Posted on 08/04/2009 6:31:05 PM PDT by Vigilanteman
BRIDGEVILLE, Pa. -- Several people were reported shot at the LA Fitness gym in Bridgeville, emergency officials confirmed for WTAE Channel 4 Action News.
The reports came in shortly after 8:15 p.m. that authorities were called to the gym at the Great Southern Shopping Center at 1155 Washington Pike. Emergency officials said as many as 15 people may have been involved, but their conditions were not immediately known.
Witnesses told WTAE Channel 4 Action News that the victims shot in the gym were in a class in the aerobics center at the time of the shooting.
Former WTAE Channel 4 Action News photographer Gary O'Data said at 9:10 p.m. that the entire shopping center was shut down. He reported seeing as many as 15 ambulances and at least 20 police cars.
Clerks at neighboring stores told WTAE Channel 4 Action News that they locked their doors as a precaution.
(Excerpt) Read more at thepittsburghchannel.com ...
Sorry, but that’s an asinine statement.
This has nothing to do with Obama or politics. And it wasn’t apparent from this original report, either.
I’m watching PCNC. They said the killer is a 48 y.o. named George Sodini(sp?)
No, Mary was not killed. She was shot in the shoulder and is hospitalized but will be ok.
You blame Obama for this? So I suppose you blame Bush for the Virginia Tech murders too? Sick logic.
Apart from the obvious, prayers for the victims, it’s going to make meeting women at the gym more difficult.
When I was a kid, some guy climbed to the top of the tower at some Texas university and shot people down below. I forget how old I was but I don’t think I was a teenager yet. It was creapy.
Praise G-D; my heart breaks for the other families, but I feared for Mary and her unborn baby.
Two policemen were able to get to the top. But I can’t remember if they shot him or he shot himself when he saw them there.
As FR has been down all morning (thankfully back up and running!!!) I was following the AOL and Drudge report links (between customers). This Sodini psycho apparently had a blog up, FOR NINE MONTHS!!!, planning ‘this’ or something ‘like this.’ No one ever read his crappy page? And thought...this guy is unhinged? Maybe I should contact the local police?
I am not arguing in any way, shape or form of censorship, but if you see a blog (which I am guessing no one did—was he such a loner that he blogged into empty cyber space?) and the blogger is putting his plans, for a mass shooting, on the web...well, there should be some way to flag that to someone. Sodini even gave yesterday (on his blog) as his ‘date of death.’
“It happened back in the day, but it just didn’t happen as often.”
Pretty much the point I was making...the whole country was shocked by that Texas Tower for a long time then...and it haunted us...but, that was the sixties, like I said...before that, in the 40’s and 50’s, this kind of mass murdering just was about as rare as could be...these things are so common now...it is sad, but not the kind of outrage it was...the sixties brought something very bad with them...assasinations, mass killings, all manner of crap that was new to us...
Any news on what type of firearms he used? I heard that he had handguns. Nothing larger.
“That’s actually a strange thing to say IMO. The “old fart(s)” who make that comment are still in their day (unless they have already passed on!!).”
Old syaings are funny that way...when you hear someone say “well I’ll be doggoned” you don’t think they really mean it, do you? Come to think of it, I have no idea how you could be...
CNN has confirmed that the blog is legit. The domain was registered to George Sodini in 2000. The land address even matches. But I still wonder if it was hacked in some way...in one posting he mentions stopping at ShopNSave and buying vodka and Jack Daniels...could be bad grammar (omission of a comma)...or could it be somebody hacking who doesn’t know no liqour sales in grocery stores? I would guess cyber forensic experts are already all over that page/address.
Some of the postings are also chilling in that Sodini appears to have tuned into what women were doing (saw a female smiled at him...he would note it...and then look for the ‘next’ smile from that same random stranger). He seemed to remember things that most would forget; then stew and fester any slight real or imagined. He also speaks glowingly of his workplace, co-workers; they must be shell shocked. I wonder if they had any inkling?
This is all very creepy.
You have FR mail.
Thanks to "Once Saved, Always Saved" logic for this one. One of the deadliest doctrines, not only for victims but also for believers.
strangest thing they said he posted was he wanted to do this last summmer, but he decided to wait until after the presidential election because it was interesting
(Quote)
...in one posting he mentions stopping at ShopNSave and buying vodka and Jack Daniels...could be bad grammar (omission of a comma)...or could it be somebody hacking who doesn’t know no liquor sales in grocery stores? I would guess cyber forensic experts are already all over that page/address.
PA has changed a lot. Many State Liquor Stores have been closed and they now sell out of the grocery stores.
ShopNSave in Bridgeville, Pa is one of them.
http://www.sfshopnsave.com/1025742.html
Oh, and a pat on the back to the lady who is a family member of the two cousins who were shot. She made a point of telling the media that this is not about gun rights. She’s for gun rights. Dittos to her.
Well, that would have been me :)
For our family members, things turned out all right. Ashley hit the floor when shots were fired and played possum...thank God the lights were out...the perp actually stood over her and point blank fired, hitting her shoulder. She is on her way home from the hospital as we speak.
Lisa underwent surgery with a grim synopsis of some major organs potentially being hit. It turned out that upon exploration, not as bad as surmised. Yet, she still has quite a road to recovery. But she’s breathing, talking and the hospital has been just WONDERFUL toward her, her husband and parents.
But, at 3am, after we left the hospital and needed to eat, this is when it all really hit in a terrible way: in the Eat n Park where you can see the fitness club, my back was to the entrance and a woman passed through the aisle on her way to the restroom. Her husband was waiting for her up front. When the hostess approached and asked if he needed assistance, in a hoarse, shaken voice he simply said, ‘Our daughter was murdered tonight.’
In talking with LE, even if the blog had been discovered, the most that could have been done to the guy is to 302 him...he’d then be out in three days.
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