Four people dead at LA Fitness in Bridgeville, PA at Great Southern Shopping Center

Apparently this happened just after 8pm.

They're saying it was an ex-boyfriend.

It seems they're all going to the Volunteer Fire Company, not Bob Evans. I wouldn't have thought Bob Evans would be too thrilled to have bleeding, hysterical people at their restaurant :\

A fifth victim has died. :( How terrible for these people. They had nothing to do with this guy.

It'll go national news tomorrow. Horrible!

Yes, it's a shame :(

OMG. :(

You just never know where you could die. In a fitness center is not a place I would have expected.

Or a macDonalds or bank or even the grocery store, as has happened here.
JEEZE!!! poor People!

Indeed, Penni. :(

oh my ... that is altogether too close for comfort. I am so sorry for all of the people affected.

Yes, me too, Flit. I don't know anyone offhand who goes there, but I do know a lot of people who go to fitness centers.

that's sad. goodness.

Yes. It's a shame that people that are that disturbed would have guns! I'm not against owning guns, but it would be nice if they could keep them out of the hands of unbalanced people.

Horrible! You've had an exciting few days, Barb.

I think anyone who wants to own a gun is a bit unbalance - so I want them all gone.

Yes, the last few days have been a bit wilder than usual.

If they could get ALL the guns, I'd agree about getting rid of them, but usually, efforts to remove guns only remove them from honest people. We see lots of guns around here, and not many of them are registered.

Less guns is less guns. I agree, Sandy. I hate them all.

Even if the women in this class owned guns, what good did it do them? Should everyone just start carrying holsters now, and be ready to draw at the slightest sound? How does one exercise with a holster?

We are a violent, gun-obsessed society.

I'm sure you're right, Sheryl. Having your house robbed, though, tends to bring out the violence in a person. :\ My weapon of choice would be to run electricity through a grid and zap someone entering my home without my permission. Logically I know that is impractical and would probably end up zapping ME, but viscerally, I so wanted to do it. I also wanted to sleep on a cot near the door with a loaded shotgun.

But I agree, we probably would be better off with no one having guns if it meant the nuts wouldn't get them.

This is just horrible. Their poor families and these poor souls. Now I even have to worry when my daughter goes to work out? Damn.

Yes, it's frightening. My daughter and I go to a different gym, and you just never know what could happen when. I feel bad for the people ... I know people who live in that area, but have no idea if any of them use that gym.

Not a fan of guns myself... and I hate that people get them so easily to do horrific things like this.

Yes, it's frightening. I'd give up my gun (which I never use and don't even have bullets for) if they could get them off all the bad guys, too.

I'm so sorry. No doubt this is going to reverberate through the entire community. My prayers are for you all.

Yes, it's going to be the only thing people can talk about for a good long time.

A very sad happening.

Yes it is :( That poor instructor! She was pregnant and that was to be her last class before maternity leave. I can't imagine how her family feels.

jeeze!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I heard this morning that the pregnant instructor did NOT die. I'm happy that turned out not to be true. That would have been just so much worse by an order of magnitude.

I don't have any answers to this type of thing. It always seems to defy logic when evil triumphs over good. And it shakes us to our very roots, because we were raised with the concept of good and evil, with good edging out the evil. If offends our sense of right vs. wrong, especially for you Ms. Barb, because it happened close to where you live.
Add to that that "the crazy factor" had a gun. We can make it mean all types of things. But the real bottom line is crazy + gun = death or destruction. I see two parts to this equation. Both Crazy and Gun. We should address both....not just make it be about guns.
Personally, I think anyone (except cops) caught with a gun should be de-gunned. The guns should be melted down to build playground equipment. Then the gunner should be dragged through the streets behind a donkey. Naked.
So, that's how I feel about guns. (I live in the homocide capital of the US)
"Crazy" is a whole other article--because I think it is the actual root cause.
Blessings Barb, (don't buy bullets)
Wilka

Heh, thanks Wilka. No plans on buying bullets. It does make a person nuts when your things are stolen, your home robbed and you hear of carjackings near where you work. Hubby bought the gun for my "protection" ... That was another one of those cases where I just had to shake my head and wonder. That was when I was having serious problems with suicidal feelings ... and my husband buys me a gun! WTF? LOL!

I agree that crazy is at the root of the problem. They published a link to the guy's blog ... he's been planning this for a year! The weirdest part is I swear I've seen the guy. His photo looks awfully familiar.
Like I said on another post, health care discussions largely push mental health issues to a backburner and considering the fact that "crazy" often kills people, don't you think they'd be more interested in dealing with it?

Barb, that has to be unnerving having this happen so close to where you live.

The scary thing is, this could happen just about anywhere - in a grocery store, at church... Yikes, we can't just be hermits all of our lives.

Thanks, Edward. It *is* very freaky. I looked at the guy's photo and I swear he looks familiar! Eeeek!

A very sad day for everyone.

Yes, it is. :(

Ugh. Too close. You must be pretty shook up. You and everyone else in town...

Yes, it's frightening, but honestly, there is just nothing you can to to avoid something like that. It's not like wearing a helmet or looking both ways before crossing the street. If it's going to happen it's going to happen. About the only thing that could improve your chances of not being involved in something like this is to stay in your home all the time, and what's the point? You can try to be aware and notice things, but no one can be super-vigilant every waking moment.

Oh how horrible. Some people are insane and unfortunately they can be dangerous. It's getting crazier an crazier out there.

Yes, it's very sad :( At least the pregnant woman didn't die like was originally reported.

But, what about the fetus? Did he or she die?

Apparently the baby is okay. I was very much relieved when they reported that. They had an interview with the woman, and she was shot in the mouth and the back, but the baby is fine.

That's just another example of how the media just reports anything and everything without waiting for facts. It was still one hell of a sendoff being her last day, but at least she AND the baby are okay.

This was really sad.

Yes. The weirdest part is I swear I've met this guy. He looks really familiar.