Milkman Kills 5, Wounds Others in Amish School Attack (UPDATED)

Since this story was originally posted, it has been updated to correct the number of fatalities referred to in the opening sentence.

Charles Carl Roberts IV, a 32-year-old milkman and father of three, on Monday attacked a one-room schoolhouse in Lancaster County, Pa., taking small girls hostage, killing five and wounding more before turning a gun on himself, the Associated Press reports via HoustonChronicle.com.

Roberts, who called his wife around 10:50 am EST—moments before killing the young girls and himself—to admit molesting relatives in the past, appeared to have planned to molest some of his victims, though it is unclear whether he was successful in his attempts, Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Jeffrey B. Miller said, according to the AP.

Five children on top of the five left dead were hospitalized, and four were listed in critical condition on Tuesday, according to the AP.

Sexual lubricant and flex-ties were found inside the schoolhouse, and he chained his victims together along a blackboard before barricading entrances and exits with wood and nails he’d brought to the scene, indicating the attack was premeditated, Miller said, the AP reports.

Before tying up the females, Roberts released approximately 15 young boys, a pregnant woman and three females with babies, according to the AP.

In addition to the lubricant and flex-ties discovered in the school, law enforcement officials found three firearms, a stun gun, two blades, a stack of wood and 600 rounds of ammunition, the AP reports.

The dead had been lined up and killed “execution style,” according to the AP.

The fact that Amish “simple living” often entails a lack of phones and other electronic devices in home and school settings made it difficult for police to coordinate their actions and later to contact families of victims and of those otherwise involved, the AP reports.

The incident was the third deadly attack on U.S. schools in a week’s time, and one of the attacks that occurred in Bailey, Colo., also involved an older man who took female hostages and molested at least one before killing a 16-year-old and himself, according to the AP.

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-Compiled by Al Sacco