Barricaded inside the one-room West Nickel Mines School with the victims bound and lined in a row, Roberts told his wife, Marie, via cell phone he had molested two young children when he was 12, police said.

He also confessed to having had dreams of molesting children for the past couple of years.

It was a revelation his family had never heard before and a story authorities have yet to confirm, but police said the alleged sexual assaults in the 1980s were a motive for the heinous crime he would commit 20 years later.

The assaults allegedly involved two relatives, ages 3 to 5.

Following Roberts’ final conversation with his wife, the 32-year-old Bart Township man shot the students execution style, then took his own life.

Five girls died from gunshot wounds to the head, police said.

The dead were identified Tuesday as Naomi Rose Ebersol, 7; Anna Mae Stoltzfus, 12; Marian Fisher, 13; Mary Liz Miller, 8; and Lena Miller, 7.

The Millers were sisters, police said.

Three of the five wounded girls were in critical condition Tuesday.

In response to the shootings, thousands of Lancaster County residents attended prayer services Tuesday night.

Police said Roberts claimed to be seeking revenge for things that occurred in his life, including the loss of his first-born daughter, Elise, who died in November 1997 20 minutes after her premature birth.

“This was a very deeply disturbed individual underneath,” state police Col. Jeffrey Miller said Tuesday afternoon at a press conference at Middle Octorara Presbyterian Church.

Police provided the following account of Roberts’ actions Monday.

Roberts returned to his Georgetown Road home about 3 a.m. after completing his shift delivering milk produced on local farms for Northwest Foods.

Roberts slept, then walked his children to a school bus stop on Georgetown Road at 8:45 a.m. He then left suicide notes for each of his family members — Marie and their three children, ages 1½ to 7 — at their home.

Marie had left the home at 9 a.m. for a prayer group meeting.

In the letter to his wife, Roberts mentioned a life-changing event 20 years ago but didn’t reveal what it was. He also expressed hatred toward himself and God and said Elise’s death left him forlorn.

In the notes to his children, he told them they were good and that he loved them.

Roberts left the home soon after Marie’s departure and drove to a local hardware store to make his last purchases from a checklist police later found in the cab of his milk truck.

The list included most of the items police found at the scene. Roberts had made check marks next to several items, including tape, eyebolts, batteries, a candle and a hose.

He made two separate purchases, at 9:14 and 9:16 a.m., at Valley Hardware in Christiana. Police said he bought eyebolts — large bolts with open circles at their ends — plastic cable ties and a box of assorted hardware.

He then drove to the Amish school at 4876 White Oak Road in a pickup truck borrowed from a friend or family member that was loaded with “a vast array of weaponry,” Miller said. The arsenal included two pistols, a shotgun, a stun gun, 600 rounds of ammunition and gun powder.

The stun gun was purchased Thursday at Village Arms in Gap, police said.

Gene McKillips, owner of the gun shop, said Tuesday he did not recognize Roberts from pictures released by police.

There is no paperwork or waiting period required to purchase a 300,000-volt stun gun like the one Roberts bought for $35, McKillips said. The guns are typically used for self defense.

Roberts backed up the truck to the front door of West Nickel Mines School around 10 a.m., police said.

Also packed in the truck were chains, two-by-fours, nails, bolts and lubricating jelly.

Roberts had “assembled a restraint system or kit,” Miller said.

“It was very odd (he) would have these other things,” he said, referring to the two tubes of K-Y Jelly and restraining devices found inside the school.

Police said Roberts also brought toilet paper and a change of clothes.

“He planned to dig in for a long siege,” Miller said. “It’s very possible he intended to victimize the children in many ways prior to executing them and killing himself.”

There was no evidence of a sexual assault at the crime scene.

Shortly after arriving at the school, Roberts released 15 male students and three women. Teacher Emma Mae Zook escaped, along with Zook’s mother and a female student.

Zook ran to a nearby home and called police at 10:36 a.m.

Roberts then ordered the remaining female students, ages 6 to 13, to line up against the blackboard and then bound each girl’s legs together at their feet.

He also nailed boards across the school’s two doors to block the exits. On one of the boards above ground level he had attached eyebolts, and police speculate he may have planned to use them to restrain the girls’ arms above their heads.

His plans were disrupted when police arrived at 10:45 a.m.

Roberts was calm when he entered the school, Miller said, but he became distraught when the first police car arrived.

It was then that he called Marie, telling her he would not be coming home and confessing to the sexual assaults of 20 years ago.

After a brief conversation with Marie, Roberts called 911. He warned the dispatcher to have police leave the area in 10 seconds or he would start shooting.

Police traced the call to Marie’s cell phone and dialed him back. Roberts never answered, police said; instead, he began shooting the girls in their heads at close range.

He fired 13 rounds from a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol and three from a 12-gauge shotgun. He reloaded the pistol and fired a bullet into his own head as police stormed through the windows.

When they got inside, Roberts was dead. Police said the gunfire lasted only about a minute.

Two students, Naomi Rose Ebersol and Anna Mae Stoltzfus, died at the scene, police said.

Ebersol was the daughter of Amos and Katie Ann Fisher Ebersol of Mine Road, Paradise.

Stoltzfus was the daughter of Christ and Lizzie Allgyer Stoltzfus, also of Mine Road. Police said Anna Mae has a sister who also was shot.

Three girls died after being taken by helicopter to hospitals.

Marian Fisher was dead on arrival at Lancaster General Hospital Monday. Lena Miller died at Hershey Medical Center Tuesday morning when her parents requested she be taken off life support.

Her older sister, Mary Liz, died early Tuesday morning, shortly before her sister, at Christiana Hospital in Delaware.

Fisher was the daughter of John and Linda Stoltzfus Fisher of Mine Road.

The Miller sisters were the daughters of Christ and Rachel Zook Miller of White Oak Road.

Three unidentified victims were being treated at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Tuesday night.

Two of them, ages 8 and 10, were in critical condition. A 12-year-old with gunshot wounds to her arm and leg was upgraded to serious condition Tuesday night.

Two of the victims, also unidentified and ages 6 and 13, are being treated at Hershey Medical Center. The 13-year-old was in serious condition Tuesday night, while the 6-year-old’s condition remained critical.

The 10 victims are from seven different families, Miller said. The 26 who attended the school are from 10 families.

At Tuesday’s press conference, Gov. Ed Rendell praised the resolve of the community in the wake of the killings.

“The strength and resiliency of this community give it the ability to deal with tragedy like this better than most,” he said.

Douglas Hileman, pastor at Middle Octorara Presbyterian Church, talked about the healing that must take place.

“Our community truly has been hurt. This event will be a part of our history,” he said.

“In time, though, we will be remembered more for how we picked up one another’s pieces and continued together.”


Intelligencer Journal Staff Writers Colby Itkowitz and Dave Pidgeon contributed to this report. blog comments powered by Disqus