Update:
The killer, identified by authorities, and noted by himself on his website diary as "George A. Sodini, a.k.a crazygeorge" has left a vast Internet trail of his musings of hate (e.g. black men have their choice of the best white girls). The 48-year-old's rampage plans are also documented in his web DOD ("Date of Death") entries. Sodini said he would die on August 4, 2009. See the bottom of this posting for further details on Sodini's angle of the story.
The published photos from his vacations do show an intriguing pull to some of the names of interest, as for example, this one above from his website.
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Posted August 4, 2009:
Shootings have occurred tonight at a highly symbolic geographic "intersection" where people use to say to each other, "Meet me at the bridge."
That's how a little community outside Pittsburgh called Bridgeville got it's name, when folks use to meet each other for trading at the very first bridge built at the crossing of Chartiers Creek at the south end of what is now Washington Avenue.
Before today, Bridgeville, Pennsylvania, had been most famous in current popular culture for being the home of Jenna Morasca, a winner of
Survivor: The Amazon. Well, actually, Morasca tells people she's from Bridgeville because she really is a resident of South Fayette Township, but everyone uses the Bridgeville mailing address.
Yes,
South Fayette Township is the adjoining town, and running right through the 1.1 square mile borough that is Bridgeville is the
Washington Pike. The name game runs deep here.
A deathly "rampage-style" shooting occurred in Bridgeville on Tuesday, August 4, 2009. Initial reports said five women are dead and the shooter too, who has died by suicide.
[Update: Overnight reports indicate three gym victims died and the gunman, who left an unreleased note, took his own life.
The names of some of the LA Fitness Shooting victims have been released. Elizabeth Gannon, Heidi Overmier, and Jody Billingsley have died.
Elizabeth Gannon was 49 of Pittsburgh (Scott Twp).
Heidi Overmier was 46 of Carnegie.
Jody Billingsley was 38 of Mt. Lebanon.]
It all happened at a LA Fitness gym, in the Great Southern Shopping Center in Collier/Bridgeville. Specifically, it is known as the Bridgeville Club in Pittsburgh, by the LA Fitness staff.
Witnesses said a gunman wearing a black hat walked into an aerobics room filled with women shortly after 8:00 p.m. Eastern, turned out the lights and opened fire, according to breaking news services and the
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
Several witnesses told a WTAE Channel 4 Action News crew first at the scene that a man unrecognized by the gym's staff, entered the facility, turned off the lights and shot people in a Latin dance class in the aerobics center at the time of the shooting. Every witness to whom WTAE Channel 4's Jon Greiner spoke said they didn't realize what they were hearing was gunfire.
"The lights were off and I could see flashes in the dark," said Jared Frederick, a witness.
A woman in the class at the time of the shooting, identified as Nicole, told WTAE Channel 4 Action News that the class had started about 10 minutes before the gunfire. She said about 30 people -- all women -- were in the class when "a middle-aged white male walked into the class. He had a big gym bag."
"He looked out of place in a class full of women," according to the witness, who said the man put his bag down, turned the lights off and opened fire. "It was horrible. He was 20 feet from me. He got off a lot of shots."
The woman said she ran out of the gym as quickly as she could and got into a stranger's car to escape the gunfire.
Others said 100 people were in the gym area.
Police responses came from Bridgeville, Scott Township, Collier Township, Upper St. Clair and Mount Lebanon, among others.
An Allegheny County policeman said he believes one of the dead was the gunman. Witnesses said they saw two to four wounded women lying outside the back door and two others lying in a parking lot at the side of the LA Fitness center along Washington Pike, noted the
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
Witnesses reported hearing dozens of gunshots before the shooting stopped.
"All of a sudden there was a really loud noise," said Julia Zorzi, 27, of Crafton, who was on a treadmill on the main floor when the gunfire began. "I heard 40 to 50 shots, and I hit the deck. I saw people running out. I ran outside and there were two girls lying outside.
"The shots came very fast," she said. "It sounded like he was using a serious piece of machinery."
Police and paramedics from throughout the South Hills and Pittsburgh responded to the shootings shortly after 8 p.m. A St. Clair Hospital spokesperson put the death toll at six, including the gunman. Others reported later another victim had died.
"He kept firing and firing," said Dennis Curry, 28, of Scott, who said he was working out on an elliptical machine upstairs when he heard the gunfire. "There was chaos. I ran out the back door, saw a girl lying there with a gunshot wound. I put a shirt on her to try and stop (the bleeding). There was blood everywhere."
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Killer UpdatesLALATE has broken the news that the killer's, George Sodini’s online diary website preparing for LA Fitness Shooting was GeorgeSodini.com.
Lee Ann Valdiserri is referenced by George Sodini in his website GeorgeSodini.com. A Lee Ann Valdiserri is listed as dead in online obituaries printed years back, as early as potentially 2006.
On it, he writes the following claims about Lee Ann Valdiserri:
“Miscellaneous:
1. Probably 99% of the people who know me well don’t even think I was this crazy. Told by at least 100 girls/women over the years I was a “nice guy”. Not kidding.
2. Lee Ann Valdiserri had my baby in early 1991. Haven’t seen her since she was about four months into it. I knew her sister, Chris, from high school.
3. Net worth slightly more than $250K, (after all debt) as of end of 2008.
4. Death Lives!”
ABC's "Good Morning America" has confirmed that George Sodini, 48, of Scott Township, Pa., was the man who police say Wednesday walked quietly into an aerobics class at LA Fitness in Bridgeville, Pa., where he was a member, turned off the lights and started shooting. Police said they found 52 casings at the scene.
Three women, 46-year-old Heidi Obermier, 49-year-old Elizabeth Gannon and 39-year-old Jody Billingsley, were killed in the attack, according to the Allegheny coroner's office.
Among those reportedly shot were Sodini's ex-girlfriend, who survived, and the class instructor, who had just told her class she was pregnant, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Jen Malley told "Good Morning America's" Chris Cuomo that she was in the Latin dance class at LA Fitness Tuesday when the shooting started. It's a class she takes every week with friends.
According to
LALATE, Monday Sodini finally writes the following:
“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.
“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 about the past 30 years, I have not.”
As broke earlier today on
LALATE, George Sodini in the LA Fitness shooting shot his ex girlfriend, the aerobics instructor, who had just told her class she was pregnant, but she survived. George Sodini, 48, of Scott Township, Pa. was found dead along with four women. UPMC Mercy Hospital says five of the women injured are in critical condition, two are in fair condition. The conditions of the remaining injured women are still unknown.
Above, another bridge, from
Wheeling WV Bike Trail. Pictures taken on Saturday, April 15, 2000. Information provided and page created by George A. Sodini, a.k.a crazygeorgeAs comment maker Ryan noted, Sodini says: "This is like the Twilight Zone."
