Select by gender or name

George Sodini’s Background

George Sodini was a 48-year-old bachelor who was desperate for companionship.

He was seen in online videos attending self-improvement seminars. He was hoping to learn something that would turn his dating life around.

He posted a YouTube video giving a tour of his home, something that the self-improvement gurus urged him to do. According to CNN, he showed off a book titled “Date Young Women” and talked about the place’s cleanliness and the matching couch and chairs.

The self-improvement gurus could help he like he thought they would and as his hopes faded, negativity set in, and he began ranting about women online.

According to ABCNews, he stated in one online post that he wasn’t “ugly or too weird” and only had sex “50 to 75 times” in his life, and hadn’t had a girlfriend since 1984 and hadn’t had sex since 1990.

He also claimed,” I actually look good. I dress well, am clean-shaven, bathe, and wear a touch of cologne – yet 30 million women over an 18 or 25-year period. That is how I see it.”

He also ranted about his family, calling his dad a “useless sperm donor,” and complained that his brother had bullied him.

Along with his rants were plans. He was planning a mass shooting in the summer, but stated in a November 5th, 2008 post, that he decided to “stick around to see the election outcome.”

According to TheGuardian, he spoke of failing when he tried to commit the crime months earlier in January 2009, writing, “It is 8:45 PM: I chickened out!” and “I brought the loaded guns, everything. Hell!”

Crime

According to CNN, he went to LA Fitness in Collier Township, Pennsylvania, on August 4th, 2009, at 7:56 pm.

Moments later, he walked into an aerobics class, but he wasn’t there to work out; he was there to kill.

He had 4 handguns on him, and he turned off the lights and started shooting.

He used three guns and fired 52 shots, then turned the weapon on himself. He died along with 3 innocent women. About 9 other people were injured in the shooting, including a pregnant woman.

According to CNN, Sodoni left a note behind in his bag complaining of limited experience with women, including never living with a woman and never vacation with a woman.

Allegheny County police superintendent Charles Moffatt said at the time,  he “”had a lot of hatred in him” and “was hell bent on committing this act.”

So much so that he had learned from someone at the gym how to shut off the lights, and he had the aerobic class circled on the class schedule for the gym.

Moffatt also announced that on the day of the crime, Sodini had entered the gym at 11 am and 7:40 pm, indicating possible “practice runs.”