2009 Collier Township shooting
 | This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. (August 2009) |
| LA Fitness shooting | |
|---|---|
| Location | Collier Township, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Date | Tuesday, August 4, 2009 8:15 pm (EDT) |
Attack type | Mass murder |
| Weapons | At least 3 handguns[1] |
| Deaths | 4 (including the perpetrator) |
| Injured | 15[2][3] |
| Perpetrator | George Sodini |
The 2009 LA Fitness shooting was a murder-suicide that took place on August 4, 2009 in a LA Fitness health club in Collier Township, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The attack resulted in four deaths, including that of the perpetrator. Nine other people were injured.[1] The fitness center is approximately 10 miles (16 km) south of Pittsburgh,[4] adjacent to Bridgeville.
Details
The shooting occurred at a women's aerobics class at the LA Fitness center in The Bridgeville Great Southern Shopping Center, Collier Township, PA at approximately 8:15pm, August 4, 2009. The shooter entered the class, placed a duffel bag on the ground, turned off the lights, took out at least two guns and began shooting, police said. According to police, the gunman may have fired 52 shots before committing suicide.[5] The guns used by the perpetrator reportedly were two 9 mm semiautomatics and a .45-caliber revolver.[1] Three women died and about 15 other people were wounded before he killed himself. The county Medical Examiner's office identified the three women who died as Heidi Overmier, 46, of Collier; Elizabeth Gannon, 49, of Green Tree, PA; and Jody Billingsley, 38, of Mt. Lebanon, PA.[6]
Perpetrator
The gunman was 48-year-old Scott Township resident George Sodini, a systems analyst at the law firm of K&L Gates.[7] On a website registered in his name,[8] Sodini chronicled over a nine-month period his rejections by women and his extreme sexual frustration. "Who knows why? I am not ugly or too weird. No sex since July 1990 either (I was 29)," he writes. "Last time I slept all night with a girlfriend it was 1982. Girls and women don't even give me a second look ANYWHERE." About his problems with women, he wrote: "Women just don't like me. There are 30 million desirable women in the US (my estimate) and I cannot find one." The blog also explained his contemplating carrying out the shooting, which he referred to as the "exit plan",[5] while also revealing that he "chickened out" of carrying out such a shooting earlier in the year. The website states that he was "never married" and concludes "Death Lives!" Sodini states, "Probably 99% of the people who know me well don't even think I was this crazy." Sodini is reported to have left a note along inside the gym bag stating his hatred for women.[6] A video confessional has also surfaced.[9]
See also
- École Polytechnique massacre - A similar shooting that targeted female students in Montreal in which fourteen women were murdered and many more injured, the father of the shooter had a history of domestic violence and physical abuse of his children. This man also left a note filled with misogynistic hatred.
References
- ^ a b c "4 Dead In Collier Township Gym Shooting; Gunman Kills Self, Officials Say". Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. August 4, 2009. p. 1. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
- ^ Rubinkam, Michael (August 5, 2009). "Gunman at Pa. health club was bitter over women". Associated Press. Retrieved 2009-08-06.
- ^ "Four dead in health club shooting rampage". The Belfast Telegraph. August 5, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
- ^ Barnes, Jonathan (August 5, 2009). "Four shot dead at Pennsylvania gym". Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
- ^ a b CTV.ca News Staff (August 5, 2009). "Gunman in health club shooting a 48-year-old loner". CTV News. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
- ^ a b Tribune-Review, Staff (August 5, 2009). "Gunman kills 3, wounds 9, before killing self at Collier fitness club". Tribune-Review Publishing Co. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
- ^ Hill, Kashmir (2009-08-05). "LA Fitness Shooter Worked at K&L Gates". Above the Law. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
- ^ "George Sodini's Online Diary".
- ^ http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=8264965