NICKEL MINES, Pennsylvania: The Amish community, grieving the horrendous murder of five of its children in the school shootout Monday, has sought private funerals for the dead.
The Amish came out with a statement Wednesday spurning the proposal for a national mourning as done in the case of a similar tragedy at Columbine High School, and seeking privacy so that they can mourn in silence.
The four girls to be buried Thursday are Naomi Rose Ebersole, 7, Marian Fisher, 13, Mary Liz Miller, 8 and her sister Lena Miller, 7. The funeral for Anna Mae Stoltzfus, 12, the fifth girl died in the massacre, is scheduled for Friday.
Some 300 to 500 people are expected at each funeral, according to Philip W. Furman, the funeral director. The church-led services could last about two hours before mourners leave for a cemetery in horse-drawn buggies. There will be a short graveside services there. The dead will be buried in simple wooden caskets. An Amish girl is always laid to rest in a white dress, a cape, and a white prayer-covering on her head, according to Furman.
The services are conducted in German, with the men and women sitting separately. The locations of the burial sites are also kept private.
Unlike typical reactions to dastardly shootouts of this kind, the Amish have joined the family members of the gunman, Charles Carl Roberts IV, 32, in their bereavement. Roberts had committed suicide after killing the girls in the one-room school. The community has already announced it is forgiving Roberts for his act. Roberts is survived by his wife and three children.
Roberts had stormed the school and shot 10 girls before killing himself. According to preliminary investigations, he had brought lubricating jelly and plastic restraints with him, and the investigators suspect he had intentions of sexually attacking the girls.
Roberts had written notes to his family and had made a phone call from inside the school to his wife revealing he was tormented by memories of molesting two young relatives 20 years ago.
Police said Wednesday there was no sign of any molestation on the girls.
Three of the surviving girls are at the Children's Hospital Of Philadelphia.
