Skip to comments.
Driver Shoots and Kills Man After Amish Pranksters Throw Tomatoes at His Car
AP ^
| September 2, 2003
Posted on 09/02/2003 6:46:11 PM PDT by Mr. Mulliner
Driver Shoots and Kills Man After Amish Pranksters Throw Tomatoes at His Car
The Associated Press
Published: Sep 2, 2003
MOUNT HOPE, Ohio (AP) - A driver fired a shotgun into a cornfield and killed a man after being tormented by a group of young Amish pranksters who pelted his car with tomatoes, authorities said.
Steven L. Keim was with about 10 other members of the Amish community, ages 15 to 23, who were hiding in the field Monday night, throwing tomatoes and firing paintball guns at passing cars, the Holmes County Sheriff's office said.
After driving past the cornfield several times and being pelted on each occasion, the driver stopped and challenged the group to throw more tomatoes, then fired three to five shots into the field, striking Keim multiple times. No suspect had been arrested Tuesday.
Holmes County, a rural area that has what is believed to be the world's largest Amish population, sees its share of pranks by young Amish people every fall, Chief Deputy Nathan Fritz said.
"They'll steal their neighbor's buggy and put it on top of a building," Fritz said.
It was the county's first firearm-related homicide in about 30 years, Fritz said.
Although Keim was raised Amish, the self-employed roofing contractor had a driver's license and had left the Amish church, Fritz said.
Many Amish teenagers, like the group in the cornfield, experiment with popular culture then later return to the Amish lifestyle, Fritz said.
The Amish do not believe in modern conveniences such as electricity and automobiles.
The incident occurred just north of Mount Hope, about 60 miles south of Cleveland.
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News
KEYWORDS: add; adhd; amish; berlin; disturbed; edni; guncontrol; lancaster; oh; ohio; pa; pennsylvania; pranks; ritalin; shotgun; specialed; tomotoes; yoder
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20, 21-40, 41-54 last
To: freebilly
"Don't have kids? Never were a kid? Why don't we just have Sharia law here in this country and really make you happy"
You're right. I did worse stuff that this as a teenager. I'm glad no one saw fit to kill me because of it.
41
posted on
09/02/2003 10:41:47 PM PDT
by
Graybeard58
(I plan on living forever. So far, so good)
To: ijcr
Q.What goes clippity clop, bang, clippity clop, bang?
A. Amish drive by shooting.
Looks like they have progressed from "drive-by shootings" to "random fruitings"!!
42
posted on
09/02/2003 11:16:46 PM PDT
by
Zetman
To: Sangamon Kid
Cool...I gotta see that one. You would love what they do with folks' privies. (AKA Outhouses) :)
43
posted on
09/03/2003 12:03:12 AM PDT
by
El Gato
(Federal Judges can twist the Constitution into anything.. or so they think.)
To: Mr. Mulliner
Holmes County, a rural area that has what is believed to be the world's largest Amish population, sees its share of pranks by young Amish people every fall, Chief Deputy Nathan Fritz said. "They'll steal their neighbor's buggy and put it on top of a building," Fritz said. While this is a tragic story in that a death was involved, I couldn't help but laugh uncontrollably at this line.
44
posted on
09/03/2003 12:06:50 AM PDT
by
strela
(It is not true that Larry Flynt's biggest financial donor is Dicker and Dicker of Beverly Hills.)
To: Octar
They lose a lot of their "charm" as they get close to you. Can you explain in more detail?
To: Octar
We have a lot of them around here. They are looked upon as ignorant vermin. They lose a lot of their "charm" as they get close to you. One wonders why they never have defective or deformed children. Or needy old people. Or funerals? Oh sure, pick on the defenseless Amish. I'll bet you wouldn't talk so tough if the Amish had computers! ;)
46
posted on
09/03/2003 9:52:55 AM PDT
by
Pest
To: Mr. Mulliner
While using a shot-gun against vandals is not warranted, firing paintballs at someone is very wrong. You can blind someone with a paintball.
47
posted on
09/03/2003 9:55:28 AM PDT
by
jjm2111
To: FroedrickVonFreepenstein
I thought I was the only one hearing Weird Al while reading this!
48
posted on
09/03/2003 10:20:46 AM PDT
by
annyokie
(One good thing about being wrong is the joy it brings to others.)
To: Pest
What's really a scream is that they have cellphones. I lived next to a large Amish community in PA and many were the times I drove past their farm while Mrs Yoder was sitting on her porch yacking it up on her cell phone.
49
posted on
09/03/2003 10:25:59 AM PDT
by
annyokie
(One good thing about being wrong is the joy it brings to others.)
To: Mr. Mulliner
Hold on everybody. Paint ball guns? Amish brats with paintball guns! Won't their elders burn them as heretics if they find that technology on them?
50
posted on
09/03/2003 10:44:43 AM PDT
by
exile
(Exile - proudly ticking off the Left since 1992)
To: Mr. Mulliner
The Amish do not believe in modern conveniences such as electricity and automobiles.Sure Sure Sure, but the young Amish do believe in acting in the exact same way as other minority youth ( that are fast becoming the majority in Calif BTW) who aren't Amish.
51
posted on
09/03/2003 10:48:48 AM PDT
by
Pagey
(Hillary Rotten is a Smug, Holier - Than - Thou Socialist)
To: Mulder
I don't condone the behavior of the driver (he should have called the police first), but I really don't condemn it either.
I'll condem it for you. The use of a firearm in this instance is not justified in the slightest. It was a leathal action against a non-leathal threat. This guy not only went past several times, but he reportedly exited his car and challenged the tomato throwers and paint ball shooters.
It's lunatics like this person who give the liberals a big fancy target for their gun control propaganda.
52
posted on
09/03/2003 11:26:58 AM PDT
by
kingu
To: Pagey
clop -clop -clop -clop -clop -clop -clop -clop -
BANG!
clop -clop -clop -clop -clop -clop -clop -clop -
What an Amish drive-by sounds like.
53
posted on
09/03/2003 11:36:36 AM PDT
by
kahoutek
To: michaelt
Kids throw stuff at cars all the time...rocks, snowballs. Its more human nature than popular culture, I think.
I guess these "Amish" kids like organic projectiles, or maybe they thought it would do less damage than a rock.
Good points. I have to confess, right here on national FreeRepublic that when I was about 8 I threw a rock at (and hit) a neighbor's car going down our street. That man screeched the brakes after the rock hit his car and man I ran like hell. I knew when the rock was being propelled foward by my right hand that what I was doing was wrong, very wrong, but somehow that didn't stop my depraved mind from acting on my impulse. I not only feel guilty; I am guilty of that assault. P.S. please don't tell anybody, even though someday I'm sure I'll have to answer for this deed. I must say that in spite of my ignorance and malice the man couldn't have shot me even if he had a gun - I was very fast in those days.
I don't know why I'm telling you this, except that it is a cathartic, cleansing experience to do so.
Cordially,
54
posted on
09/03/2003 12:43:36 PM PDT
by
Diamond
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20, 21-40, 41-54 last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson