Well-wishers gathered Tuesday at churches in towns just outside the Amish community to offer prayers and support after a heavily armed truck driver Monday shot dead five Amish schoolgirls in their single-room schoolhouse, then committed suicide.
Amish families in horse-drawn buggies lined up as they headed to the home of the late Anna Stoltzfus, 12, one of the victims of the gunman, Charles Roberts.
"They come to comfort them, bring them stuff, meal, stay with them," said Naomi Esh, a 75-year-old Amish woman. "It's just so sad, there's nothing you can do about it. You just have to forgive to the person who did this, you can't get angry about it," she said.
Community members visited each family touched by the tragedy over the evening to offer moral support.
There are about 200,000 followers of the reclusive Amish sect in about 20 US states and the Canadian province of Ontario. They live largely withdrawn from the modern world, with no electricity or telephones, stressing humility, family, and community.
The Lancaster group, of the Old Order Amish, number about 17,000 people and live in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Their roots are in the Mennonite community, and were part of the early Anabaptist movement in Europe.
Treating your neighbor the way you would want to be treated, no fighting, no violence - these are values that inform the Amish community.
Though deeply religious, they have no church buildings: groups of 20 families form a "church" led by a "bishop" that meets in turn at the home of one of the families to read the bible and pray Sunday.
Accosted by the avalanche of outside reporters, which they assiduously tried to avoid, none of the Amish expressed anger toward the school shooter, just sadness and despair.
"We are in shock," said one young man in his traditional Amish outfit - straw hat, light-colored shirt and black pants held up by suspenders.
The Amish "don't show feelings as much," said another man, who also declined to give his name.
In the towns just outside Nickel Mines, people gathered at churches to express their solidarity with their peace-loving Amish neighbors.
"They are beautiful, sweet people," said Ingrid Toler, an elderly non-Amish woman, speaking at the end of a religious service in the nearby town of Lancaster. "We've got to do something to make our children safe."
Several area churches have raised signs visible from the highway stating: "Our prayers are with the Amish Community."
A large religious ceremony was held at the Worship Center in the town of Leolia, near Lancaster, which late Tuesday attracted a crowd of more than 1,200 of all Christian denominations.
We are here "to get together to show unity and solidarity," said Anita Hoffer, a Lancaster resident who helped organize the special service.
"This tragedy is part of our history now," Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell told reporters outside a church in the town of Quarryville. "We truly share our pain and grief ... we're still a very close community," he said.
© 2006 Agence France-Presse
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