A mother embraces her daughter outside the LA Fitness Center where a gunman walked into a the sprawling club in Bridgefield, Pa., on the night of Aug. 4, 2009, and opened fire in the aerobics room. Police say George Sodini reportedly turned out the lights on the "Latin impact" dance-aerobics class made up of women, and opened fire with several guns, spraying dozens of bullets before taking his own life.
Police say George Sodini left behind a 4,610-word Web diary that appeared to be a nine-month chronology of his plans to end his misery with a shocking act of carnage at his gym. He couldn't understand why women ignored him, despite his best efforts to look nice. He wrote that he hadn't had a girlfriend since 1984, and had not slept with a woman in 19 years.
The health club violence rocked the 5,300-resident town of Bridgeville, Pa., located just outside of Pittsburgh. Members are shown standing outside of the LA Fitness health club in total disbelief after the shooting on Aug. 4, 2009.
Emergency workers help a woman from the back of an ambulance after treating her outside of the LA Fitness club on Aug. 4, 2009, where police say George Sodini opened fire killing four people, including himself.
Police officers stand outside an LA Fitness health club looking for clues after three women were murdered and nine were wounded on on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2009. George Sodini, the man police now believe was the killer, reportedly walked into the club wearing black workout gear and a headband, calmly entered an aerobics class, turned off the lights and fired dozens of shots into the crowd.
Police say George Sodini didn't have a relationship with any of his victims. In his Web diary, Sodini wrote of planning the attack since at least November and said he tried to carry it out when the same weekly aerobics class met Jan. 6. But he "chickened out," he wrote. Here, police officers stand at the front door of LA Fitness on Aug. 4, 2009.
Heidi Overmier was one of the shooting victims. The 46-year-old, from Pittsburgh suburb of Carnegie, was a sales manager at Kennywood, the area's largest amusement park. Colleagues remembered her as a behind-the-scenes orchestrator who helped keep the park operating - from coordinating school trips to organizing special events.
Elizabeth "Betsy" Gannon was also killed in the attack. Gannon, 49, of the suburban community of Green Tree, lived most of her life in the two-story brick house where she grew up. She loved to exercise and was frequently seen walking her dog around the neighborhood.
Jody Billingsley, who was also murdered in the health club massacre, was originally from Ohio and had lived in a quiet neighborhood south of Pittsburgh for the past decade. The 37-year-old traveled frequently for her job as a medical-supply salesperson. Neighbors said she sometimes expressed homesickness for her home state.
George Sodini reportedly seethed with anger and frustration toward women. In a chilling Internet diary, the 48-year-old computer programmer wrote about using guns to carry out his "exit plan" at a health club where lots of young women worked out. His anger stemmed from unfulfilled desire, claiming on his site that the women at his gym "look so beautiful as to not be human."
Six patients remained hospitalized from the health club massacre as of Aug. 6, 2009, including aerobics instructor, Mary Primis, 26, who was listed in fair condition. Primis is pregnant, but said doctors told her the baby is fine.
Two undated YouTube videos, apparently recorded by George Sodini, surfaced on the Internet. In one, Sodini recorded himself standing in a doorway saying, "it is easy for me to hide from my emotions for one more day." In the other, he tours his Pittsburgh home and shows a book titled "Date Young Women" and what appears to be a manuscript titled "Office Politics."