PA - Mass shooting at LA Fitness near Pittsburgh, 4 dead, 4 August 2009

[pittsburghgirl]

Hey all. Every day lurker here. Just thought I would add my thoughts. I grew up and live 15 min from that gym. My best friend usually goes to THAT class, but decided to skip Tuesday night. Don't know what I would have done if she had been there. My husband's cousin, who I have known since I was in high school and she was 6, was shot pretty bad in the leg. Still in hospital today. Only 22.
This is a close community. Seems like everybody knows everbody or you don't even get to the 6th degree of separation, maybe 2nd. It's just devastating. How that could have done this is beyond me. If he was so unhappy, then he should have ended his own life and not the lives of 3 beautiful women. Not to mention the 20+ girls lives he devastated and they will live with this nightmare forever.
May God hold them all in the palm of His hand.

You are so right. My daughter-in-law works out at that gym and her little boy goes to the Kids Klub. She wasn't there that night and doesn't go to that class, but she is very upset about the shootings. I keep thinking of all the people who are indirectly affected--the people who may no longer have jobs, the people who loved to work out there and will lose connections with their workout buddies, people who own other businesses who may lose customers because people will avoid the site of a tragedy. This loser kills 3 people and devastates their families, friends, and neighbors. He devastates his own family and people in his former church. He devastates the people he wounded--and their families and friends. He changes the lives of many, many people who live, work, and shop in the area. I could go on.

He's inadequate, lonely, frustrated, and a narcisstic loser. So he punishes people he doesn't even know and creates consequences far beyond the limited reach of his closed-up thinking. He rants about his parents' indifference and he makes a 5 year-old boy an orphan. This guy was a human black hole.

 

[pittsburghgirl]

he seemed pretty racist, bitter towards black men for "stealing" white women.

Yeah, and the media isn't even covering that. His whole blog starts at the same point as the 2008 election, with a verbal jab at Obama. And even the racist stuff makes it clear that white woman should be like "slaves."

 

[nephers]

I tell my 18yr old daughter all the time: you don't have to take any crap from men... ever, but treat them decently and be respectful when you decline their advances... you never know who is a freak, what the will do and how they will respond to the rejection.

This is so true and I hope this opens the eyes of the women or men out there that reject people in a poor manner. When these terrible things happen, we need to learn from them. Yes, sometimes they cannot be prevented but how would you feel if you had rejected him within the days before the shooting?

Here is my story of applying what I learned from this....

A few days before the shooting I was at a bar and a man (the same age as GS) gave me his number. He did it very quickly just before he left the bar. I am in a relationship so threw the number out. After the shooting I got thinking about the man that gave me his number and what effect it may have had to not get any response from me. So, I found him on Facebook and sent him a very nice note saying that I was flattered by the offer but I am in a relationship. I closed by telling him that he seemed like a great guy and I wish him the best of luck.

 

[debbie0604]

Wow - that blog is outrageous! I feel for the people whose names were mentioned in it, but I suspect his descriptions of most of them were probably honest and accurate. And it really gives some insight into what drives someone to do what he has done, which is so often not the case with this type of senseless crime. His despair is so clear. He just didn't seem to have the coping skills to deal with people - at all. Makes me wonder how many other people like him are out there amongst us every day.

My heart and prayers go out to his victims and their families.....and to him as well. Sad.

I read this evil, sick, I hate to call him a "person" blog and was so angry, I had to get up and take a break from my computer. With all due respect to your post, I have to disagree that his descriptions of the persons that he named were totally accurate. I think that they were severely distorted due to his rage and hatred that he was feeling inside and his narcissistic "I am the victim of society" badge he was wearing (FWIW). Frankly...to be honest I think he was "narcissistic" but he was also EVIL. Hearing psychologists say that if only someone could have helped and intervene sooner... PLEASE! The man was evil IMO.

Watching those You Tube videos prior to the killings totally gave me the creeps. I'm single, and guys that are fixated on "impressing a girl with their apartment, computer, whatever", and totally fixated and obsessed with finding a girl gives me the creeps. People have to be happy within themselves and happy with who they are first before entering a relationship. The video of the dating instructor stating that "nice guys are turnoffs" (paraphrasing here) is ridiculous. Women like nice guys (who are confident and happy and secure within themselves and not trying to attach and fixate on women to make themselves happy). Same goes for women with guys.

He gave me the creeps. He's evil. My heart goes out for the people that he named in his blog, and also for the victims and their families. It is so so sad.

 

[debbie0604]

Off Topic:

My Husband had the news on last night (either NG or JVM I wasn't listening) and my middle daughter (age 14) and my younger son (age 15) walked into the room as this man and his crimes were being discussed.

My children said to me~ Mom, that guy wasn't all that bad looking, if he couldn't get a date it might have been because he was an A@@hole?

Yes, we are working on the language thing. But out of the mouths of babes huh? Just wanted to share.

Based on his blog, his personality most definitely could have been an issue, on the other hand it could have been that he would try to "latch on" to women and they could sense it. To some women, men that do that is a big turn off (and the same for some men with women that latch on to them).

Probably why he started trying to look at younger women, in addition to the fact that he thought that they were "hot" and he could impress them with his belongings and money, he probably also felt that he could "control" them. Sickening IMO.

 

[Marina2]

Ah! How were these found?!? Can anyone find out anyone else search history just for the hell of it? I hope not...

Sodini's Google account was hacked into allowing access to his Google search history.
My understanding is:
It's a feature of your Google account that saves all your searches for later access and it's automatically enabled if you're signed into your Google account. If you don't want Google to save your search history, make sure you aren't signed in. Otherwise, if your Google account is hacked into, the searches are available. There's also a feature of the Google account that saves your web history...every site you visit. This can be turned off in your account settings page.

 

[steeltowngirl]

The only son of a Pennsylvania mass shooting victim died in a motorcycle crash in Hell’s Kitchen, his family told the Daily News Monday.

Ian Overmier’s death brought a fresh wave of grief to his family, who in 2009 buried his mother, Heidi Overmier — one of a dozen women shot by a murderous loner who burst into an aerobics class at a suburban Pittsburgh LA Fitness in 2009. Heidi Overmier and two others died, as did the shooter, who took his own life.

Man who died in Hell’s Kitchen motorcycle crash was only son of 2009 mass shooting victim

Ian Overmier’s death brought a fresh wave of grief to his family, who in 2009 buried his mother, Heidi Overmier — one of a dozen women shot by a murderous loner who burst into an aerobics class at a suburban Pittsburg LA Fitness in 2009.

www.nydailynews.com