http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/02/amish.shooting.ap/index.html NICKEL MINES, Pennsylvania (AP) -- A gunman killed six people at a one-room Amish schoolhouse Monday morning in Pennsylvania's bucolic Lancaster County, and several others were taken to hospitals with injuries, authorities said. "So far, six confirmed dead, and the helicopters are pulling into (Lancaster General Hospital) like crazy," Coroner G. Gary Kirchner said. It was unclear if the shooter was among the six. State Police Cpl. Ralph Striebig said earlier that the shooter was dead. (Watch helicopter video from the scene of the shooting -- 1:00 ) Three girls, all in critical condition with gunshot wounds, were admitted to Lancaster General Hospital, spokesman John Lines told WGAL-TV. Officials at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center confirmed that victims also were being admitted there. A spokeswoman said the hospital anticipated more than one patient but did not know how many. Police surrounded the one-room school late Monday morning, and the Lancaster County 911 Web site reported that dozens of emergency units were dispatched to a "medical emergency" at 10:45 a.m. Two hours later, about three dozen people in traditional Amish clothing, hats and bonnets stood near the small school building speaking to one another, several young people and authorities. At least two ambulances had left the scene, and at least one person was taken on a stretcher to a medical helicopter.
Good friend of mine....Wonderful man...and Police Officer....wrote this today... Maybe I really DO need psychological help- Here where I live, at several of the schools, SCORES of parents (fathers, mostly, but, God Bless them, some mothers too) are placing themselves at the entrances to the schools ARMED WITH SHOTGUNS, and shaking down EVERYBODY entering the school. And you know what-I DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT!!! Vigilante groups are taking the law into their hands, and I, POLICE OFFICER JOSEPH, do not have a problem with it. Is it time for me to retire? Or is it that I REALLY AM sick of all these innocent children being slaughtered? Any CONSTRUCTIVE guideance will be sincerely appreciated. Also-I'm predicting by the end of the day that Chuck-the-putz Schumer and Teddy-the-red-nosed-Senator will be looking for a TV camera and start preaching their gun control crap. God, if I can just hang on for another 25-30 years, I'll never have to witness any of this bullshit ever again.
We already have armed cops at schools, but I doubt it would stop this. The Amish hate guns so they are defenseless to this but where was the officer in Bailey CO? Not much use if they disappear during the school day.
Maybe an armed parent volunteer patrol. Of course they wouldn't know we were armed if it was concealed......
Here's how the Commissioner of Education in Texas is handling it today.. TO THE ADMINISTRATOR ADDRESSED: SUBJECT: Campus Security and Safety I am writing to inform you of some recent events that merit your immediate attention. Our nation and the education community have experienced yet another series of tragedies. On Wednesday, September 27, in Bailey, Colorado, a man held several female students hostage at gunpoint and killed one girl before killing himself. On Friday, September 29, near Madison, Wisconsin, a principal was shot to death at school by a student. Today, in Paradise, Pennsylvania, a man, targeting female students, apparently entered a school and shot three students to death before killing himself. According to reports, at least seven other students were wounded in the attack. As the similarities between the incidents in Bailey, Colorado and Paradise, Pennsylvania demonstrate, acts of violence such as these have the potential to induce others to commit similar acts. We must never let our guard down when it comes to the safety of our students and we must be particularly vigilant during the times surrounding such incidents, when the potential for copycat acts is at its highest. It is very important that all of you take the time to remind your school principals about the need to take potential threats to student safety seriously. I urge you to review your school district’s security procedures and to encourage your faculty and students to immediately report any possible threats or suspicious behavior. Since these most recent incidents involved perpetrators entering campuses with weapons, you may wish to consider additional steps to ensure that weapons and unauthorized individuals are not entering your campuses. The Texas School Safety Center may be able to assist you in your violence prevention and security efforts. The Center’s website is http://www.txssc.txstate.edu/txssc.htm. Additionally, Governor Perry has authorized me to inform you that in the event of an imminent threat to any of your campuses, he will provide any necessary state law enforcement resources to assist local law enforcement with ensuring the safety of your students and faculty. Thank you for your consideration of this important matter. Sincerely, Shirley Neeley Commissioner of Education
Okay, let's say that we have armed parent patrol. The guy who just shot the Amish children went there after seeing his own children get on their schoolbus. (I heard on the news) What if he was a parent volunteer? Isn't the best place to hide in Plain Sight? So, Mr. Dad is allowed to be armed outside of the school for the protection of the children. Who will stop him when he goes inside "to use the restroom". Nobody. After all; he is here to protect the children (isn't he?!?). If he meant anyone harm, it'd be too late before they realized what happened. I don't know what the solution to this should be. School security is lacking everywhere. Metal detector doorway, backpack check, full-time city police officer and undercover "students" on campus is enough, isn't it?? If they're not stopping the drug traffic in the schools, how are we to feel secure that they're able to protect our children any other way? Gee; I don't have that warm, fuzzy feeling of security. It's easy (too easy) to just walk in, undetected, unannounced (yep - you know I did it). A gentle door sign that reads "All visitors must report to office" isn't going to stop a bad guy. The other side of that coin is; do you want your children being locked in to learn? I don't. I worry every second about our eldest's safety while he's gone. I home educate the others. No unauthorized entry on our little campus.
As a Pennsylvania Dutchman born and bred (NOT Amish nor Mennonite) I can say positively that the real shame of this is less the unnecessary deaths, but the unremitting intrusion into the very private lives of a peaceful and private community. Do not confuse the private existance with secrecy. Those folks should be left alone to deal with the grief in their own way, not smeared all over the headlines.
I think the problem goes deeper than we are prepared to look. Schools used to be a place of education but has become increasingly institutionalized factorys for social conformity. I recall seeing the break-down begin while I was in Junior high school and they started federally subsidized lunch programs hand in hand with bussing to force integration. Educational standards were lowered and a grading curve was adopted into the system. Teachers began to become more conditioned into automatonic keepers rather than taking a real and vital intrest in students. There were exceptions, but shool shootings don't seem to happen where the exceptional teachers reside. Children were encouraged to experiment. We thought only of getting our ass kicked by Susy's daddy, if they caught us playing doctor, not being labeled a molester. We talked and learned the rules of exchange and we experimented with our sexuality. We settled arguements with fists occassionally, sometimes having to write thousands of times "I will not pick fights at school" on the blackboard, rather than being expelled. Our friends would help us with homework or kicking some bully's butt and teaching him there was strength in numbers . We had heroes that seemed bigger than life. I wanted to grow up and be Audy Murphy or Errol Flynn or John Wayne. Alan Alda wasn't meant to be a role model. We broke bones occassionaly and all our friends signed our casts. Remember SLAM-books? We had outlets that might get us trouble but wouldn't get us thrown in jail. We had hopes and dreams and visions to look forward to. Many of our kids don't have that today. We didn't take time to give it to them, rather we trusted the system to provide it and now we are paying the toll for our neglect.
Points well taken, SC. Society is changing, if for no other reason than the press of numbers. Seems to me that the more folks there are, the more rules needed, the more organization these days required to achieve the ends we got at the end of a nun's pointer. Watering things down to the lowest common denominator is a great leveler, but it stifles experimentation and learning by doing rather than by rote. Truely, it is no longer safe to let the kids roam and learn. There were, by percentage, probably as many weirdos then as now, but they were spread out more, leaving more safe learning room for us.
We are already allowed to be armed outside the school, at least in my state. I was thinking more along the lines of what CRC had posted, that people take action and drive by their kid's school at times other than just dropping them off and picking them up. As far as walking freely on campus, I eat lunch every day with my wife in her school room. I am not armed on campus either. I just walk through the gate in the chain link fence and into her classroom. Should security be tighter? Probably so, but where does it end? Armed guards at each entrance? Our society is different these days. Sick perverts and pyschos seem to have lost their inhibitions and deterents. Nobody wants to pay more taxes to beef up the security it would take, but maybe that is exactly what we should doing. Ultimately it is really hard to stop someone that is really determined and has the element of surprise. I have a teaching wife, and a daughter in high school. It won't be that many years when I will have two more kids in school. It is scary.
Agreed, EL. It would be very nice if more parents spent more time in the schools with their children. I spent 3 years trying to convince parents to come into the schools and found more excuses than I could shake a stick at (even from stay-at-home parents). Sad. People need to wake up and realize that noone can (or will) protect their children better than they will.
Hi Ghrit, As a fellow PA Dutchman I agree with you...I was raised in the Lebanon/Lancaster County area...Where were you from?
Born in Upland, raised in rural NJ, but roots are in Berks County. Still have inlaws and outlaws in the area. Lived in Delta for a while.
