The madman who fatally shot three women in a fitness center outside Pittsburgh planned the massacre for months and "chickened out" on at least one other attempt, his venom-spewing journal reveals.
George Sodini, 48, walked into a crowded 20-by-20 foot aerobics room at the LA Fitness gym in Collier, Pa., at about 8 p.m. Tuesday. He turned off the lights and fired as many as 50 rounds from at least two guns
without saying a word, police said.
Three women were killed in the barrage and at least 10 others wounded before Sodini turned the gun on himself, police said.
When the massacre ended, Sodini lay dead on top of a gun near one of his victims. Sources told the Pittsburgh Gazette Soldini's girlfriend was among the dead.
For months before the killing spree, Sodini kept a log of his plans, filled with rage and hatred for women.
"Why do this?? To young girls? Just read below," he wrote. "I kept a running log that includes my thoughts and actions, after I saw this project was going to drag on."
The log shows he entered the club with loaded guns on Jan. 6, but backed out.
"It is 8:45PM: I chickened out!" he wrote. "I brought the loaded guns, everything. Hell!"
The journal drips with rage and names relatives and acquaintances. It also shows his frustration at not being able to connect with women.
On Aug. 3 he wrote: "I took off today, Monday, and tomorrow to practice my routine and make sure it is well polished. I need to work out every detail, there is only one shot. Also I need to be completely immersed into something before I can be successful. I haven't had a drink since Friday about 2:30. Total effort needed. Tomorrow is the big day."
In a Web site posted under his name, Sodini wrote rambling messages about his hatred of women and how he was tired of being rejected by them. He ended by writing, "Death Lives!"
Sodini was a member of the gym and lived in Carnegie, just a few miles from the health club, authorities said.
Detectives found a note in his gym bag, which he apparently used to bring two handguns into the facility.
Allegheny County Police Superintendent Charles Moffatt declined to reveal the note's contents.
"He did what he set out to do," Moffatt said. "I don't think anyone could have stopped him, to be honest."
Detectives were working to identify the dead and the wounded, who were being treated at area hospitals.
"As you can imagine, at a fitness club, they don't have their IDs on them, people don't know who they are," Moffatt said. He would not confirm the report that Sodini's ex-girlfriend was one of the women killed.
The wounded were taken to UPMC Mercy, Allegheny General and St. Clair hospitals.
Soldini purchased the guns legally, police said.
Stacey Falk, 26, of Bridgeville, told the Post Gazette newspaper she was in the aerobics room with 30 to 40 other women when a short, clean-shaven man in gym clothes, walked in with a bag.
He stood in a corner near a racquetball court for a moment, put down the bag, turned off the lights and pulled out a gun.
"Girls were just ducking behind each other. All I could hear were shots and screams," Falk said.
The aerobics class instructor, who announced she was pregnant, was shot in the shoulder.
"I saw these women running out of the aerobics room, hysterical," said Ron Michaels, a racketball instructor. "I think I saw three or four injured people being taken to ambulances after I was out in the parking lot," he said.
Many of the survivors credited the the staff of the fitness center staff, which opened just a year ago, with calmly steering people toward the exits.
