Ohio Amish Community Shaken by Shooting

[livingentity]

MOUNT HOPE, Ohio (AP) - It's an annual prank in this tranquil Amish community, where men wear straw hats and women bonnets and plain dresses: Youngsters hide in cornfields and hurl tomatoes at passing cars.

 

This year, the mischief turned deadly.

 

A motorist who had been pelted several times on Labor Day got out of his car and fired three to five rounds into the 7-foot-high corn, killing 23-year-old Steven L. Keim.

 

No arrest has been made.

 

Residents are reeling from shock, unable to understand why anybody would retaliate so violently. Authorities say the county hadn't seen a firearm-related homicide in about three decades.

 

``The prank has gone on for years and years,'' said Marty Yoder, who owns Marty's Shoes in this town about 60 miles south of Cleveland. ``All over the county it's been happening every year.''

 

The shooting occurred just north of Mount Hope in Holmes County, where the clip-clop of horses pulling Amish buggies is just as common as the sound of passing automobiles.

 

Holmes County has what is believed to be the world's largest population of Amish, who do not believe in modern conveniences such as electricity and automobiles.

 

Keim, 23, an Apple Creek resident of Amish heritage, died of multiple wounds to the chest, Holmes County Coroner Robert Anthony said.

 

Keim was with about 10 other members of the Amish community, ages 15 to 23. The group told the sheriff's office they had been throwing tomatoes and firing paintball guns at passing vehicles.

 

The crime scene is marked by trampled corn stalks that interrupt an otherwise uniform stretch roadside corn. About eight rows into the cornfield, well hidden from the road, two buckets of rotting, fly-covered tomatoes still sat.

 

According to the sheriff's department, the driver of a Lincoln or Cadillac stopped, got out and threatened to shoot whoever threw the tomatoes Monday night.

 

The vehicle turned around and drove past the cornfield again. The car was struck with tomatoes a second time.

 

About 25 minutes later the vehicle passed the cornfield two more times. On a third pass, the driver stopped and challenged the group to throw more tomatoes - then fired his shotgun into the cornfield.

 

The sheriff's department did not have a suspect, only a vague description of a middle-aged male of medium height.

 

Residents say the community will be nervous until the shooter is caught.

 

``People won't be resting too good until they know who it is at least,'' said Ivan Miller, 41. ``He should be punished. The guy lost it.''

 

Wayne Miller, an Amish man from nearby Kidron, said the young people ``shouldn't have been throwing tomatoes.''

 

``But if people start shooting people for throwing tomatoes, this country's in bad shape,'' he said.

 

Keim was born into an Amish family, but his family left the Amish church and became Mennonites, said Yoder.

 

Mennonites share similar beliefs with the Amish, but drive cars and use more modern conveniences.

 

``He was a real outgoing person, always willing to help you,'' Yoder said.

 

 

[dzimmerm]

We really only have one side of the story. We don't know for sure what happened beyond someone was shot and killed. The evidence given is only from the friends of the dead person. Most killings are done by people who know you. What better way to mislead police than to say someone shot their friend because he was throwing tomatoes at passing cars. It is much more likely their friend was shot by someone he knew and misdirection is in process.

 

In any event it is sad.

 

dzimmerm

[livingentity]

By M.R. KROPKO

 

HOLMESVILLE, Ohio (AP) - A family friend was charged with murder Tuesday in the shooting of a young man who was throwing tomatoes at passing vehicles from a cornfield, a traditional prank in the Amish community.

 

Marion D. Weaver, 58, drove his car past the field several times, deputies said, and after the vehicle was hit repeatedly with tomatoes, fired several shotgun rounds blindly into the cornstalks.

 

The victim, Steven L. Keim, 23, was hiding in the dark field with about 10 others, ages 15 to 23, who told authorities they were throwing the tomatoes and firing paintball guns.

 

Keim's death shocked the Amish of Mount Hope, about 60 miles south of Cleveland. Keim's family was Amish when he was born. They later became Mennonites, who share beliefs with the Amish but drive and use modern conveniences.

 

The victim's father said Weaver was a family friend.

 

``I don't really know how I feel,'' Reuben Keim, 48, said from the front porch of his house in Orrville. ``I've known him close to 30 years. He went fishing with the whole family up on Lake Erie. Stevie shot trap with him. I'm sure he didn't realize that Stevie was in there.''

 

Weaver was arrested after his release from a hospital earlier Tuesday. Authorities would not say why he was hospitalized. But Keim said Weaver recently had stents implanted in blood vessels near his heart.

 

He was being held on $250,000 bond. If convicted, he faces 15 years to life in prison.

 

Weaver was identified as a suspect shortly after the Sept. 1 shooting, in part based on tips from the public, Zimmerly said. An arrest warrant was issued after evidence was recovered from Weaver's home and a nearby house.

 

Police found several shotguns at the house, and a gray Cadillac belonging to Weaver that matched witnesses' descriptions, said Steve Knowling, a Holmes County prosecutor. Four 12-gauge shotgun shells found at the cornfield were fired from one of the shotguns, he said.

 

 

09/16/03 23:32