MennoNet.com

If you lived in Lancaster County on October 2, 2006, this day will always be remembered. Ten little Amish girls lined up in front of the school and shot execution style. Five died, five survived. One little girl suffered a permanent disability. I remember Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Jeffrey B. Miller, fighting tears as he described what happened at a news conference. Anne Curry from NBC doing the same as she interviewed people. Janice Ballenger, a EMT and Deputy Coroner described examining the bodies of little Amish girls, their bodies filled with bullet holes, in her book. The Amish visiting Charles Roberts parents and offering forgiveness. At Charles Robert's funeral the Amish came out and circled the burial site so reporters could not gain access. The State Police riding horses occupying the funeral processions of the little girls.


https://www.pennlive.com/news/2023/10/h ... ar2uJYDxHM

I was still working in the wood shop then. Not many of my coworkers were allowed to have radios except for a few. He had a mid-morning hankering for some McDonalds and came back telling us this was all over the radio stations.

The details that followed were pretty disturbing. I think the shooter was a milk truck driver, IIRC.

Some years ago that man's mother spoke at our congregation, telling of the shame and confusion she felt, knowing that her son had done such a thing, and how she found grace in the forgiveness given by the Amish parents and community.

Neto wrote: ↑Wed Oct 04, 2023 7:21 am Some years ago that man's mother spoke at our congregation, telling of the shame and confusion she felt, knowing that her son had done such a thing, and how she found grace in the forgiveness given by the Amish parents and community.

Terri Roberts visited the little disabled girl every week, up until Terri died. This gave the Amish girl's mother a break.

A day of infamy and a day in which the world saw the extraordinary grace of practicing forgiveness. It was not easy on the parents but in my opinion, it is one of the premiere moments of Christian witness in this century. The other is when the Coptic Christians who refused to convert to Islam were herded in front of a camera and with the name of Jesus on their lips they were beheaded. Two different cultures but the same heroic virtue of fidelity to Jesus.