Nickel Mines Amish School Massacre

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The massacre of the Amish school Nickel Mines found on 2 October 2006 at a school the community of Amish in the town of Nickel Mines in Pennsylvania in the USA. Five schoolgirls between the ages of six and 13 were shot dead, five other schoolgirls were seriously injured. The perpetrator Charles Carl Roberts (born 1973) then shot himself. The event gained nationwide notoriety in the USA and was also processed literarily and cinematically. The most talked about issue was the fact that the Amish, including the families of the girls who were killed, immediately forgave, comforted and supported the local family of the perpetrator after the crime.

Course of events

The West Nickel Mines School was a small one-class school used exclusively by the Amish community. Charles Carl Roberts IV, a resident milk truck driver, entered the school building around 10:30 a.m. local time during class time, armed with a semi-automatic pistol. Roberts ordered some students to help him move more weapons and other items from his pickup truck to the classroom. The items such as clothes, toilet paper, candles and building materials used to barricade the entrance indicated that the perpetrator was prepared for a longer stay. Meanwhile, the teacher Emma Mae Zook and her mother, who was present in the classroom at the time, managed to escape to a nearby farm, from where the police were called.

All 15 male students as well as a pregnant woman and three parents with small children were allowed to leave the building. In addition, the nine-year-old student Emma Fisher, whose sisters Marian and Barbara were also at school, was also released: at that time, the girl only spoke Pennsylvania German and therefore understood the perpetrator's command in English that the girls not leave the room should, not; she followed her brother Peterli unharmed outside. Roberts handcuffed the ten remaining students and ordered them to stand in a row near the blackboard. The door of the school building was barricaded by the perpetrator using building materials he had brought with him.

The first police officers arrived at the scene around 10:40. By 11.00 a.m., a large number of officials, paramedics and residents were in the vicinity of the school building. Roberts was ordered by the police to surrender and leave the building. However, he refused to obey and, in turn, demanded that the police withdraw, threatening to shoot the girls if they did not.

Around 11 a.m., one of the girls in the school building heard a loud scream. A team of police officers radioed a request to intervene immediately, but their permission was refused. The perpetrator started shooting around 11.07. Police then approached the school building. When the first policeman reached one of the windows, the shooting stopped: Roberts had committed suicide. A total of at least 13, according to other information 17 to 18 shots were fired. Shortly before the perpetrator opened fire, the sisters Marian and Barbara Fisher, 13 and 11 years old, offered to shoot them if in return the lives of the other girls would be spared. At around 11:10 am, the officers broke into the school building.

Murdered and injured girls

Roberts barricaded himself in the school with ten girls between the ages of six and 13, all from the Amish community. All ten girls had gunshot wounds inflicted on them at close range. Five of the girls died on the scene or a little later in hospitals, the remaining five girls survived.

Two of the girls, seven-year-old Naomi RE and 13-year-old Marian SF , were pronounced dead on the scene.

The remaining eight girls were taken to various hospitals, some of them by helicopter.

Twelve-year-old Anna MS was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at Lancaster General Hospital in Lancaster, Pennsylvania .

Eight-year-old Lena ZM passed away the next day, October 3, 2006, at Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania .

Her seven-year-old sister, Mary LM , also died on October 3rd at Christiana Hospital in Newark, Delaware .

Six year old Rosanna K. suffered severe brain injuries. She was taken to Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and placed on life support systems. Two days later, on October 4, 2006, at the request of her family, she was removed from the life support system and the family took her home. Her condition later improved somewhat, but she remains severely disabled. Terri Roberts, the mother of Charles Carl Roberts, visits the King family regularly and takes care of Rosanna.

13-year-old Esther K. suffered a gunshot wound in the back. She was able to go back to school later and graduate from school.

Eight-year-old Rachel S. suffered gunshot wounds to her arm and jaw. The surgical interventions were so successful that only a small scar was left.

Eight-year-old Sarah AS was injured so badly that the doctors did not initially expect her to survive. However, her condition improved so much that she was able to go back to school later. She seems to have completely recovered physically, only a small scar remained on her forehead.

The eleven year old Barbara (Barbie) F. had to undergo several shoulder operations.

Perpetrator and possible motives for the crime

The perpetrator Charles Carl Roberts IV (32) worked as a milk truck driver. He was married and had three children. He left a farewell letter for each of the four. The perpetrator had no criminal record, and there was no previous history of mental illness. Roberts' widow Marie had no explanation for the fact. Roberts was a good husband and father. Roberts' work colleagues said they saw changes in this in the months prior to the crime, but his behavior returned to normal in the week before the crime. Roberts' neighbors reported that the perpetrator was in a cheerful mood in the last few days before the massacre . The police attributed this latest change in behavior to the fact that Roberts had already made up his mind to act.

A few minutes before the crime, Roberts phoned his wife and told her that 20 years ago, at the age of twelve, he had sexually molested two little girls from his family and that he felt the need to do so again. The two relatives denied that such an act ever took place. Items Roberts had with him at the time of the crime indicated that he may have been planning a sex crime. Police said there was no evidence of Roberts sexually harassing the students. However, other sources did speak of such acts. Incidentally, Roberts would have had only a few minutes to commit sex crimes. Furthermore, in one of the farewell letters, Roberts indicated grief over a daughter who died nine years ago during or shortly after the birth. He also wrote about his grudges against God.

Amish reaction

The act was perceived by the Amish, a religious community known for its profound peacefulness, as a sudden onset of evil into their peaceful world. Amish were quoted in the press as saying that this was "Amish 9/11".

The one aspect that preoccupied the US public the most - besides the horror of the crime itself - was the forgiveness of the Amish, including their support for the perpetrator's family. The idea of ​​forgiveness is very important to the Amish faith. A grandfather of one of the murdered girls was quoted as saying "We must not think evil of this man" which was said to some younger relatives, which meant the perpetrator. It is wrong to hate the perpetrator. An Amish father said, "He [the perpetrator] had a mother and a wife and a soul and now he faces a righteous God." Jack Meyer, a member of the Schwarzenau Brothers who live near the Lancaster County Amish , said: "I don't think there is anyone here who wants to do anything but forgive, who doesn't just want to help those who have suffered such a loss but also the family of the man who committed these acts. ""

After the crime, Amish went to see the perpetrator's family. They offered their forgiveness and comforted the family. The Amish set up a charity fund and raised money for the Roberts family. About 30 Amish people attended Roberts' funeral. Marie Roberts, the perpetrator's widow, was invited to the funeral of one of the murdered girls. She wrote an open letter thanking the Amish for their forgiveness, kindness and compassion. The behavior of the Amish not only helped their families, it worked far beyond that and could change the world.

West Nickel Mines School was completely demolished the week after the crime, October 12, 2006. A new school, the New Hope School , was built near the old location and opened exactly six months after the crime, on April 2, 2007. The new school was constructed as different as possible from the old school building.

reception

The school massacre and the way the Amish handled the crime received wide coverage among the US public. As early as 2007, some non-fiction books appeared about the event, with the reaction of the Amish often in the foreground (see literature). Probably the most important work is the book Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy, which the sociologist Donald Kraybill wrote together with Steven M. Nolt and David L. Weaver-Zercher. The television film Amish Grace is based on the book by Kraybill, Nolt and Weaver-Zercher and was first shown on the Lifetime Movie Network in 2010 .

literature

  • Donald Kraybill, Steven M. Nolt, and David L. Weaver-Zercher. Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy , Jossey-Bass, 2007; ISBN 978-0-7879-9761-8 .
  • Marie Monville (Roberts' widow), One Light Still Shines , Zondervan.
  • John L. Ruth, Forgiveness: A Legacy of the West Nickel Mines Amish School , Herald Press, 2007; ISBN 978-0-8361-9373-2 .
  • Harvey Yoder, The Happening: Nickel Mines School Tragedy , TGS International, 2007; ISBN 978-1-885270-70-2 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Fatal shooting at US Amish school . In: BBC News , October 3, 2006. Retrieved March 8, 2015. 
  2. ↑ http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/americas/article2000703.ece
  3. ↑ Gunman threatened to kill Amish children 'in 2 seconds' , Associated Press. October 10, 2006. Archived from the original on October 26, 2006. Retrieved on October 28, 2006. 
  4. ^ Family friend: Amish girl asked to be shot to save others , CNN. October 6, 2006. Archived from the original on October 9, 2006. 
  5. ↑ David KOCIENIEWSKI: Man Shoots 11, Killing 5 Girls, in Amish School . New York Times. October 3, 2006. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  6. ↑ http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3678190&page=1
  7. ↑ a b c d http://www.examiner.net/article/20111027/NEWS/310279745
  8. ↑ a b c http://lancasteronline.com/news/nickel-mines-years-later-a-daily-walk-for-amish-on/article_3e48d95b-61d4-52ba-bade-7bffc61a7961.html
  9. ↑ a b http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/mother-amish-killer-cares-survivor-son-massacre-article-1.1542337
  10. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/03/us/03amish.html?_r=0
  11. ^ Police: School killer told wife he molested family members . In: CNN , October 3, 2006. 
  12. ↑ Ann Rodgers: Nickel Mines legacy: Forgive first . In: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette , September 30, 2007. 
  13. ↑ http://www.religionnews.com/ArticleofWeek100506.html ( Memento from October 21, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
  14. ↑ a b Amish grandfather: 'We must not think evil of this man' . In: CNN , October 5, 2006. Archived from the original on December 10, 2007. Retrieved January 17, 2008. 
  15. ↑ Amish Search for Healing, Forgiveness After 'The Amish 9/11' . In: Religion News Service , October 5, 2006. Archived from the original on October 21, 2006. Retrieved on April 7, 2010. 
  16. ↑ Amish gather to pray at funerals for slain girls , CTV. October 6, 2007. Retrieved January 17, 2008. 
  17. ^ Amish School Shooting 2006 . In: amishnews.com . Retrieved January 17, 2008. 
  18. ↑ Amish killer's widow thanks families of victims for forgiveness . In: The Daily Telegraph , October 17, 2006. Retrieved January 17, 2008. 
  19. ^ Workers demolish school where Amish girls were killed . In: Associated Press , CNN, October 12, 2006. Archived from the original on October 13, 2006. Retrieved October 14, 2006. 
  20. ↑ Bart Twp. Amish school reopens . In: Lancaster New Era , April 2, 2007. 
  21. ↑ Amish Grace . In: myLifetime , April 5, 2010. Archived from the original on March 30, 2010. 

Coordinates: 39 ° 57 '36.8 "  N , 76 ° 5' 3.8"  W.