Pittsburgh gym shooter wrote of attack online
Last Updated: Wednesday, August 5, 2009 | 2:26 PM ET
CBC News
Nancy Smith, right, hugs her daughter, Tracey, outside of the L.A. Fitness Center on Tuesday in Bridgeville, Pa., where a gunman opened fire in the aerobics room. (Don Wright/Associated Press) A gunman who killed three women and injured nine others before killing himself at a gym in suburban Pittsburgh wrote on his web page about years of rejection by women, struggles with alcohol, domineering family members and an earlier failed shooting attempt.
The three women killed were Heidi Overmier, 46, of Carnegie; Elizabeth Gannon, 49, of Pittsburgh; and Jody Billingsley, 38, of Mount Lebanon.
The gunman was identified Wednesday as George Sodini, 48, of Scott Township near Pittsburgh. Authorities did not immediately confirm that the website belonged to Sodini, but the elaborate nature of the comments so soon after the shootings suggested authenticity, according to The Associated Press.
On the site, Sodini listed his date of death as Aug. 4, 2009, and his status as "never married." The page ended with the words "Death Lives!"
Sodini walked into a Latin dance class at a gym in Bridgeville Tuesday night and fired as many as 52 shots before shooting himself, police said.
The 4,610-word web page, on a domain registered in Sodini's name, chronicled his nine-month plan to carry out the shooting.
"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," said an entry dated Sunday.
"Everthing [sic] 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."
Apparently, Sodini had planned the attack since at least November and attempted it on Jan. 6 but "chickened out."
Neighbors described Sodini, who worked in a law firm's finance department, as anti-social.
With files from The Associated Press
