Deputy Coroner Janice Ballenger had the grim task Monday of checking the body of a 7-year-old girl slain by a gunman at the West Nickel Mines School.

The coroner examined the tiny body of Naomi Rose Ebersol, who weighed about 50 pounds, on the playground of the Amish schoolhouse in Bart Township.

Ballenger found almost 20 bullet wounds on the girl's body.

"She was a 7-year-old angel," Ballenger said. "Kneeling next to the body and counting all the bullet holes was the worst part."

Ballenger and Deputy Coroner Amanda Shelley pronounced Naomi, Anna Mae Stoltzfus, 12, and the gunman, Charles Carl Roberts IV, dead at the scene. Roberts, 32, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Three other children died later at hospitals and five others remain hospitalized.

The deputy coroner said she saw state police troopers in shirts soaked with students' blood and parents of the victims trying to identify the dead.

"It was something that I never expected to see in Lancaster County," Shelley said. "I realize that my job comes with seeing things that most people wouldn't want to, but the experience has left me in a fog."

Shelley said the inside of the one-room schoolhouse was decorated with smiley-face stickers and a sign that read, "Visitors Brighten People's Days." The small desks, usually lined up in neat rows, had been used by the gunman to barricade the door.

"There wasn't a desk or chair in the room that wasn't covered in blood or broken glass," Ballenger said.

She said the body of Anna Mae was found facedown in the front of the classroom near the chalkboard. There was a silk handkerchief in her hand.

One of the troopers had carried Naomi's body out of the schoolhouse and to the playground, where a medic attempted to revive the girl.

A woman later arrived to identify Naomi's body.

"That was the first real display of emotion I saw from the families," Ballenger said. "The woman's knees buckled while she stood next to me and one of the troopers."

Coroner Dr. G. Gary Kirchner and Chief Deputy Coroner Dr. Robert Good later arrived at the school, along with two other deputy coroners. The coroners were at the scene of the shootings for about seven hours.

"At times it was chaotic, sheer chaos," Shelley said. "It was surreal but we pulled together as a team and worked together despite the horrible circumstances." blog comments powered by Disqus