The Victims consoled the killer's family

The Amish people are simple folks who do not want to go with the times. In the schoolroom massacre last Monday, young Amish girls were gunned down by a man who also killed himself. Many donations poured in for the Amish families whose members perished in the carnage. But the Amish leaders did not forget the family of the killer. They also set up funds for his survivors. They forgave him and they consoled his family. Here is the news story about the incident and the funeral of the girls who according to a survivor tried to save each other by offering themselves to be killed first. Funerals for Amish school victims Funerals for four of the five Amish girls killed in a schoolroom massacre on Monday have taken place in the US state of Pennsylvania. Hundreds of mourners gathered as the four, aged seven to 12, were laid to rest in the small town of Nickel Mines. Each girl was buried in a plain pine coffin. A fifth victim will be laid to rest on Friday. The girls were gunned down by a local man, Charles Roberts, who then killed himself. Five more girls were injured. Doctors treating the survivors have reportedly taken one girl off a life-support machine and allowed her to be taken home to die. Roads into the village were closed off to maintain privacy during Thursday's funerals. The first girl to be buried was Naomi Rose Ebersole, seven, who was carried to Nickel Mines' hill top cemetery at the head of 32 horse-drawn coaches. Similar processions were later held for Marian Fisher, 13, and the Miller sisters, Lena, seven, and Mary Liz, eight. The funeral of Anna Mae Stoltzfus, 12, is scheduled to take place on Friday. The Anabaptist denomination eschews technology and preaches isolation from the modern world to varying degrees. Amish burial customs call for simple wooden caskets - and a girl is typically laid to rest in a white dress, cape and white prayer-covering on her head, the victims' funeral director said. Forgiveness Donations have been coming in from around the world to help with medical expenses - Amish do not carry health insurance. One insurance company has pledged $500,000 (£265,000). But the Amish have also reached out to the family of Roberts, the 32-year-old milk-tanker driver who killed himself at the end of the shooting spree. Amish leaders have helped set up a fund for the family at a local bank. A Roberts family spokesman said an Amish neighbour had also comforted the family hours after the shooting - and extended forgiveness to them. "I hope they stay around here and they'll have a lot of friends and a lot of support," said Daniel Esh, an Amish artist whose grand-nephews were inside the school at the start of the attack. In a final phone call, Roberts told his wife he had molested two young members of his own family 20 years ago. In suicide notes he also made references to another incident 20 years ago, and said he had been haunted by dreams of repeating his actions. Roberts had entered the one-room school in the village of Paradise, armed with guns, knives and 600 rounds of ammunition. He ordered the women and boys to leave, tied up the girls, barricaded the doors and shot his captives in the head. Roberts' wife Marie and other family members have said he was a good and loving husband and father, and that prior to Monday's attack there had been no hint of what he was planning. Amish