BRIDGEVILLE, Pa. (AP) - Investigators were trying to determine why a gunman walked into a fitness center near Pittsburgh, firing up to 52 shots only at women gathered in a dance exercise class, killing three, and wounding nine before shooting himself.
Two women and the man believed to be the shooter died at the LA Fitnes center in Collier Township on Tuesday night, and another woman died on the way to a hospital, Allegheny County police Superintendent Charles Moffatt said at a news conference in the center’s parking lot early Wednesday.
“He walked right into the room where the shootings occurred as if he knew exactly where he was going,” Moffatt said. “I think he went in with the idea of doing what he did.”
Moffatt said police were not sure who the target of the shooting was, but witnesses said moments after the incident that an ex-girlfriend may have been targeted. Moffatt wouldn’t confirm that.
The gunman was a member of the health club and had identification, but that police needed to check fingerprints and speak to his family to confirm his identity, Moffatt said. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner said three of the four victims had been positively identified early Wednesday, but their names would likely not be released before midmorning.
Five victims arrived in critical condition at UPMC Mercy Hospital, but three were upgraded to serious condition by early Wednesday. Two women remained in fair condition at another Pittsburgh hospital, while one victim was treated and released for a shoulder wound at a third hospital south of the city. A woman with a bullet wound to the knee remained there in stable condition Wednesday.

PITTSBURGH — The White House announced on Monday that the G-20 leaders will be welcomed to the Pittsburgh G-20 Summit at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in the city’s Oakland section on Thursday, Sept. 24.
The leaders will remain at the conservatory for a working dinner.

“Love and Other Drugs,” a film starring Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal, will film in Pittsburgh.
Filming is set to begin in September.
According to Internet Movie Data Base, the drama will be based on Jamie Reidy’s memoir “Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman.” The plot follows a salesman in the cutthroat world of pharmaceuticals. He starts selling a male performance enhancement drug and enters a relationship with a woman with Parkinson’s disease.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - An attorney who rose to prominence defending a high school student accused of selling drugs that led to a fatal overdose has been charged with bringing cocaine into the Allegheny County Courthouse in Pittsburgh.
Twenty-nine-year-old Keenan Holmes, of Peters, has not returned calls to his law office Friday.
He was charged after county sheriff’s deputies saw a dollar bill suspiciously folded up when Holmes emptied his pockets to go through a metal detector on Thursday. Authorities say the bill contained a small amount of cocaine.
Holmes is best known for successfully defending a wrongful death suit against former New Castle High School student Joshua Stewart, who claimed he was wrongly accused of selling drugs to another student who overdosed in 2007.

By Ken Thomas, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The House raced Friday to pass legislation pouring an additional $2 billion into the popular - but financially strapped - “cash for clunkers” car purchase program.
Reps. Sander Levin, D-Mich., and Betty Sutton, D-Ohio, revealed the floor plan after he and other lawmakers were assured by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood that the program would continue at least through Friday while the Obama administration looked for more money.
Democrats in both the House and Senate were exploring the possibility of votes as early as Friday to replenish the funding.
At the White House, press secretary Robert Gibbs sought to assure consumers that the program is still running and will be alive “this weekend.”
“If you were planning on going to buy a car this weekend, using this program, this program continues to run,” Gibbs told reporters.
He would not commit to any timeframe beyond that.
But Gibbs said administration officials and bipartisan leaders of Congress were working Friday morning “to find and develop ways to continue to fund this program.”
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said it wasn’t clear when a Senate vote would be held.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said about 40,000 new vehicles had been purchased through the program but dealers estimate another 200,000 vehicles have been sold in transactions that have not yet been completed through the program.
Earl Stewart, who owns a Toyota dealership in North Palm Beach, Fla., said the changing messages on the program has created confusion among his customers and his staff. Stewart’s accounting department also could only enter about a dozen of the 47 sales he made into the government Web site set up to handle the transactions, leaving him wondering if he will get refunded for the remaining vouchers.
With so much uncertainty surrounding the program, Stewart said he planned to continue to sell cars under the program Friday but would delay delivering the new vehicles and scrapping the trade-ins. Drivers would be put in loaners until he is abosolutely sure the program is still going.
“It’s been a total panic with my customers and my sales staff. We are running in one direction and they are running in another direction,” he said.

By Ken Thomas, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration promised on Friday that the financially strapped “cash for clunkers” program will be good at least through the day.
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said he got the word from Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood as members of the Ohio and Michigan congressional delegations huddled on Capitol Hill to discuss ways to keep the popular program going.
“Beyond Friday,” Levin said, “depends on whether the administration can find some money.”
One participant in the meeting said they were examining possible funding sources and whether there were any glitches in the computer system. The participant, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talk, said they were also studying how many dealers had enrolled in the system.
Through Wednesday afternoon, more than 23,000 dealer franchises were participating, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The administration dispatched Brian Deese, a top adviser to the Treasury’s auto task force, to the Hill meeting.
John McEleney, chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association, said many dealers have been confused about whether the program will be extended and for how long. Many had stopped offering the deals Thursday after word came out that the funds available for the refunds had been exhausted.
“We are hoping for some clarity from the White House and Congress before the day is over,” McEleney said Friday.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Security planning for the Group of 20 economic summit in Pittsburgh is a numbers game driven by questions that can’t readily be answered.
Police Chief Nate Harper estimates some 4,000 officers will be needed, but the city has fewer than 900.
That’s why Harper has asked 100 U.S. police departments for manpower, though he’s already doubled the size of his force with commitments from regional agencies.
Still, plans to control protests and safeguard the two-day September event remain secretive and in flux.
For example, Harper says his 4,000-officer estimate depends on a yet-to-be-determined security perimeter. And Harper still has to figure out where to house the reinforcements and how to pay for them, though he expects some federal aid.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pittsburgh-area officials wants businesses, commuters and residents to plan ahead for street closures and other inconveniences when the Group of 20 economic summit comes to the city Sept. 24-25.
City Public Safety Director Michael Huss says security details may not be finalized until days before the event. That’s why businesses, and people who have to travel into the city, should start making alternative plans now.
Planners are urging businesses to contact the Pittsburgh Regional Business Coalition for Homeland Security. The group was formed in 2005 at the urging of federal officials, to help businesses operate during large-scale emergencies or similar event.
Huss says officials want businesses to plan ahead so they can remain open during the summit.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The media is set for a sneak peak at Pittsburgh’s new slot machine casino.
The media tour begins at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Rivers Casino along the city’s North Shore.
The preview of the 3,000-machine facility comes eight days before the casino will open for the first of two test days. On Aug. 5 and 7, invitation-only events will be held with the proceeds going to charity so the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board can make sure the casino is ready for its formal opening Sunday, Aug. 9 at noon.
Gaming Control Board officials will also attend Tuesday’s media tour along with the casino’s CEO, Greg Carlin, and president Ed Fasulo.

MOON TWP. — Work to improve Thorn Run Road in Moon Township will begin tonight, PennDOT said.

The project includes milling, paving and drainage rehabilitation on 2.16 miles of Thorn Run Road between Beaver Grade Road and Route 51.

Traffic may be reduced to a single lane alternating use from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and nightly from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. on weekdays through mid-October.