Has anyone seen any description of what the grudge was that this lunatic thought he was avenging?
By Jon Hurdle
NICKEL MINES, Penn. (Reuters) - The 32-year-old dairy truck driver who stormed a one-room school and killed five girls apparently chose the schoolhouse because it was an easy target rather than because he had a grudge against the Amish, police said.
Pennsylvania police said the man lost a child of his own three years ago, and they were investigating suicide notes that he left as well as statements he made to his wife that he was seeking revenge for something that occurred 20 years ago.
Two girls died overnight, bringing to five the number of students killed, police said on Tuesday.
The two girls who died overnight were aged 7 and 8, said Commissioner Jeffrey Miller of the Pennsylvania state police. One other girl remained in critical condition and another four were described as stable, state police said.
Commenting on Roberts' motive, Miller said the death of a child three years ago may have affected his state of mind.
"He may have been angry with God for having lost a child," Miller said at a news briefing.
The third deadly U.S. school shooting in a week shattered the calm of an Amish farm community where there is little crime and where the sight of horse-drawn buggies, men in simple black coats and hats, and women in bonnets conjures up a bygone age.
"We don't believe that he had ... some animus toward the Amish community. We believe that this was a target of opportunity," Miller said. "He believed he could get in there pretty easily and secure it from a defensive posture.
"Has anyone seen any description of what the grudge was that this lunatic thought he was avenging?
No, I haven't. I doubt, though, it was something going back 20 years when he was 12. More likely this mutant must have lived a very unhappy and empty life and blamed society for his failures. He wanted to take his own life, but before he did that he wanted to get back at society by killing their little innocent angels. One would think that a married 32-year-old man with children is beyond such madness. But nooooo he wanted more out of life and blamed society at large.
Continued prayers for the surviving children, the departed ones and their families. Parents must be going through hell this very moment. Pray for these people, folks. They did not deserve this, no one deserves it.
I just heard on the radio that the death of a child years ago made him angry with God. Pure speculation here, but maybe he associated God with the Amish because they are overtly religious. They are also sitting ducks because their schools have no security. I imagine God is rendering His own opinion on this animal's actions about now.
This is horrible. School shootings are all terrible, but this one has hit me harder than most.