Amish School Shooting

The Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pa., where a gunman shot 10 girls last week, killing five of them, is demolished by private contractors before dawn Thursday, Oct. 12, 2006. A spokesman coordinating activities with the Amish community said destroying the school was about trying to reach some closure after the shocking incident.

The funeral procession of slain Amish schoolgirl Naomi Rose Ebersole winds its way down the main street Thursday, Oct. 5, 2006, in Bart Township, Pa.. Funerals for four of the five girls, killed by a gunman who burst into a one-room Amish schoolhouse told the boys and adults to leave and then opened fire on the girls, were held on Thursday.

An Amish family rides in the funeral procession for one of the victims of the Amish school shooting as it passes through the town of Nickel Mines, Pa., Thursday, Oct. 5, 2006. Hundreds of Amish arrived on foot and in horse-drawn carriages to mourn four of the five victims. Naomi Rose Ebersole, 7; Marian Fisher, 13; Mary Liz Miller, 8, and her 7-year-old sister, Lena were laid to rest.

A group of young people gather in Nickel Mines, Pa., Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2006, near the home where a viewing was to take place for one of the victims of Monday's Amish schoolhouse shootings. A man carrying three guns stormed the one-room schoolhouse, sent the boys and adults outside, barricaded the doors with two-by-fours, and then opened fire on several girls, killing five, before committing suicide.

During a news conference Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2006 in Nickel Mines, Pa., State Police Commissioner Jeffrey B. Miller holds up a copy of a list of materials made by Charles Carl Roberts IV before the siege. He also wrote four suicide notes, saying he was "filled with so much hate" and "unimaginable emptiness." Roberts apparently remembered molesting two relatives 20 years ago and dreamed about molesting again.

Two men read a newspaper with the headline "Death of Innocents" while standing at a roadblock near the scene of the shooting at the one-room Amish schoolhouse Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2006 in Nickel Mines, Pa. Officials said a milk truck driver identified as Charles Carl Roberts IV entered the schoolhouse, let the boys and adults go free, tied up the girls and shot them execution style before committing suicide. Five girls died.

A Pennsylvania state trooper leaves the schoolhouse where a gunman shot several students and himself in Nickel Mines, Pa., Monday, Oct. 2, 2006. A 32-year-old milk truck driver took about a dozen girls hostage in the one-room Amish schoolhouse, barricaded the doors with boards and shot several people, killing at least five of the girls and then himself, authorities said.

Law enforcement personnel carry a body bag out of a one-room Amish schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pa., on Monday, Oct. 2, 2006. A milk-truck driver carrying three guns and a childhood grudge stormed the schoolhouse, sent the boys and adults outside, barricaded the doors with two-by-fours, and then opened fire on a dozen girls, killing at least five people before committing suicide.

This undated photo released by the Pennsylvania State Police on Monday, Oct. 2, 2006 shows Charles Carl Roberts IV, the man police say was involved in a schoolhouse shooting in Nickel Mines, Pa. Authorities said the milk truck driver took about a dozen girls hostage in the one-room Amish schoolhouse, barricaded the doors with boards and shot several people, killing at least five of the girls and then himself.

People kneel and pray on White Oak Road, Monday, Oct. 2, 2006, in Nickel Mines, Pa. A milk-truck driver carrying three guns and a childhood grudge stormed a one-room Amish schoolhouse, sent the boys and adults outside, barricaded the doors with two-by-fours, and then opened fire on a dozen girls, killing five people before committing suicide.

A police helicopter takes off from the scene of a school shooting in Nickel Mines, Pa., Monday, Oct. 2, 2006. An armed man walked into an Amish school, sent the boys outside and tied up and shot the girls, killing five of them, authorities said. The gunman, Charles Carl Roberts IV, 32, a truck driver from the town of Bart, killed himself. Several children were rushed to hospitals.

Neighbors gather near a schoolhouse, seen in background, Monday, Oct. 2, 2006, where police say a gunman shot several people in Nickel Mines, Pa. A 32-year-old milk truck driver took about a dozen girls hostage in the one-room Amish schoolhouse Monday, barricaded the doors with boards and killed at least five girls and himself, authorities said.

A law enforcement officer is shown at the doorway of an Amish school following a shooting in Nickel Mines, Pa., Monday, Oct. 2, 2006. A gunman opened fire at the one-room schoolhouse, killing at least five before killing himself. Several other children were taken to hospitals with injuries, authorities said.

An Amish buggy passes law enforcement personnel in Nickel Mines, Pa., Monday, Oct. 2, 2006. An armed man walked into an Amish school, sent the boys outside and eventually shot at least some of the girls, killing five of them, authorities said. The gunman, Charles Carl Roberts IV, 32, a truck driver from the town of Bart, then killed himself, the state police said.

State Police Commissioner Jeffrey B. Miller gives a news conference in Nickel Mines, Pa., Monday, Oct. 2, 2006. An armed man walked into an Amish school, sent the boys outside and opened fire on the girls, killing five of them, authorities said.

An Amish man listens to Col. Jeffrey B. Miller of the Pennsylvania State Police address the media and some local residents, Monday, Oct. 2, 2006, in Nickel Mines, Pa. A 32-year-old milk truck driver took about a dozen girls hostage in a one-room Amish schoolhouse, barricaded the doors with boards and killed at least five girls and then himself, authorities said.

Amish men gather near a police car in the tiny hamlet of Nickel Mines, Pa., Monday, Oct. 2, 2006. An armed man walked into an Amish school, sent the boys outside and tied up and shot the girls, killing five of them, authorities said. The gunman, Charles Carl Roberts IV, 32, a truck driver from the town of Bart, killed himself, state police Commissioner Jeffrey B. Miller said.

Emergency vehicles line White Oak Road, Monday, Oct. 2, 2006, in Nickel Mines, Pa., after a 32-year-old man took about a dozen girls hostage in a one-room Amish schoolhouse, barricaded the doors with boards and killed at least five girls and then himself, authorities said.

A medical helicopter leaves, as two more sit on the ground, one blocked by trees, at the scene of a shooting, Monday, Oct. 2, 2006, in Nickel Mines, Pa. A 32-year-old man took about a dozen girls hostage in a one-room Amish schoolhouse, barricaded the doors with boards and killed at least five girls and apparently himself, authorities said.

Amish Country Tragedy — AP/Intelligencer Journal, V. Tennis

Two Amish men watch a medical helicopter leave the scene of a shooting, Monday, Oct. 2, 2006, in Nickel Mines, Pa.