George Sodini (48) killed Elizabeth Gannon (49), Heidi Overmier (46) and Jody Billingsley (38) when he opened fire in a gym before killing himself
Published: Aug 06, 2009 @ 4:04 PM
George Sodini (48)
Date: Aug 04, 2009
Suicide by: Gunshot
Location: Collier, PA
URL: go to their myspace
Elizabeth Gannon (49)
Date: Aug 04, 2009
Cause of Death: Shot
Location: Collier, PA
URL: go to their myspace
Heidi Overmier (46)
Date: Aug 04, 2009
Cause of Death: Shot
Location: Collier, PA
URL: go to their myspace
Jody Billingsley (38)
Date: Aug 04, 2009
Cause of Death: Shot
Location: Collier, PA
URL: go to their myspace
A 48-year-old US man who opened fire in a Pennsylvania gym, killing three women and himself, appeared to have written about his plans for the attack.
A website linked to George Sodini described, over a nine-month period, his intentions to carry out a shooting.
The author wrote about purchasing guns and appeared to chide himself for lacking courage to complete his plan.
Authorities were unable to confirm if the website, which has now been taken down, belonged to Sodini.
One entry, dated 6 January 2009, read: "It is 8:45PM: I chickened out! I brought the loaded guns, everything. Hell!"
Sodini also injured 10 people when he opened fire with a pair of guns during a women's exercise class at a branch of LA Fitness in the town of Bridgeville, near Pittsburgh.
Eyewitnesses have described how the gunfire seemed like flashes in the dark after Sodini turned out the lights on entering the class, which was being attended by about 30 women.
The victims were named by authorities as 46-year-old Heidi Overmier, Elizabeth Gannon, 49, and Jody Billingsley, 38.
'No control'
Sodini appeared to have planned the attack since at least November 2008, the Associated Press reports.
George Sodini lamented his lack of friends or lovers
Other entries on the blog described struggles with alcoholism and an inability to form relationships with women.
"The biggest problem of all is not having relationships or friends, but not being able to achieve and acquire what I desire in those or many other areas," a recent entry, dated 2 August, reads.
"Everything stays the same regardless of the effert [sic] I put in. If I had control over my life then I would be happier. But for the past 30 years, I have not."
Another complains: "Women just don't like me. There are 30 million desirable women in the US (my estimate) and I cannot find one."
The page ends with the words "Death Lives!".
Allegheny County Police Superintendent Charles Moffatt said the attack appeared pre-meditated: "He did not say anything. He walked right into the room where the shootings occurred as if he knew exactly where he was going."
He said police would be seeking to establish whether anyone had read the website early enough to try to stop the shooting.
'Senseless act'
Stacey Falk, 26, who was in the class, described the panic as women in the room realised what was happening.
"All of us girls were just ducking behind each other and it was just, you know, I was behind a girl, one of the girls in front to get hit," she told a local TV station.
Others said they saw several women bleeding from bullet wounds to the legs, back and shoulder.
Loretta Moss said she tried to help one woman who was shot in the leg.
"She was screaming, 'It's burning, just please call the ambulance'," Ms Moss said.
One man who was in the gym at the time of the shooting said people ran into the complex bleeding.
"One lady was shot in the leg, one lady was shot in the shoulder. We started picking her up and dragging her out," Richard Walker said.
The gym management said in a statement: "Each of us in the LA Fitness family are shocked and saddened by the senseless acts of violence that took place."
194 responses to this article...
|
puzzld
on
Aug 04, 2009 at 6:54 PM
http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=8253125&page=1
A gunman walked into a Collier Township, Pa., health club tonight, turned out the lights and opened fire, witnesses of the shocking attack said.
Police officers are at the scene of a shooting at a gym in Bridgeville, Pa., where several people were shot on Tuesday Aug. 4, 2009. Emergency officials said as many as 15 people may have been involved, but their conditions were not immediately known.
Witnesses told ABC News affiliate WTAE in Pittsburgh that a man turned off lights and shot people in a Latin dance class in the aerobics center of the L.A. Fitness gym at approximately 8 p.m..
A woman in the class at the time of the shooting, who identified herself as Nicole, told WTAE that the class had started about 10 minutes before the gunfire.
She said about 30 women were in the class when "a middle-aged white male walked into the class. He had a big gym bag."
|
|
|
Olivia
on
Aug 04, 2009 at 8:43 PM
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25886644-401,00.html
AS many as five people died when a gunman opened fire on women taking a dance lesson at a gym in Pennsylvania, media reports said.
Local WTAE television reported that four people were killed -- the gunman and three others -- in the shooting at a Latin dance class at the LA Fitness Gym in Bridgeville, a town near Pittsburgh.
CNN television reported that five were confirmed dead today.
"There were shots fired at the LA Fitness, multiple people were shot and injured,'' Collier Township Police Chief Tom Devin told WTAE.
"At this time, we don't know who they are,'' he said.
"We believe the shooter committed suicide at the scene but we're not positive.''
About nine others were believed wounded, WTAE quoted police as saying.
One hospital representative told the channel that five women were being treated for multiple gunshots and were in critical condition.
A witness identified as Nicole told WTAE that the killer walked into an all-female dance class carrying a bag, turned off the lights, and began shooting from at least one firearm, which police said was a handgun.
David of WA "He got off a lot of shots,'' Nicole said.
"People everywhere were screaming. It was horrible.''
She said that about 30 women were in the dance room during the evening class, while WTAE's reporter said that about 100 people may have been present in the gym in total.
"I turned around there was one girl shot in the thigh and one girl shot in the back,'' said Branson Holly, who was taking another class at the gym at the time.
"I'm still shaken because I was in spinning class and it could have been my class,'' Holly said.
"I could see flashes in the dark and that's when I realised that someone was actually shooting,'' another visitor to the gym told a television reporter.
WTAE showed footage of ambulances and police cars flooding into the area, which is part of a shopping centre.
|
|
|
Just another reason for me to NOT go to the gym. Haven't been in months. Now I feel better about myself.
|
|
|
Just another reason for me to NOT go to the gym. Haven't been in months. Now I feel better about myself.
I was about to say, good thing I'm at 24 Hour Fitness. What a weird place to go nuts. Maybe he was tired of getting there too late for the cycling classes or sick of waiting for a treadmill near the fans.
|
|
|
Sometimes these nuts just hunt women.
|
|
read more responses »
« go back to article archive list