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Apolyton Makes the FBI Watch List
August 6, 2009
Online Diary Details Shooter’s Frustration
By SEAN D. HAMILL and ANAHAD O’CONNOR
BRIDGEVILLE, Pa. — The man who opened fire in a busy fitness center Tuesday evening, killing three women before committing suicide, had planned the attack for months because of frustration over his inability to find a girlfriend, according to a diary he posted online.
Two law enforcement officials confirmed reports that the gunman was George Sodini, 48, of Scott Township, a Pittsburgh suburb, and they said the diary appeared to be legitimate, based on its contents.
In the diary, Mr. Sodini, a programmer-analyst at a law firm said that he had not had a girlfriend since 1984, and had not had sex since July 1990, when he was 29.
“I actually look good,” Mr. Sodini wrote in an entry dated Dec. 29, 2008. “I dress good, am clean-shaven, bathe, touch of cologne — yet 30 million women rejected me — over an 18 or 25-year period. That is how I see it. Thirty million is my rough guesstimate of how many desirable single women there are.
“A man needs a woman for confidence. He gets a boost on the job, career, with other men, and everywhere else when he knows inside he has someone to spend the night with and who is also a friend.”
The attack took place in an aerobics class for women about 8:15 p.m. at an LA Fitness center in a shopping center in Collier Township, about 12 miles southwest of Pittsburgh.
Charles Moffatt, the superintendent of the Allegheny County Police Department, said three women were killed and nine others wounded.
“He did not say anything,” Mr. Moffatt said of the gunman, who was believed to have been a member of the fitness center. “He walked right to the room as if he knew where he was going and started shooting.”
The victims were identified as Heidi Overmier, 46, of Carnegie, Pa.; Elizabeth Gannon, 49, of Pittsburgh; and Jody Billingsly, 38, of Mount Lebanon, Pa.
In the Web diary, Mr. Sodini described his final preparations for the attack.
“I took off today, Monday, and tomorrow to practice my routine and make sure it is well polished,” he wrote in an entry dated Monday. “I need to work out every detail, there is only one shot. Also I need to be completely immersed into something before I can be successful. I haven’t had a drink since Friday at about 2:30. Total effort needed. Tomorrow is the big day.”
He added: “Any of the ‘Practice Papers’ left on my coffee table I used or the notes in my gym bag can be published freely. I will not be embarrassed, because, well, I will be dead. Some people like to study that stuff. Maybe all this will shed insight on why some people just cannot make things happen in their life, which can potentially benefit others.”
Despite Mr. Sodini’s admonition at the end of the diary that “This should not be taken off the web. It is obviously my view and opinion,” the diary was removed from its original site Wednesday morning.
Mr. Sodini owned his own home, which he purchased for $78,000 in 1996. He said in the diary that he had assets of $250,000 and that he had recently been promoted.
The police said they believe the gunman shot about 50 rounds from more than one gun. By the time the local police responded, within about five minutes, the shooting was over, the authorities said.
Two handguns and a black gym bag were recovered at the scene. Mr. Moffatt also said a note was found, but he did not describe its contents.
As dozens of emergency vehicles converged on the sprawling shopping center and closed off the scene, panicked gym-goers — some bloodied and wounded — fled the fitness center and scrambled for safety.
Richard Walker, 23, of Tulsa, Okla., who is working in oil fields in the area, was playing basketball in the fitness center when the shooting began, and as he and others were running out of the gym, a woman who had been shot in the thigh collapsed in front of him. He picked her up and carried her about 50 yards.
“The woman kept repeating, ‘He’s going to kill me. He’s going to kill me. He’s going to kill me,’ “ Mr. Walker said, still wearing a blood-stained white singlet.
The woman collapsed, unconscious, and was taken away by emergency workers a few minutes later.
One woman, Stacey Falk, 26, told The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the gunman appeared clean-shaven and short, wearing workout clothes as he entered the aerobics studio where Ms. Falk was exercising with as many as 40 other women.
The man stood in a corner for a brief moment, Ms. Falk said, then put his bag on the floor, shut the lights and began spraying the room with bullets from what appeared to be a short-barrel rifle.
“Girls were just ducking behind each other,” she said. “All I could hear were shots and screams.”
Another woman who was in the gym, Lauren Dooley, 26, told the paper that the gym descended into chaos as soon as the shooting began. Ms. Dooley was on a treadmill with headphones on but still counted as many as 15 shots.
“I saw people flying off the treadmills, hitting the ground,” she said. “We crawled through the fire escape and I sprinted out the back.”
The shootings took place at a dance aerobics class called Latin Impact that incorporates salsa music and Mexican Hat Dances, said Debi Wozniak, 51, of Dormont. The class is held from 8 to 9 p.m. on Tuesdays and is taught by a very popular teacher named Mary, Ms. Wozniak said. It can have between 25 to 30 students.
Ms. Wozniak, a regular participant of the class, said her sister, Joann Gazzam, was present when the attack occurred.
“ ‘Debi, I saw everything,’ “ Ms. Wozniak quoted her sister as saying. “ ‘I saw him pull out the guns, I saw him start shooting, I saw Mary get hit. It was awful.’ ”
Sean D. Hamill reported from Bridgeville, Pa., and Anahad O’Connor from New York.
Online Diary Details Shooter’s Frustration
By SEAN D. HAMILL and ANAHAD O’CONNOR
BRIDGEVILLE, Pa. — The man who opened fire in a busy fitness center Tuesday evening, killing three women before committing suicide, had planned the attack for months because of frustration over his inability to find a girlfriend, according to a diary he posted online.
Two law enforcement officials confirmed reports that the gunman was George Sodini, 48, of Scott Township, a Pittsburgh suburb, and they said the diary appeared to be legitimate, based on its contents.
In the diary, Mr. Sodini, a programmer-analyst at a law firm said that he had not had a girlfriend since 1984, and had not had sex since July 1990, when he was 29.
“I actually look good,” Mr. Sodini wrote in an entry dated Dec. 29, 2008. “I dress good, am clean-shaven, bathe, touch of cologne — yet 30 million women rejected me — over an 18 or 25-year period. That is how I see it. Thirty million is my rough guesstimate of how many desirable single women there are.
“A man needs a woman for confidence. He gets a boost on the job, career, with other men, and everywhere else when he knows inside he has someone to spend the night with and who is also a friend.”
The attack took place in an aerobics class for women about 8:15 p.m. at an LA Fitness center in a shopping center in Collier Township, about 12 miles southwest of Pittsburgh.
Charles Moffatt, the superintendent of the Allegheny County Police Department, said three women were killed and nine others wounded.
“He did not say anything,” Mr. Moffatt said of the gunman, who was believed to have been a member of the fitness center. “He walked right to the room as if he knew where he was going and started shooting.”
The victims were identified as Heidi Overmier, 46, of Carnegie, Pa.; Elizabeth Gannon, 49, of Pittsburgh; and Jody Billingsly, 38, of Mount Lebanon, Pa.
In the Web diary, Mr. Sodini described his final preparations for the attack.
“I took off today, Monday, and tomorrow to practice my routine and make sure it is well polished,” he wrote in an entry dated Monday. “I need to work out every detail, there is only one shot. Also I need to be completely immersed into something before I can be successful. I haven’t had a drink since Friday at about 2:30. Total effort needed. Tomorrow is the big day.”
He added: “Any of the ‘Practice Papers’ left on my coffee table I used or the notes in my gym bag can be published freely. I will not be embarrassed, because, well, I will be dead. Some people like to study that stuff. Maybe all this will shed insight on why some people just cannot make things happen in their life, which can potentially benefit others.”
Despite Mr. Sodini’s admonition at the end of the diary that “This should not be taken off the web. It is obviously my view and opinion,” the diary was removed from its original site Wednesday morning.
Mr. Sodini owned his own home, which he purchased for $78,000 in 1996. He said in the diary that he had assets of $250,000 and that he had recently been promoted.
The police said they believe the gunman shot about 50 rounds from more than one gun. By the time the local police responded, within about five minutes, the shooting was over, the authorities said.
Two handguns and a black gym bag were recovered at the scene. Mr. Moffatt also said a note was found, but he did not describe its contents.
As dozens of emergency vehicles converged on the sprawling shopping center and closed off the scene, panicked gym-goers — some bloodied and wounded — fled the fitness center and scrambled for safety.
Richard Walker, 23, of Tulsa, Okla., who is working in oil fields in the area, was playing basketball in the fitness center when the shooting began, and as he and others were running out of the gym, a woman who had been shot in the thigh collapsed in front of him. He picked her up and carried her about 50 yards.
“The woman kept repeating, ‘He’s going to kill me. He’s going to kill me. He’s going to kill me,’ “ Mr. Walker said, still wearing a blood-stained white singlet.
The woman collapsed, unconscious, and was taken away by emergency workers a few minutes later.
One woman, Stacey Falk, 26, told The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the gunman appeared clean-shaven and short, wearing workout clothes as he entered the aerobics studio where Ms. Falk was exercising with as many as 40 other women.
The man stood in a corner for a brief moment, Ms. Falk said, then put his bag on the floor, shut the lights and began spraying the room with bullets from what appeared to be a short-barrel rifle.
“Girls were just ducking behind each other,” she said. “All I could hear were shots and screams.”
Another woman who was in the gym, Lauren Dooley, 26, told the paper that the gym descended into chaos as soon as the shooting began. Ms. Dooley was on a treadmill with headphones on but still counted as many as 15 shots.
“I saw people flying off the treadmills, hitting the ground,” she said. “We crawled through the fire escape and I sprinted out the back.”
The shootings took place at a dance aerobics class called Latin Impact that incorporates salsa music and Mexican Hat Dances, said Debi Wozniak, 51, of Dormont. The class is held from 8 to 9 p.m. on Tuesdays and is taught by a very popular teacher named Mary, Ms. Wozniak said. It can have between 25 to 30 students.
Ms. Wozniak, a regular participant of the class, said her sister, Joann Gazzam, was present when the attack occurred.
“ ‘Debi, I saw everything,’ “ Ms. Wozniak quoted her sister as saying. “ ‘I saw him pull out the guns, I saw him start shooting, I saw Mary get hit. It was awful.’ ”
Sean D. Hamill reported from Bridgeville, Pa., and Anahad O’Connor from New York.
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