The Amish are known for their simplistic way of life and seemingly idyllic communities. No electricity. No phones. No cars. Unfortunately for them, the Amish aren’t immune from the same types of crimes we see on a daily basis and, eventually, require the help of outside authorities.

In October 2006 at approximately 10:25 a.m. in Paradise, Pennsylvania, Charles Roberts IV backed a pickup truck to the front of an Amish schoolhouse and entered shortly after the children returned from recess. 

“Have you or the students seen a missing clevis pin on the road?” he asked the teacher, Emma Mae Zook. Survivors would later say he mumbled his words and did not make direct eye contact. 

After them denying seeing a clevis pin, he left to go to his truck. Moments later, he reentered holding a Springfield XD 9mm handgun. He ordered the boys to help him carry items into the classroom from the truck and the girls were to line up against the chalkboard. Zook and her mother took this opportunity to escape and run toward a nearby farm for help, leaving Roberts in the schoolhouse with the remaining children and workers. However, after all of the items were in the schoolhouse, he allowed a pregnant woman, three parents with infants, and all remaining boys to exit. One girl, nine-year-old Emma Fisher, escaped but left behind her older sister.

Shortly after, at 10:36 a.m., 911 was called from the nearby farmhouse where Zook and her mother ran. Police were there less than ten minutes later. At approximately 10:42 a.m., the first trooper arrived. The police, while waiting for reinforcements, attempted to communicate with Roberts via the PA system in their patrol cars, though this was futile.

By 11:00 a.m., a large crowd full of police officers, emergency medical technicians, and residents gathered outside the schoolhouse and at a nearby ambulance staging area. County and state police dispatchers had briefly established telephone contact with Roberts as he continued to threaten violence against the children.

The threats ceased as he began shooting at approximately 11:07 a.m. Yet, the shooting stopped before troopers even got to the house. Upon entering, troopers found Roberts had committed suicide after firing at least thirteen rounds. Quickly, all wounded were taken to the hospital.

Following the chaos of the incident, it was revealed to the public that two girls had died at the schoolhouse. One was pronounced dead on arrival (DOA) at the hospital, and two sisters survived until the early hours of the following day before they were taken off life support.

Reports of the time state that most of the girls were shot "execution-style" in the back of the head, yet police and coroner accounts of the children's wounds differed dramatically. For instance, the Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner said Roberts shot his victims in the head at close range, with seventeen or eighteen shots fired in all, including the one he used to take his own life. On the other hand, Janice Ballenger, the deputy coroner, counted at least a dozen shotgun pellet-inflicted wounds in one child alone.

Overall, five girls and Roberts were killed. Numerous girls were injured, seemingly for no reason. However, we have some clues.

Charles Roberts left his three children and wife each separate suicide notes. One note Roberts left behind indicated his despondency over a daughter who died approximately 20 minutes after birth nine years earlier. Another spoke of the anger he had against God. Roberts also called his wife from the schoolhouse and told her that he had molested two young female relatives twenty years ago in his early teens. He confessed that he has been daydreaming about molesting again. That said, the two relatives whom Roberts said he molested told police that no such abuse had ever happened. Whatever the truth, it brought a new layer of mystery to his motive and mental state during the incident. So, the true motive behind the crime will likely never be known.