BBC says this guy was a truck driver, so I’m thinking he probably wasn’t Amish.

As does the CNN article you linked to.

Well damn, there goes a very clever headline.

Tragic.

For this is to happen in an Amish community is hard comprehend.

The gunman arrived at the school in the late morning and took hostages, Cmdr. Jeffrey Miller of the Pennsylvania state police told a news conference at the scene in Bart Township.

He began shooting an automatic handgun, and police then charged the schoolhouse, Miller said.

The gunman had tied up the girls, while letting the boys and some others leave, Miller added.

He said the three dead girls appeared to have been two students and a teacher’s aide—an older girl. The school teaches students aged about 6 to 13
“It’s a horrendous crime scene,” Miller said.

The gunman was identified as truck driver Charles Carl Roberts, 32, a local resident.

Miller said the motive was still being determined, but “apparently he did make a statement to his wife that he was acting out of revenge… for something that occurred 20 years ago.”

Gunman kills 3 girls, self at Pennsylvania school. Reuters.

Couldn’t have been a local. He would have walked in and stoned them to death.

Yea I know! That’s in extremely bad taste. Please don’t send letters.

This is sad but I have a morbid facination to find out what “occurred 20 years ago” .

That’s in extremely bad taste

I know, but still funny. That British sense of humour I have. Could be worse- he could have been a Catholic priest- we all know their weapon of choice… (As my mate said “you always have to take it just that little bit too far")

What was the original headline? Please let me know!

This is sad but I have a morbid facination to find out what “occurred 20 years ago” .

The only problem with avatars is the inability to change facial expressions as appropriate. There’s something about your smiling face at the side of that comment that’s kind of disturbing.

Reminds me of a newscaster smiling while reading the headlines from Iraq.

Back in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, there was a rash of highly publicized school shootings (which I’m sure all of you remember, most notably the tragedy at Columbine). Now it appears that we are experiencing another wave of such senseless violence. I wonder if MySpace and internet porn are going to take the heat this time around, instead of video games or Marilyn Manson.

Damn that GTA.

50 dollars to the first person who casterates any mother fucker who blames Rockstar Games for this bullshit.

Leave it to the popular senators and other political figures to blame Rockstar for any gaming violence.  After all, there’s already hype about their latest game, “Bully” being a “columbine simulator” and other such bullshit.  A glance at all three of the trailers reveals absolutely no guns, unless you count slingshots.

Fuck Joe Loserman, and anyone who promotes censorship and bigotry under the guise of “family values” or anything like it.

Well, at least they won’t be able to blame video games this time.

I laughed out loud when I read that because when I heard about the shootings earlier, that exact statement came out of my mouth.

I also wonder what happened 20 years ago.  I mean, sheesh… the kids were not even alive then and he takes it out on them.  That’s one hella of a grudge.

Roberts had left several rambling notes to his wife and three children that Miller said were “along the lines of suicide notes.” The gunman also called his wife during the siege by cell phone to tell her he was getting even for some long-ago offense, according to Miller.

From the suicide notes and telephone calls, it was clear Roberts was “angry at life, he was angry at God,” Miller said. And it was clear from interviews with his co-workers at the dairy that his mood had darkened in recent days and he had stopped chatting and joking around with fellow employees and customers, the officer said.

Miller said that Roberts had been scheduled to take a random drug test on Monday. But the officer said it was not clear what role that may have played in the attack.

Miller said investigators were looking into the possibility the attack may have been related to the death of one of Roberts’ own children. According to an obituary, Roberts and his wife, Marie, lost a daughter shortly after she was born in 1997.

By MARK SCOLFORO, Associated Press Writer

Just to let you know the latest.

KPG: something about your smiling face

My thoughts exactly.
I have no idea why I feel more sad about this school shooting than others. 

While the child-killer certainly wasn’t Amish and his quasi-motives (i.e., excuses) are best left ignored, don’t go thinkin these folk are not without corrupting influences in their plz-ignore-all-evil-community.  The Amish community is just as ethically-whacked as the rest of America.

They’ve got it all—just that they don’t talk about it outside of Amishstan.

Just do a google on “Amish Cocaine” “Amish STD” etc

Trust me, these volk are just as drawn to the evil vices as is the rest of humanity—they just hide it better.

I have to dis-agree with Fob Adams. I think certain groups do have a better moral compass because of the nature of their societal values.
True you can have the occasional abberation the same as anywhere else but on the whole I would feel a whole lot safer in let’s say an Amish community or even here in London Ontario than in downtown Detroit. (Sorry Les)

WhiteBlood writes…

50 dollars to the first person who casterates any mother fucker who blames Rockstar Games for this bullshit.

As annoyed as I get with the people who keep blaming video games for all of society’s ills, I’d rather we avoided statements like the above. I’m assuming you were kidding, but all it does it feed the cliche the people attacking video games already have about us.

rob adams writes…

Just do a google on “Amish Cocaine” “Amish STD” etc

Trust me, these volk are just as drawn to the evil vices as is the rest of humanity—they just hide it better.

I don’t think they hide it all that well as I’m familiar with both of the topics you listed above. I do think they tend to keep to themselves pretty well which leads to major headlines when it turns out these issues pop up in their society.

All I can say about the effect of video games, is that after playing Oblivion for an hour, I really feel like going out and kicking some vampire ass…

I have to dis-agree with Fob Adams. I think certain groups do have a better moral compass because of the nature of their societal values.

You have got to be kidding?
Right?

It was widely thought amongst Lancaster County English-Teens that Amish-Teens are extremely wild and that they host some of the best parties around.

You should attend one of the many and frequent parties their youth host out in in the fields during weekend and weekday nights.  These parties not only attract Amish youth, but “English” kids as well, usually numbering well over 200 people at each gathering.  These parties are extremely popular amongst Lancaster County “English” teens. 

Heh… And it ain’t uncommon for these Amish parties to even have a cover-charge (sometimes as high as $20).

You might think drinking, drugs, and sex are infrequent events in an Amish youth’s life, but you cannot be more clueless.  Actually, i thought this was well known!  From your comments, and Les’, it would seem i am wrong.

Learn:
http://www.sheilaomalley.com/archives/003958.html
http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2002/may/amish/
http://www.vindy.com/basic/news/300007971598357.php
http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2000/05/21/loc_ohios_amish_seek.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0613/p16s01-bogn.html

While my thougts go to the victims and their families (no matter what their beliefs), there is an invisible victim(s) here- his wife (and any children).  Not only has she lost her husband, she is likely to be destitute, as insurance doesn’t pay on suicides. Unless she was a real ‘Lady Macbeth’, then she is also deserving of our sympathy.  Unfortunately if her community is anything like my town, then she may well face death threats and arson attacks.  This is what happened to the wife and baby of the 7/7 bomber who lived here- somehow some people assumed she knew what he was up to, and vented their anger on her.

I do not wish to detract form the suffering of the victims, it is just the way I think.

I remember watching the “Devil’s Playground” and although I didn’t know about Rumspringa (at the time) it didn’t come as a great surprise to see what went on, after all, they are just young people having their wild time before having to make their decision, a decision that will have a massive impact on the rest of their lives.

The Amish & Non-Violence
In a clash of two completely different cultures, an armed man entered a local Lancaster County school on Monday, October 2nd, 2006, bound up innocent children, and took a number of innocent lives before taking his own life.

Loss of any innocent life is devastating. Unjustified. Inexcusable. But the contrast in this particular shooting is striking because this was an Amish school and the Amish are about as non-violent a people as there are.They have even earned the nickname “the Gentle People”.

We request your prayers for the families of the children who died, as well as those children and adults who have lived through this terrible ordeal. And we also ask your prayers for the wife and three young children of the man who committed this senseless act. They, too, will have to live with this for the rest of their lives.

This sums up why the murders that took place in the school are so shocking, the intrusion of the “English” world into their lives with such devastating results, a true clash of cultures.

Me: I have no idea why I feel more sad about this school shooting than others.

EyesOnly: This sums up why the murders that took place in the school are so shocking, the intrusion of the “English” world into their lives with such devastating results, a true clash of cultures.

Yes. Soon after posting my dilemma I was able to put it into words.
In a violent society you expect violence.
In a pacifist society, you don’t.
And I doubt one could call Rumspringa violent in any way.

as insurance doesn’t pay on suicides

I’m not sure that’s true, LH. I believe that it is more normal for insurance policies to reject suicide death claims only within the first year or so of the policy. So, unless he took out a policy in anticipation of this event, the insurance co is likely to pay. I do feel for the killer’s family too. It isn’t their fault.

I really hate the recent run of school shootings—and they do seem to go in runs, don’t they? We just had one here in Canada, and there have been three more in quick succession in the US, hasn’t there?

I know that they tell us that school killers don’t have a lot in common, however, seems to me that all school shooters obtain a kind of infamy, they’re all profoundly angry, and they all take their vengeance out on those the rest of us most need and want to protect—the children.

In a dangerous situation, most people will try very hard to protect any children around and it doesn’t matter whether they’re our own. We’re hard-wired for it. In school shootings, the killer goes after the child and that’s incomprehensible and horrific to most of us because it is completely against any ‘normal’ response.

In this case, it seems to me that the killer just upped the ante—going for what might be perceived as the ones we most want and need to protect. These kids were really pretty young, they were girls only, and he did it in an Amish community—which many of us perceive to be more innocent than the rest of the world. How’s that for getting our attention?

And while we’re on the topic of getting our attention and infamy, isn’t there anyone else who thinks that it was completely unnecessary for the world to know the details of his plans to rape the children????