Charles Roberts and the 2006 West Nickel Mines Amish School Massacre
Background
Charles Carl Roberts IV was a 32-year-old milk-tanker driver who lived with his wife and three children in Georgetown, a rural community in Bart Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Born on December 7, 1973, Roberts was not Amish, but his work brought him into regular contact with Amish farming families in the Nickel Mines area. Some of the farms he visited were connected to families whose children attended the West Nickel Mines School.
On October 2, 2006, Roberts carried out a planned hostage-taking and mass shooting at the West Nickel Mines School, a one-room Amish schoolhouse in Bart Township. He deliberately separated the female students from the boys and adults, restrained the girls and shot ten of them before killing himself. Five girls died during the immediate aftermath of the attack. A sixth victim, Rosanna King, survived with catastrophic injuries for nearly 18 years before dying on September 3, 2024.
Preparations for the Attack
Roberts prepared extensively before entering the school. He brought a 9mm semiautomatic handgun, a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun and a .30-06 bolt-action rifle. He also carried ammunition, a stun gun, knives, chains, flexible plastic restraints, wire, tools, wooden boards and other supplies. The rifle was brought into the school but was not fired during the attack.
Investigators found suicide notes Roberts had left for his wife and children. He also telephoned his wife during the hostage crisis. His preparations, the equipment he carried and the messages he left demonstrated that the attack was not a spontaneous outburst. He had arrived intending to control the schoolhouse, hold children captive and die during the confrontation.
Entry into the West Nickel Mines School
At approximately 10:25 a.m. on Monday, October 2, 2006, Roberts backed his pickup truck close to the entrance of the West Nickel Mines School. The small school stood on White Oak Road in the rural Nickel Mines community of Bart Township, southeast of Lancaster.
Roberts initially entered the classroom and asked teacher Emma Mae Zook and the students whether they had seen a missing metal clevis pin along the road. After receiving an answer, he returned to his truck and came back carrying a handgun. He then ordered several boys to help him bring weapons, lumber and equipment from the vehicle into the building.
While Roberts was occupied, Emma Mae Zook and her mother, who was visiting the school, escaped and ran to a nearby farm. They asked farmer Amos Smoker to call emergency services. The first recorded emergency call was made at approximately 10:35 or 10:36 a.m.
Separation of the Students
Roberts allowed the male students to leave the schoolhouse. He also released a pregnant woman and several adults who had infants with them. He kept a group of female students inside. One nine-year-old girl, Emma Fisher, managed to escape, but her sisters Marian and Barbara remained among the hostages.
Roberts ordered ten girls, ranging from six to 13 years old, to stand near the front of the classroom by the chalkboard. He used plastic restraints, wire and other materials to bind or immobilize them. He barricaded the front door with boards and positioned himself where he could watch the approaching police.
The selection of the girls was deliberate. Roberts told authorities and family members that he intended to take revenge against female victims for grievances from his past. Investigators concluded that the children had no personal responsibility for anything Roberts claimed had happened to him. They were selected because they were vulnerable and because Roberts had chosen to direct his anger toward girls.
Police Response and Hostage Crisis
Pennsylvania State Police troopers began arriving within minutes of the emergency call. Roberts warned officers outside the school that he would shoot the children if they attempted to enter. Police surrounded the building and tried to communicate with him while preparing an emergency rescue operation.
During the crisis, Roberts called 911 himself. He told a dispatcher that he had hostages and warned that he would begin killing them unless police withdrew. His wife also contacted authorities after discovering his notes and receiving a disturbing telephone call from him.
Inside the classroom, the girls understood that they were in extreme danger. According to accounts later provided by survivors and community members, 13-year-old Marian Fisher and her 11-year-old sister, Barbara Fisher, offered to be shot first in the hope that Roberts would spare the younger children. Marian was killed, while Barbara survived her wounds.
The Shooting
At approximately 11:07 a.m., after a standoff lasting more than 30 minutes, Roberts began shooting the restrained girls at close range. He fired numerous rounds from his 9mm handgun and several blasts from the shotgun. He also fired toward police outside the building, but no troopers were struck.
As soon as the gunfire began, Pennsylvania State Police officers launched an immediate assault on the schoolhouse. Troopers broke through windows and forced their way inside. Before they could reach him, Roberts used the handgun to shoot himself in the head. He died inside the classroom on October 2, 2006.
All ten girls held in the schoolhouse had been shot. Two were dead inside the building, and others were carried or transported from the scene with critical injuries. Emergency crews used ambulances and helicopters to take the children to Lancaster General Hospital and specialized pediatric trauma centers in Pennsylvania and Delaware.
Fatal Victims
- Naomi Rose Ebersol, 7 – Naomi was shot inside the West Nickel Mines School in Bart Township on October 2, 2006. She died at the scene.
- Marian Stoltzfus Fisher, 13 – Marian was the oldest of the girls held hostage. She reportedly asked Roberts to shoot her first in an effort to protect the younger children. She died inside the schoolhouse on October 2, 2006.
- Anna Mae Stoltzfus, 12 – Anna Mae was critically wounded at the school and transported to Lancaster General Hospital in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She was pronounced dead shortly after arriving on October 2, 2006.
- Lena Zook Miller, 7 – Lena was taken to the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. She died from her injuries on October 3, 2006.
- Mary Liz Miller, 9 – Mary Liz, Lena Miller’s sister, was transported to Christiana Hospital in Newark, Delaware. She died from her wounds on October 3, 2006.
- Rosanna King, 6 – Rosanna was shot in the head and suffered devastating brain injuries. She survived but remained unable to walk, speak or feed herself and required constant care. She died at her family home in Paradise, Pennsylvania, on September 3, 2024, at the age of 23. Her death was attributed to the lasting injuries caused by the shooting.
Surviving Wounded Victims
- Rachel Ann Stoltzfus, 8 – Rachel was shot and hospitalized but survived. She eventually returned to school during her recovery.
- Barbara Fisher, 11 – Barbara was wounded after she and her sister Marian reportedly offered to be shot first. She survived and underwent medical treatment, including surgery connected to injuries affecting her shoulder and arm.
- Sarah Ann Stoltzfus, 12 – Sarah suffered life-threatening injuries and was not initially expected to survive. She later returned to school, although her injuries reportedly affected the vision in her left eye.
- Esther King, 13 – Esther was hospitalized with gunshot wounds. She survived, returned to school and later worked on her family’s farm.
Roberts’ Stated Motives
Roberts left written messages expressing anger, guilt and despair. He referred to the death of his infant daughter, Elise, who died shortly after birth in 1997. He claimed that he had become angry with God following her death and had spent years struggling with resentment.
In communications immediately before the shooting, Roberts also made claims involving sexual thoughts or misconduct toward young female relatives many years earlier. Authorities investigated those statements. Some of the relatives reportedly disputed that abuse had occurred as Roberts described it. Because Roberts died at the scene, investigators were never able to question him fully or determine the complete truth behind every claim in his notes.
Regardless of the grievances he described, the attack was carefully directed at children who had no connection to his personal losses or alleged past conduct. His decision to release the boys while retaining the girls demonstrated that he had selected his victims according to sex.
Immediate Aftermath
The shooting devastated the Old Order Amish community of Nickel Mines. The victims came from closely connected farming families, and several were sisters or relatives. Funerals were conducted according to Amish customs, with large numbers of community members gathering to support the families.
The West Nickel Mines School was demolished on October 12, 2006, ten days after the massacre. The site was allowed to return to pasture. A replacement school, named the New Hope School, was constructed at a different nearby location and opened on April 2, 2007, exactly six months after the attack.
The Amish Community’s Response
The reaction of the Amish community received international attention because many families publicly expressed forgiveness toward Roberts and compassion for his wife, children and parents. Amish neighbors visited Roberts’ widow, brought food to his family and attended his funeral. Members of the community emphasized that Roberts’ surviving relatives had not committed the crime and should not be punished or rejected because of his actions.
The forgiveness expressed by many families did not erase their grief or the physical suffering of the surviving children. Families continued to face medical expenses, permanent disabilities and emotional trauma. Their response reflected a religious commitment to forgiveness while allowing them to mourn the children who had been killed.
Roberts’ mother, Terri Roberts, later developed a relationship with Rosanna King and her family. She visited Rosanna regularly and assisted with her care. Those visits continued as Rosanna lived with the profound disabilities caused by the shooting.
Final Death Toll and Legacy
For many years, the West Nickel Mines School massacre was recorded as having killed five children and wounded five others. Following Rosanna King’s death on September 3, 2024, the number of victims who ultimately died from injuries connected to the shooting rose to six. Including Charles Roberts’ suicide, seven people died as a result of the incident.
The massacre remains one of the most notorious attacks on an American school and the deadliest school shooting in Pennsylvania history. It is remembered both for the calculated targeting of ten defenseless girls and for the extraordinary response of the Amish families, who supported one another while extending compassion to the relatives of the man responsible for the killings.
Charles Carl Roberts IV died at the West Nickel Mines School on October 2, 2006. Because he killed himself as police entered, he was never arrested or placed on trial. The surviving evidence, emergency calls, suicide notes, witness statements and equipment recovered from the school established that he had planned the hostage situation and intended it to end with the deaths of children and himself.
