Lancaster Co.,PA-Fatal(5)School Shooting 10-2-06

[Guest]

Always a terrible incident, a school shooting (yet another one)... I feel for the parents awaiting news.

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INITIAL REPORT:

Coroner: 6 dead in Amish school shooting

By MARK SCOLFORO, Associated Press Writer

5 minutes ago

A gunman killed six people at a one-room Amish schoolhouse Monday morning in Pennsylvania's bucolic Lancaster County, and several others were taken to hospitals with injuries, authorities said.

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

It was unclear if the shooter was among the six. State Police Cpl. Ralph Striebig said earlier that the shooter was dead.

Three girls, all in critical condition with gunshot wounds, were admitted to Lancaster General Hospital, spokesman John Lines told WGAL-TV.

Officials at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center confirmed that victims also were being admitted there. A spokeswoman said the hospital anticipated more than one patient.

Police surrounded the one-room school in southeast Lancaster County late Monday morning, and the Lancaster County 911 Web site reported that dozens of emergency units were dispatched to a "medical emergency" at 10:45 a.m.

Three dozen people in traditional Amish clothing, broad-brimmed hats and bonnets stood near the small school building, surrounded by a low white fence, speaking to one another and authorities.

Others gathered with a group of children at a nearby farm while investigators stretched out in a line across a field searching for evidence.

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

Edited October 3, 2006 by hoss

[nyemt131411 3]

Pale in comparison, but i got a call from my sis in NY a while ago asking me what the name of the school my kids go to.....2 schools locked down due to student with a gun. the things that go thru your head until you find out where it's happening......i don't wish that on anyone. My heart goes out to all in PA, as well as the parents here still waiting to hear from their children.

(fyi - posted in National IA)

[Guest]

we live in such a sad world...

[ajsbear 11]

It's soon going to be normal to have every student, teacher etc walk through a metal detector to get inot the school. Shootings in schools, stabings and kids caught with guns in school.

Makes you want to "home school" your kids.

[Guest]

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PARADISE, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- A 32-year-old truck driver walked into an Amish schoolhouse Monday, binding and shooting three girls execution-style before killing himself, police said Monday.

Seven others were wounded in the attack, which police said appeared to be a revenge killing for an incident that occurred two decades ago

Edited October 2, 2006 by hoss

[mfc2257 464]

Initial MCI Dispatch By Lancaster County Fire 911... Units ending with CHE denote a Chester County unit.

AMBULANCE-21-1-CHE

AMBULANCE-28-1-CHE

AMBULANCE-28-2-CHE

AMBULANCE-29-CHE

AMBULANCE-3-9-1

AMBULANCE-4-3-1

AMBULANCE-4-9

AMBULANCE-5-2-1

BRUSH-26-CHE

FIREPOLICE-4-2

FIREPOLICE-5-1

FIREPOLICE-5-7

LIFENET-6-1

MEDIC-100

MEDIC-2-13-1(M)

MEDIC-3

MEDIC-6-12-10(M)

MEDIC-6-12-9(M)

MEDIC-7-7-1(M)

MEDIC-7-7-8(M)

MEDIC-7-7-9(A)

MEDIC-9

MEDEVAC-6

PENNSTAR-2

PENNSTAR-4

QRS-5-1

SKYCARE

SPECIAL-UNIT-6-12-1

SQUAD-5-2

Edited October 2, 2006 by mfc2257

[Guest]

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PA State Police Commissioner Jeffrey B. Miller (AP)

"It's a horrendous crime scene."

Milk man kills girls at Pa. Amish school ]

By MARK SCOLFORO, Associated Press Writer

8 minutes ago

A 32-year-old milk truck driver took about a dozen girls hostage in a one-room Amish schoolhouse Monday, barricaded the doors with boards and killed at least three girls and apparently himself, authorities said.

It was the nation's third deadly school shooting in less than a week, and similar to an attack just days earlier at a school in Colorado.

The gunman, identified as Charles Carl Roberts IV, was inside for over half an hour and had barred the doors with 2x4s with the girls inside, State Police Commissioner Jeffrey B. Miller said.

By the time officers broke windows to get in, three girls and the gunman were dead, Miller said. Seven others were taken to hospitals, three in critical condition.

"It appears that when he began shooting these victims, the victims were shot execution style in the head," Miller said.

Roberts had walked into the one-room West Nickel Mines Amish School with a shotgun and handgun, then released about 15 boys, a pregnant woman and three other women with infants before barring the doors with the girls inside, Miller said.

The girls were lined up along a blackboard, Miller said. "He had wire ties with him and flex ties, and he began to tie the girls' feet together," Miller said.

A teacher was able to call police around 10:30 a.m. and reported that a gunman was holding students hostage.

About 11 a.m., Roberts apparently called his wife from a cell phone, saying he was "acting out in revenge for something that happened 20 years ago," Miller said. "It seems as though he wanted to attack young, female victims."

Moments later, Roberts told a dispatcher he would open fire on the children if police didn't back away from the building.

Troopers heard gunfire in the building seconds later.

The school has about 25 to 30 students in all, ages 6 to 13.

"It seems as though he wanted to attack young, female victims," Miller said. He released no further details about that what the grudge Roberts mentioned could have involved.

Lancaster County Coroner G. Gary Kirchner initially said six people were killed, but later said he wasn't certain about that number.

At least seven people were taken to hospitals, including at least three girls, ages 6-12, who were admitted to Lancaster General Hospital in critical condition with gunshot wounds, spokesman John Lines said.

The small school, surrounded by a white board fence, sits among farmlands just outside Nickel Mines, a tiny village about 55 miles west of Philadelphia.

Hours after the attack, about three dozen people in traditional Amish clothing, broad-brimmed hats and bonnets stood near the small schoolhouse as investigators walked in a line through fields searching for evidence.

The shootings were disturbingly similar to an attack last week at Platte Canyon High School in Bailey, Colo., where a man took several girls hostage in a school classroom and then killed one of them and himself. Authorities said the man sexually molested the girls.

"If this is some kind of a copycat, it's horrible and of concern to everybody, all law enforcement," said Monte Gore, undersheriff of Park County, Colo.

"On behalf of Park County and our citizens and our sheriff's office, our hearts go out to that school and the community," he said.

Edited October 2, 2006 by hoss

[Guest]

I have a question, were 6 people killed or was it only 4? I am getting alot of mixed reports from what I've been reading.

[Edit:] Forget it, what I was reading was updated. It's still terrible though.

Edited October 2, 2006 by KFD Kid26

[Guest]

Yes, there were initial contradictory reports. As of now (0836, 10-3-06) there are 6 fatalities : 5 girls+gunman, and 4 girls in critical condition.

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credit: Marty Heisey/AP

Edited October 3, 2006 by hoss

[Truck4 48]

It's soon going to be normal to have every student, teacher etc walk through a metal detector to get inot the school. Shootings in schools, stabings and kids caught with guns in school.

Makes you want to "home school" your kids.

←

This is a different situation and maybe even more concerning. The last two incidents were adults going into a school and taking hostages, not kids bringing guns to school. This would make any school a possible target.

[ajsbear 11]

This is a different situation and maybe even more concerning. The last two incidents were adults going into a school and taking hostages, not kids bringing guns to school. This would make any school a possible target.

←

True but there have been just too many incidents in the last year with kids bringing guns to school. This is not show and tell. Also if the milk man etc had to go through a metal detector and the schools had at least one armed guard as a deterant. It's just getting to be too much. As a parent with 2 out of school and just starting with a new family and 5 month old it worries me to send him to school. What's it going to be like in 4 years?

[Guest]

Miller (PA State Pol.Comm.) said Roberts was apparently preparing for a long siege, arming himself with a 9mm semiautomatic pistol, a 12-gauge shotgun and a rifle, along with a bag of about 600 rounds of ammunition, two cans of smokeless powder, two knives and a stun gun on his belt.

He also had rolls of tape, various tools and a change of clothes

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PA State Police Comm. Miller in press conf.

credit: Matt Rourke/AP

Edited October 3, 2006 by hoss

[Guest]

Fourth girl dies after Amish school shooting

POSTED: 10:39 p.m. EDT, October 2, 2006

CNN

Story Highlights• NEW: Fourth girl dies in hospital; seven others in critical condition

• Truck driver barricaded self in Amish school before shootings, suicide

• Notes left to family indicate motive was two-decade-old grudge

• Assortment of weapons and tools suggest preparation for long siege

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Photo of murderer/Reuters/PA State Police

Edited October 3, 2006 by hoss

[Guest]

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WABC TV

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WABC TV

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WCBS TV

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WNBC TV

[Guest]

4 girls remain in critical condition.Please keep them in your thoughts.

5 girls dead in Amish school shooting

By MARK SCOLFORO, Associated Press Writer

11 minutes ago

Two more children died Tuesday morning of wounds from the shootings at an Amish schoolhouse, raising the death toll to five girls plus the gunman who apparently was spurred by a two-decades-old grudge.

The toll from the nation's third deadly school shooting in less than a week rose twice within a matter of hours Tuesday with the deaths of a 9-year-old girl at Christiana Hospital in Delaware and a 7-year-old girl at Penn State Children's Hospital in Hershey.

Five additional girls were hospitalized.

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State police spokeswoman Linette Quinn said the two girls who died early Tuesday had suffered "very severe injuries, but the other ones are coming along very well."

The 9-year-old girl died about 1 a.m., and the 7-year-old girl died about 4:30 a.m.

"Her parents were with her," hospital spokeswoman Amy Buehler Stranges said of the 7-year-old. "She was taken off life support and she passed away shortly after."

The names of the dead were not immediately released.

Of the injured, a 6-year-old girl remained in critical condition and a 13-year-old girl was in serious condition at Penn State Children's Hospital, spokeswoman Buehler Stranges said. She said the names of the children were not being released.

Three girls, ages 8, 10 and 12, were flown to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where they were out of surgery but remained in critical condition, spokeswoman Peggy Flynn said.

Edited October 3, 2006 by hoss

[gpdexplorer 46]

Are Fire Police trained in crime scene investigation? I was just wondering because when I was watching this on TV yesterday, there was a line of FF's in turnout searching the field and there were refered to as investigators in the articles.

My condolences go out to the family and community.

[mfc2257 464]

Are Fire Police trained in crime scene investigation? I was just wondering because when I was watching this on TV yesterday, there was a line of FF's in turnout searching the field and there were refered to as investigators in the articles.

My condolences go out to the family and community.

←

Fire Police in PA are utilized for traffic control and support duties. In this situation they most likely would have handled crowd, traffic, landing zone, and other support operations.

They are not "Police" like law enforcement.

Most of the time, Fire Police are older members of the FD or other folks who want to participate, but who have reasons that prevent them from acting in a Fire-Rescue-EMS role. They free up FF/EMS provider time to perform their duty.

[Guest]

This murderer certainly chose the easy way out compared to what awaited him had he lived......

By MARK SCOLFORO,

Associated Press Writer

9 minutes ago

A man who laid siege to a one-room Amish schoolhouse told his wife he had molested young children decades ago and left a note saying he had "dreams of molesting again," state police Commissioner Jeffrey B. Miller said Tuesday.

Police said they could not confirm the claim by Charles Carl Roberts IV and that family members knew nothing of the alleged molestation.

Earlier Tuesday, two more children died of wounds from the shootings, raising the death toll to five girls plus the gunman.

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credit: John Makely/SUN

[helicopper 1,050]

Are Fire Police trained in crime scene investigation? I was just wondering because when I was watching this on TV yesterday, there was a line of FF's in turnout searching the field and there were refered to as investigators in the articles.

My condolences go out to the family and community.

←

At very large crime scenes, "support" personnel are often used to assist with searches. They are generally instructed to simply identify evidence and summon actual crime scene personnel who will process and collect the evidence.

This was done during the space shuttle recovery since that scene was so large.

[Remember585 815]

Is anyone else amazed at how forgiving the amish are to this low-life sack of defecation? I simply can not believe how many times I have heard or read that they have extended thier apologies to the murderer'f family.

God bless 'em! I wouldn't have a single shred of forgiveness for someone that needlessly killed KIDS in my family or community!!!

[Guest skubasam]

Sad to be sure. ...but in wrong forum.

[1075thebox 1]

From CNN.com

Workers raze school where Amish girls slain

POSTED: 5:34 a.m. EDT, October 12, 2006

NICKEL MINES, Pennsylvania (AP) -- Workers with machines moved in before dawn Thursday and demolished the one-room Amish schoolhouse where five girls were shot to death and five others were injured on Oct. 2.

Construction lights glared in the predawn mist as an excavator began removing the porch of the school about 4:45 a.m., and heavy equipment knocked down the bell tower and toppled the walls within a few minutes.

The quaint schoolhouse had been boarded up since the killings, with schooling moved to a nearby farm. The Amish hoped to bring some closure to the tragedy by razing the schoolhouse and leaving in its place a quiet pasture.

"It's going to be razed and topsoil brought in and green grass planted," said Mike Hart, a spokesman for the Bart Fire Company.

The destruction of the West Nickel Mines Amish School came a week after the solemn funerals of four of the five girls killed by gunman Charles Carl Roberts VI. Roberts came armed with a shotgun, rifle, handgun and a stun gun and killed himself after shooting the girls.

The five girls wounded in the Oct. 2 shooting are all still believed to be hospitalized. The hospitals are no longer providing any information about the patients at the request of their families.

Hart, who has been coordinating activities with the Amish community and whose company will help provide security, said destroying the school is about trying to reach some closure.

Hart said private contractors were handling the demolition, and the debris would be hauled to a landfill.

Hart had said previously that classes were expected to resume this week at a makeshift schoolhouse in a garage on an Amish farm in the Nickel Mines area.

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