appeared the shooter took his own life.

Two hours later, about three dozen people in traditional Amish clothing, hats and bonnets stood near the small school building speaking to one another, several young people and authorities.

At least two ambulances had left the scene, and at least one person was taken on a stretcher to a medical helicopter.

Twenty-seven students are said to have attended the private school, which teaches first through eighth grades.

The school is situated among farmlands just outside Nickel Mines, a tiny village about 55 miles west of Philadelphia.

Officials at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center confirmed that victims were being admitted there. A spokeswoman said the hospital anticipated more than one patient, but did not know how many.

Other recent incidents
The shooting followed reports earlier on Monday of lockdowns at two schools in the Las Vegas area.

Police and trained dogs had deployed around Mojave High and Elizondo Elementary schools in North Las Vegas, Nevada, and police were looking for an armed youth, KLAS-TV reported.

Monday’s violence followed two gun-related incidents that shook U.S. schools last week.

On Friday, a 15-year-old student fatally wounded his school’s principal in western Wisconsin. A drifter in Colorado Wednesday took six female high school students hostage, molested them and then shot one to death and killed himself as police closed in.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15105305/

**FOG3** · 02 Oct 06,, 20:14

A gunman kills several students in a one-room Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania. In Colorado, a drifter walks into a school and fatally shoots a student before taking his own life. Wisconsin authorities charge three boys with plotting a bomb attack on their high school and, two weeks later, a student in a rural school allegedly shoots his principal. A gunman bursts into a Vermont elementary school looking for his ex-girlfriend and guns down a teacher.

All of this in the past month alone.

Since the 1999 Columbine massacre that left 15 people dead, there has been a determined effort among administrators, principals and teachers to improve school safety. Law enforcement officers across the nation and around the world have added training specifically intended to address school violence.

But experts say there is simply no way to guarantee that a stranger or student won’t be able to injure or kill on school grounds.

“There’s no perfect security, from the White House to the schoolhouse,” said Kenneth Trump, president of the National School Safety and Security Services consulting firm in Cleveland.

‘Unpredictable outsiders’
Since Columbine, school officials have gotten better at preventing student violence, he said, but authorities can’t prepare for every problem.

“When you factor in unpredictable outsiders, when you have a roaming monster walking into the schools, we have to be realistic,” Trump said. “There are some incidents you’re not going to be able to prevent.”

Trump’s firm counts 17 nonfatal school shootings so far this school year, beginning Aug. 1. There were 85 the previous school year and 52 in the 2004-2005 school year.

Since Columbine in 1999, the number of fatal school shootings in a school year has ranged from three (2002-03) to 24 (2004-05), according to National School Safety and Security Services. The firm does not track cases before Columbine.

Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener was among the law enforcement officials who eagerly applied for federal aid to beef up security at Platte Canyon High School in Bailey, the site of last week’s attack in which a man held six girls hostage before killing one and himself.

A deputy was assigned to be the school’s resource officer — essentially, its security guard. But that guard was called away on sheriff’s business last Wednesday and gunman Duane Morrison walked inside with two handguns. He reportedly sat in the school parking lot and wandered the hallways for as long as 35 minutes before the siege began.

Lessons from Columbine
Despite the death of 16-year-old Emily Keyes, things could have been worse, authorities said.

“Basically, the tragedy of Columbine taught law enforcement and educators how to avoid future tragedies,” Gov. Bill Owens said. “In a couple of significant ways, the tragedy of Columbine may have helped prevent an even worse tragedy (here).”

He said educators had been instructed in August on what to do. The school was also designed using concept learned from the Columbine attacks, which helped authorities keep the gunman in one room.

Ever since Columbine, school officials have been taught to write emergency response plans and practice them, to lock down schools and evacuate when it appears safe. That seemed to work well in Bailey as hundreds of students were whisked to safety.

Law enforcement officers who once were taught to set up a perimeter and wait for SWAT teams to show up are now trained in “active shooter” programs that call for the first officers on the scene to enter the building and work as quickly as possible to locate the gunman, Trump said.

“That’s why we were able to isolate it to just one room and get everybody else out,” Wegener said. “Still, you can’t prepare for something like this. You do the best you can.”

‘Nobody knew’
Student Zach Barnes, 16, also said students last year practiced drills for emergencies including a gunman in the school. Students were told to remain calm, taught where to go and how to leave the school. Still, there appeared to be at least one glitch Wednesday.

“We were sitting there in math class and over the intercom they said, ‘Students and teachers, we have a code white, repeat code white,’ and nobody really knew what a code white was,” Barnes said.

He said his teacher pulled a sheet of paper from her desk, checked it and then herded her students into a nearby classroom that had a solid door. After about 25 minutes, a police officer led them into the hallway and out of the school.

Colorado has left decisions on providing security in schools up to some 172 school boards, but state lawmakers said they will look at training and other issues following the Bailey attack.

Providing security guards at every entrance to every school would be difficult, said Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, D-Golden, but others said video cameras and security systems could help fill the gap.

“If we could plug in some technology, that would help,” said George Voorheis, superintendent of Colorado’s largely rural Montrose & Olathe Schools District RE1J.

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Follow up on the same.

To be brutally blunt, they haven't learned diddly squat. Gun free zones don't work, if they did then all this couldn't have happened could it because it was in a gun free zone. Not to mention isn't it amazing how these things always happen in gun free zones. How many successful stunts like this do you hear about happening at gun shows, gun shops, or otherwise?

Tear down the gun free zone legislation, and go ahead with training and arming the teachers already.

**kams** · 02 Oct 06,, 20:22

What the F**k is going on? How can anyone kill school kids like this?

A lone gunman walked into a one-room Amish schoolhouse and shot three people to death before killing himself, police said Monday. Seven others were wounded in the attack.

"It seems as though he wanted to attack young female victims, and this is close to his residence, that's the only reason we can figure that he went to the school," said Comm. Jeffrey Miller, Pennsylvania State Police.

The shooting took place at Wolf Rock School in Paradise, a school run by the Amish community with about 27 students in grades 1 through 8.

The gunman, Charles Carl Roberts IV, 32, was a truck driver, said Miller.

At least five young girls with gunshot wounds were taken to area hospitals, a spokeswoman said.

The man ordered some students to leave before opening fire on the remaining students, said state police spokesman Jack Lewis.

Lewis told CNN that the gunman shot and killed at least three students. Earlier a county coroner told The Associated Press that at least 6 people had been killed in the shooting.

Lancaster General Hospital initially received three young patients, ages 6 to 15 -- one in critical condition -- and expects to receive three more patients soon, spokeswoman Kim Hatch told CNN.

Two were transferred to Hershey Medical Center and another to Children's Hospital in Philadelphia, while the fourth remains at Lancaster General, she said.

Another young female suffering from a gunshot wound to the head and right hand was taken to Reading Hospital and Medical Center, where she was in critical condition before she was transferred to Children's Hospital, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Lancaster County's 911 Web site reported dozens of emergency vehicles -- including at least nine ambulances -- were dispatched to Bart Township shortly before 11 a.m. for a "medical emergency." The Lancaster County emergency communications Web site showed 20 incident calls listed to the normally quiet Bart Township at 10:48 a.m.

Shortly after the attack, men, women and girls in traditional Amish clothing gathered in small groups outside the country schoolhouse along a dirt road. Horse-drawn carriages could be seen in a nearby parking lot.

The attack was the nation's third deadly school shooting in a week.

On Wednesday, a 53-year-old man entered a high school in Bailey, Colorado, where he held several female students hostage at gunpoint. He shot one girl before killing himself seconds after a SWAT team stormed inside the classroom.

A high school student near Madison, Wisconsin, is suspected of fatally gunning down his principal on Friday, after he was disciplined for carrying tobacco and being bullied

Truck driver kills three in Amish school shooting

My daughter is in 2nd grade and I used to think atleast no 1st,2nd or 3rd grader is gonna get a gun to school and start killing. Now we have complete wacko's walking in to school and butchering kids.

**leib10** · 02 Oct 06,, 20:27

What the hell is going on? I'm literally losing count of how many school shootings there've been in the past month. It has to be the copycat effect.

And naturally, the antis are going to be clamoring for the banning of all firearms for those families with children.

But what a shame.

**kams** · 02 Oct 06,, 20:36

Originally Posted by leibstandarte10

What the hell is going on? I'm literally losing count of how many school shootings there've been in the past month. It has to be the copycat effect.

And naturally, the antis are going to be clamoring for the banning of all firearms for those families with children.

But what a shame.

Oh No. I am thinking of arming my kid with an AK and dressed in Body armour, Kevlar helmet before putting her on the school bus

.

**ChrisF202** · 02 Oct 06,, 20:52

We need armed cops at each and every school. No more unarmed rent a cops. Most colleges and universities have full service police departments as do the public school districts in most major cities (ex. Miami-Dade County Public Schools Police, Los Angeles School Police, etc etc) so why not make it mandatory for all public schools?

Sadly with the political climate here that is not possible. New York City USED to have its own school police department but then the all mighty NYPD came along and "absorbed" them and took away their guns. In NYC, nobody but the NYPD is allowed to own a gun. Not even the other police forces (Parks, Hospitals, CUNY, NYC Sheriff, Env Protection, etc) can get a permit to carry guns.

**leib10** · 02 Oct 06,, 21:02

We had school cops at my high school, and they were armed. However, just how much help they'll be would be in doubt. The shooter would be able to kill a lot of kids, while the armed officer just calls for backup and lets the slaughter continue.

**kams** · 02 Oct 06,, 21:05

Why do these wackos always go to school to kill? and then they shoot themself

Why not try it at a police station, atleast they don't have to shoot themself

**leib10** · 02 Oct 06,, 21:12

Mostly it's high school students unable to cope with the everyday hell they call high school. There's no escape for them. Most of the time they're too young to drop out or they would feel ashamed if they did. Most of the shooters were bullied by their peers and felt like they had no place in the life they're being forced to live. Maybe things aren't so good at home either. They begin to take on a very fatalistic attitude towards everything, especially death, and they begin fantasizing about how cool it would be to blow the brains out of so-and-so's head. They may even relate this to what friends they have, which should be a warning sign that's something's not right. Yet a lot of times, though it's taken note of, it's for the most part forgotten- until it's too late.They have nowhere to go, nowhere to run, and nobody to talk to, and in their last act of desperation they lash out against the most visible form of their antagonism, that is, their peers, especially the ones that pick on them and drag them down. And then, when they realize what a horrible deed they've done, in their last act of apathy towards life, they usually take their own, or let the police do it for them.

**kams** · 02 Oct 06,, 23:36

The guy who shot the kids has three kids of his own. For some thing happend 20 years ago, he decides to take revenge now.

**FOG3** · 03 Oct 06,, 00:20

Originally Posted by ChrisF202

We need armed cops at each and every school. No more unarmed rent a cops.

One or two cops, doesn't make a poorly defended, target rich enviroment, safe. It's not like they're a squad or platoon with dogs/bots, that can go in and clear an area with a mediocrum of safety.

Arm and train the teachers, and make it abundantly clear their students' survival is _their_ responsibility. Require/encourage to get a CCW permit, a decent firearm, and qualify on a battery of tests designed to insure they're maintaining responsible gun handling practices, and can use it effectively on a regular basis, problem solved.

Of course, the antis would never allow it and the teachers themselves wouldn't necessarily want to go for it.

**ChrisF202** · 03 Oct 06,, 00:50

Originally Posted by FOG3

One or two cops, doesn't make a poorly defended, target rich enviroment, safe. It's not like they're a squad or platoon with dogs/bots, that can go in and clear an area with a mediocrum of safety.

Arm and train the teachers, and make it abundantly clear their students' survival is _their_ responsibility. Require/encourage to get a CCW permit, a decent firearm, and qualify on a battery of tests designed to insure they're maintaining responsible gun handling practices, and can use it effectively on a regular basis, problem solved.

Of course, the antis would never allow it and the teachers themselves wouldn't necessarily want to go for it.

Thats also a good idea; I think the Israelis do something similar to protect their schools from the terrorist scum who are just as sick as these school shooter sickos.

**Edgeplay_cgo** · 03 Oct 06,, 01:23

Originally Posted by leibstandarte10

What the hell is going on? I'm literally losing count of how many school shootings there've been in the past month. It has to be the copycat effect.

I'm pretty sure it's a copycat of the Colorado shooting. The outline of the MO is similar, anyway. Of course, the nameless, misbegotten piece of weasel excrement (I won't use its name.) already had some sort of twisted idea.

These slime are our equivalent of Suicide Bombers. Fortunately, they are rare.

**Amled** · 03 Oct 06,, 02:38

Originally Posted by leibstandarte10

What the hell is going on? I'm literally losing count of how many school shootings there've been in the past month. It has to be the copycat effect.

Guy on the news over here said this is the fourth school shooting you've had in the last month!

WTF is going on, even the Amish aren't safe from whackoes looking for "soft targets!"

**dalem** · 03 Oct 06,, 02:45

Originally Posted by leibstandarte10

Mostly it's high school students unable to cope with the everyday hell they call high school. There's no escape for them. Most of the time they're too young to drop out or they would feel ashamed if they did. Most of the shooters were bullied by their peers and felt like they had no place in the life they're being forced to live. Maybe things aren't so good at home either. They begin to take on a very fatalistic attitude towards everything, especially death, and they begin fantasizing about how cool it would be to blow the brains out of so-and-so's head. They may even relate this to what friends they have, which should be a warning sign that's something's not right. Yet a lot of times, though it's taken note of, it's for the most part forgotten- until it's too late.They have nowhere to go, nowhere to run, and nobody to talk to, and in their last act of desperation they lash out against the most visible form of their antagonism, that is, their peers, especially the ones that pick on them and drag them down. And then, when they realize what a horrible deed they've done, in their last act of apathy towards life, they usually take their own, or let the police do it for them.

I dunno Leib. Your explanation seems reasonable on its face, but I just don't buy it fully. My generation (and others) went through high school with bullies and peer pressure and all that stuff, and we had imminent thermonuclear warfare staring us in the face too.

We went to the arcade. We shot asteroids and space invaders, not each other.

-dale