Survivor of 2006 Nickel Mines Amish school shooting dies at 23

Rosanna King, 23, who was wounded as a child in the 2006 shooting at West Nickel Mines School in Bart Township, died Tuesday, according to sources familiar with the circumstances of her death. Her obituary states that she died in her Paradise Township home. She was the daughter of Christian E. and Mary Elizabeth Stoltzfus King and is survived by her parents and four siblings. King was a member of the Old Order Amish Church.

King was one of five girls who survived the shooting at a one-room Old Order Amish schoolhouse in Nickel Mines. A gunman took 10 girls hostage. After a standoff with police, the man shot the girls, killing five. The shooter killed himself as police entered the school. According to the Center for Homeland Security and Defense at the Naval Postgraduate School, the shooting at West Nickel Mines School was the only school shooting in Lancaster County with fatalities going back to 1970.

King, who was 6 years old at the time, was rushed to Hershey Medical Center. She suffered severe brain trauma, and many thought she would not survive. Two days after the shooting, she was taken off life support and sent home at the request of her family.

King survived, and many in the community viewed her survival as a miracle. Her injuries left her unable to walk or talk, and she suffered severe seizures. LNP | LancasterOnline reported in 2011 that she was attending a school for Amish children with special needs.

Following the shooting, the Amish community publicly offered forgiveness and comfort to the family of the shooter. Terri Roberts, the shooter’s mother, told LNP in 2011 that she visited King every week, reading the Bible and “Anne of Green Gables” to her. Roberts, who died in 2017 after a battle with cancer, described King in a 2016 interview as a “beautiful young woman.” “Her family is amazing in the measures that they go to make life as good as it can be for Rosanna,” Roberts said at the time. “I think her parents have just surrendered this to the Lord.” The visits and the forgiveness extended to the shooter’s family stand as a witness to reconciliation carried on through grief (Romans 12:18).

Funeral services for King will be held Friday at her home. She will be interred at Bart Cemetery following the services.

Source: Read the original report