The Amish Testimony

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Charles Carl Roberts IV, 32, entered the West Nickel Mines School Oct. 2, took 10 girls hostage, tied them up and shot them before killing himself.

Leroy Zook, who had seven family members in the school when the gunman arrived, told The New York Times that one of the wounded girls told her parents what happened after the teachers and boys were released from the one-room schoolhouse.

¡°They talked with this gunman and asked him why he was doing this,¡± Zook recounted. ¡°And he told them why: he¡¯s angry at God, he¡¯s just bitter. He told them that they¡¯re supposed to pray for him that he wouldn¡¯t do this.¡±

Zook said 13-year-old Marian Fisher, before she was killed, sought to protect the others.

¡°The oldest girl there, she said, ¡®Shoot me, and leave the others alone,¡± Zook told The Times.

In television broadcasts since the shooting, members of the Amish community in Lancaster County have been asked how they¡¯re dealing with the tragedy, and the Amish have said they have forgiven Roberts because Christ forgave them. The Amish also have reached out to the gunman¡¯s family with forgiveness and compassion, according to media reports.

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