State police said a fourth girl had died, but that report could not be confirmed Monday night.

Charles Carl Roberts IV, of Bart Township, walked into West Nickel Mines School, 4876 White Oak Road, around 10 a.m., dismissed the male students and bound the girls, police said.

About 45 minutes later, he began shooting the girls execution-style.

Three students and a teenage teacher’s aide died, and at least seven other girls were wounded by gunfire before Roberts took his own life as state police stormed the one-room school, police said.

The victims’ identities were not released Monday. The students all were 6 to 13 years old, police said, and the teacher’s aide was 15 or 16.

“(Roberts) went in there and executed these children,” state police Col. Jeffrey Miller said during a press conference Monday night. “No one deserves what happened here today.”

The killings may be linked to an event that happened years ago in Roberts’ life, police said, but they would not elaborate on the nature of the event.

Police said Roberts had no prior criminal history.

“We are looking at an incident in his past,” Miller said. “There may have been a loss of a child at some point in his life.

“This wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment thing. (Roberts) intended to harm these kids and intended to harm himself.”

Roberts and his wife, Marie Roberts, had a daughter who died as an infant in November 1997, according to newspaper records. They have two sons and a daughter, ranging in age from 1½ to 7.

Roberts, a milk truck driver, returned home from work around 3 a.m. Monday, police said, and slept before walking his children to a school bus stop nearby later in the morning.

At 8:45 a.m., Roberts’ wife left the family’s home on Georgetown Road. After her departure, police said, Roberts left several “suicide-type notes” to his wife and children in the house.

He expressed anger at God and about his life in the letters, police said.

After placing the notes for his family members inside the house, Roberts drove a borrowed pickup truck to the Amish school and backed the vehicle up to the front door shortly before 10 a.m.

Among the items in the truck were three guns — two pistols and a 12-gauge shotgun — two knives, a stun gun, 600 rounds of ammunition, gunpowder, a change of clothes and various pieces of hardware, police said.

Roberts entered the school with a stun gun on his belt and a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol in his hand, police said. Roberts was calm and subdued as he spoke to the children in the school while brandishing the gun.

He then released 15 male students, a pregnant woman and three women who had infant children with them at the school, police said. The school’s female teacher ran out with the others, rushed to a nearby home and called 911 at 10:36 a.m.

During the 45 minutes Roberts occupied the school, police said, he ordered the girls to line up in front of the blackboard and tied them up with plastic fasteners. He also barricaded the doors of the school with lumber.

“He had taken extreme measures to fortify this location,” Miller said. “He was prepared for a lengthy siege.”

State police arrived at 10:45 a.m. Moments later, Roberts made two phone calls — to his wife, who had since returned home, and to a 911 dispatcher.

Roberts’ conversation with his wife was brief, police said. He told her “police are here, and he would not be coming home.”

Roberts then called 911 and warned the dispatcher he would start shooting if police didn’t vacate the area in 10 seconds.

Police traced the 911 call to Roberts’ cell phone and attempted to call him back. Roberts then began shooting the girls in the backs of their heads at close range, police said.

Police attempted to enter the school but were delayed about a minute by the barricades. By the time police entered through the windows, Roberts was dead.

Police said they found him face-down on the floor next to a 9 mm pistol and shotgun.

Roberts fired more than a dozen shots from the pistol and three rounds from the shotgun, police said. He fired at police once, Miller said. Police did not fire any shots during the incident.

J. Daniel Baughman, who lives across from the school, said he saw police cradling small children in their arms while removing students from the building.

“It’s heartbreaking; it’s shattering,” Baughman said. “You’re standing up here, you’re looking ... . I never imagined it would end up with children dead.

“I’m a World War II veteran,” he said, before starting to cry. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”

One of the shooting victims was taken to Lancaster General Hospital, where she died upon arrival. Another died at the scene in the arms of a state trooper, police said.

Officials removed two dead children and Roberts from the school around 6 p.m.

Three victims were being treated at Hershey Medical Center Monday night. Two of them, ages 6 and 8, were in critical condition, while a third victim, age 13, was upgraded to serious.

Three victims, ages 8, 10 and 12, were in critical condition at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Monday night, police said.

Another girl, her age unknown, was in critical condition at Christiana Hospital in Delaware, police said.

“Our hearts go out to this community,” Miller said. “It’s an unbelievable loss.”

While Miller conceded the crime was premeditated, he said it wasn’t an act of hatred toward the Amish.

“I don’t believe (Roberts) was seeking revenge on the Amish,” he said. “This location was picked because he lived close by. It was a target of opportunity.”

Hours after the crime, a member of Bart Township Fire Police commented on the brutality of the shootings.

“This is the last place you would expect this to happen,” said the man, who asked he not be identified.

“There is no place more helpless than an Amish schoolhouse. They were defenseless.”


Intelligencer Journal Staff Writers Colby Itkowitz, P.J. Reilly and Lori Van Ingen contributed to this story. blog comments powered by Disqus