West Nickel Mines School shooting

On October 2, 2006, a shooting occurred at the West Nickel Mines School, an Amish one-room schoolhouse in the Old Order Amish community of Nickel Mines, a village in Bart Township, Pennsylvania. Gunman Charles Carl Roberts IV took hostages and shot ten girls (aged 6–13), killing six (five in the initial incident, and a sixth who succumbed to her injuries in 2024), before dying by suicide in the schoolhouse. The emphasis on forgiveness and reconciliation in the Amish community's response was widely discussed by the national media. The West Nickel Mines School was later demolished, and a new one-room schoolhouse, the New Hope School, was built at another location. It is the deadliest school shooting in Pennsylvania history.

39°57′37″N 76°05′04″W / 39.96021°N 76.084393°W / 39.96021; -76.084393

West Nickel Mines School shooting
LocationBart Township, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DateOctober 2, 2006 (2006-10-02)
c. 10:25 – c. 11:07 a.m.
TargetFemale students at West Nickel Mines School
Attack type
Femicide, pedicide, school shooting, hostage taking, murder–suicide, mass shooting, mass murder, misogynist terrorism
Weapons
Deaths7 (including the perpetrator and a victim who died from complications in 2024)
Injured4
PerpetratorCharles Carl Roberts IV