The following is an excerpt from the Oct. 16 edition of the Amish newspaper Die Botschaft (“The Message”). It was written by Enos K. Miller, whose grandchildren, 8-year-old Mary Liz Miller and her sister Lena, 7, were killed in a shooting at an Amish schoolhouse in Lancaster County, Pa., on Oct. 2. Three other girls were killed and five were seriously injured.

Enos Miller recounts when he first heard of the shooting, seeing the girls at Penn State Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pa., and burying the girls in the Bart Amish Cemetery in Bart Township, Pa. A joint funeral was held for Mary Liz and Lena Miller.

“I asked, “What’s all the helicopters mean?’ His wife said, “Enos, you mean you didn’t hear?’ … There was a guy in the school house who shot all the girls except one. … At least three dead and a good many injured. I asked, “Which school?’ (She answered) “West Nickel Mines.’ Oh no, the two granddaughters. After I hung up the strength seemed to drain from me. But, somehow I could keep going. …

“Oh, Lord help us through. There was Mary Liz lying in the hospital with life support. We could see she was breathing but from the life support. The doctor said out front she is in grave condition and brain dead, and that isn’t going to get better. We really admired him for that information as it made it easier for us to make the decision about the life support. …

“…about 10 p.m. a call came from Hershey hospital that Lena is there also in grave condition. Oh, Lord help us! Not the second one already. Also before that it was decided to take off the life support from Mary Liz, some of the other families were at Hershey and also had a decision to make. … The nurses took it off a little after midnight and she died peacefully in her parents’ arms half an hour later. …

“Five dear angels (it seemed like) got buried in Bart cemetery over two days time.”