Health club killer was stopped earlier

George Sodini, 48, of Scott Township, was ultimately let go by Port Authority of Allegheny County police because they could not confirm he was the man on the bus July 28, authorities said.

Allegheny County Superintendent Charles Moffatt said Sodini wrote in one of his many diaries: “Don’t worry about it. It was a false grenade.’’

Moffatt continued: “We’ve never found a grenade, so nobody can tell you right now it was him on that bus. We believe it was him on the bus.’’

Sodini fatally shot himself after killing three women and wounding nine others attending an aerobics class at the L.A. Fitness club in Collier Township on Aug. 4.

Since Sodini did not relate the entire grenade incident in his writings and since no grenade was found in his home or among his belongings, there is no way to be certain it was him on bus, Moffatt said.

Port Authority spokesman Jim Ritchie said transit police did not charge Sodini because the witness who reported seeing a man with a grenade could not confirm that Sodini was the one. Sodini denied it when police found and questioned him two days later.

“It wasn’t until two days later that our sergeant found a guy matching the description,’’ Ritchie told the Associated Press yesterday. “There wasn’t much more we could do at that point.’’

The passenger saw a man matching Sodini’s description take a grenade out of a computer bag around 7 a.m. July 28 and move it around in his hands.

The passenger did not report it to Port Authority police until that afternoon, Ritchie said, too late for police to search the bus.

Two people injured in the shooting remained hospitalized yesterday, one in fair condition and one in serious condition, hospital officials said.