2009 Collier Township shooting

Mass shooting in Pennsylvania, U.S. December 2025 November 2012 2009 Collier Township shooting CollierTwp-LAFitness-ShootingScene.jpg The scene in Collier Township at an LA Fitness center where the shooting took place on August 4, 2009 40 22 11 N 80 06 14 W inline,title Collier Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, U.S. Women 2009 8 4 8:15 p.m. EDT Mass shooting murder-suicide femicide mass murder 4 (including the perpetrator) 9 George Alfred Sodini * Two 9mm Glock semi-automatic pistols .32-caliber semi-automatic pistol (unused) .45 Colt revolver (perpetrator's suicide) Misogyny and rage caused by social rejection The 2009 Collier Township shooting, also known as the Bridgeville LA Fitness shooting, was a mass shooting that took place on August 4, 2009, in an LA Fitness health club in Collier Township, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The perpetrator, George Sodini, killed three people and injured nine others before committing suicide.http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/20283352/detail.html 4 Dead In Collier Township Gym Shooting; Gunman Kills Self, Officials Say August 4, 2009 Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc 1 August 5, 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090814060514/http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/20283352/detail.html August 14, 2009 dead mdy-all The fitness center is approximately 10 mi south of Pittsburgh,https://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE5740C620090805 Four shot dead at Pennsylvania gym Barnes Jonathan August 5, 2009 Thomson Reuters August 5, 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090821180259/https://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE5740C620090805 August 21, 2009 live in the Great Southern Shopping Center, a strip mall located in the Kirwan Heights section of Collier Township, just outside of the borough of Bridgeville. Shooting The shooting occurred at a women's aerobics class at the LA Fitness center at approximately 8:15 p.m. The shooter entered the class, where at least 20 people were working out, placed a duffel bag on the ground, turned off the lights, took out two handguns and began firing. According to police, the gunman fired 52 shots with two Glock 9mm semi-automatic pistols before committing suicide by shooting himself in the head with a .45 Colt revolver.http://www.ctvnews.ca/gunman-in-health-club-shooting-a-48-year-old-loner-1.422779 Gunman in health club shooting a 48-year-old loner CTVNews-CA 2016-11-30 https://web.archive.org/web/20170603121233/http://www.ctvnews.ca/gunman-in-health-club-shooting-a-48-year-old-loner-1.422779 June 3, 2017 dead mdy-all A .32-caliber semiautomatic pistol found in his pocket was not used.George Sodini Posted 2 Web Sites, Online Videos Before Pennsylvania Gym Shooting, ABC News (August 6, 2009) Three women and the gunman died, and nine other people were injured. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's office identified the three women who died as Heidi Overmier, 46, of Collier Township; Elizabeth Gannon, 49, of Green Tree, Pennsylvania; and Jody Billingsley, 37, of Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania.http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/multimedia/s_636758.html Gunman kills 3, wounds 9, before killing self at Collier fitness club Tribune-Review Staff August 5, 2009 Tribune-Review Publishing Co. August 5, 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090808064502/http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/multimedia/s_636758.html August 8, 2009 dead mdy-all Perpetrator George Alfred Sodini (September 30, 1960George Sodini, La Fitness shooter (August 5, 2009) – August 4, 2009), a 48-year-old systems analyst at the law firm of K&L Gates and a resident of Scott Township, was identified as the perpetrator.http://abovethelaw.com/2009/08/kl_gates_shooter_george_sodini.php LA Fitness Shooter Worked at K&L Gates Hill Kashmir August 5, 2009 Above the Law 2009-08-05 mdy-allJuly 2021 medicmedic He had written about contemplating carrying out a shooting, which he referred to as the "exit plan", while also revealing that he "chickened out" of carrying out such a shooting earlier in the year. His 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 inside the gym bag stating his hatred for women. Nearly a week after the murders, it was revealed that Sodini had brought an inert grenade on a Port Authority bus on July 28, 2009. After a passenger sitting next to him notified police, he was questioned about the incident but no charges were filed.LA Fitness Shooter Brought Non-Live Grenade On Port Authority Bus – kdka.com http://kdka.com/local/george.sodini.grenade.2.1121967.html https://web.archive.org/web/20090813071712/http://kdka.com/local/george.sodini.grenade.2.1121967.html August 13, 2009 dead August 11, 2009 mdy-all On a website registered in his name,http://georgesodini.com/20090804.htm George Sodini's Online Diary August 6, 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090807002649/http://www.georgesodini.com/20090804.htm August 7, 2009 live mdy-all Sodini chronicled over a nine-month period his rejections by women and his severe 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". In 2008, Sodini posted online videos, in which he discusses his emotions, along with a tour of his home, the latter of which was a homework assignment from "a self-help seminar [he] had attended on how to date women".http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/08/07/pennsylvania.gym.shooting/index.html CNN Pennsylvania gym shooter described as quiet, studious April 23, 2010 August 7, 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20100405212031/http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/08/07/pennsylvania.gym.shooting/index.html April 5, 2010 live TGSCOM Inc., an online gun wholesaler based in Green Bay, Wisconsin, sold Sodini an empty Glock 9 mm magazine and magazine loading apparatus used in the attack. TGSCOM sold a used handgun to Seung-Hui Cho, who subsequently used it during the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting. TGSCOM also sold an empty magazine and a holster to Steven Kazmierczak, who shot and killed five people at Northern Illinois University in 2008.http://www.richmond.com/news/article_1f5e073f-5111-5c52-b64b-c0a9ecf06f6a.html Wis. dealer who sold accessories to Pa. shooter also sold guns to Cho Richmond Times-Dispatch 2016-11-30 TGSCOM closed in 2012, having become the subject of investigations by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Wisconsin Better Business Bureau, and Green Bay police.http://www.cbsnews.com/news/gun-dealer-linked-to-3-mass-shootings-closes/ Gun dealer linked to 3 mass shootings closes 2016-11-30 https://web.archive.org/web/20161201080603/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/gun-dealer-linked-to-3-mass-shootings-closes/ December 1, 2016 live mdy-all On August 18, it was revealed that Sodini bequeathed his estate, valued at $225,000, to his alma mater the University of Pittsburgh.Kerlik Bobby Pitt says 'no' to LA Fitness killer's bequest of $225,000 http://pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_638749.html Pittsburgh Live July 9, 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20090821125439/http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_638749.html August 21, 2009 dead mdy-all A spokesperson for the university stated that it had "no interest in receiving any such distribution" and requested that it go to the victims and the victims' families.Majors Dan Reed Ward Paula https://www.post-gazette.com/local/south/2009/08/19/Two-LA-Fitness-shooting-victims-sue-gunman-s-estate/stories/200908190245 Two LA Fitness shooting victims sue gunman's estate August 19, 2009 post-gazette.com June 17, 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150617143555/http://www.post-gazette.com/local/south/2009/08/19/Two-LA-Fitness-shooting-victims-sue-gunman-s-estate/stories/200908190245 June 17, 2015 live mdy-all In March 2012, State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. filed a legal motion attempting to preemptively seek exemption from liability under Sodini's $100,000 personal liability policy. Victims of the shooting claim that the insurance company neglected to ensure Sodini got mental health care.Killer's insurance company argues it is not liable http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/region/killers-insurance-company-argues-it-is-not-liable-258057/ https://web.archive.org/web/20160827063002/http://www.post-gazette.com/neighborhoods-south/2010/08/04/Killer-s-insurance-company-argues-it-is-not-liable/stories/201008040237 dead August 27, 2016 August 29, 2012 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette March 29, 2012 Paula Reed Ward Aftermath thumb|200px|Flowers and remembrances left at the scene of the August 4, 2009 murder On August 6, 2009, approximately 75 people, including friends, women's rights advocates, clergy members, and local officials, held a vigil at the Pittsburgh City-County Building in downtown Pittsburgh in honor of the shooting's victims.https://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2009/08/07/Crimes-against-women-decried-at-vigil-for-victims-of-Collier-shootings/stories/200908070266 Crimes against women decried at vigil for victims of Collier shootings Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 2016-11-30 https://web.archive.org/web/20161201081514/http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2009/08/07/Crimes-against-women-decried-at-vigil-for-victims-of-Collier-shootings/stories/200908070266 December 1, 2016 live mdy-all In the aftermath, some feminist groups attributed misogyny and toxic masculinity as a contributing factor.Murray, Jennifer Lynn. "The Mass Killer's Search for Validation through Infamy, Media Attention and Transcendence." The Death and Resurrection of Deviance. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2014. 235-251. George Sodini has since widely been discussed online by the incel movement.https://www.glamour.com/story/female-shooters-are-rare-because-gun-violence-has-a-masculinity-problem Female Shooters Are Rare Because Gun Violence Has a Masculinity Problem April 6, 2018 April 8, 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20180408073323/https://www.glamour.com/story/female-shooters-are-rare-because-gun-violence-has-a-masculinity-problem April 8, 2018 live mdy-all Sklar Rachel He is considered one of the first incel killers. See also List of rampage killers in the United States Tsuyama massacre 2014 Isla Vista killings 2015 Umpqua Community College shooting 2018 Tallahassee shooting 2018 Toronto van attack Plymouth shooting 1989 École Polytechnique massacre References External links George Sodini's Blog: Full Text By Alleged Gym Shooter (at ABC News -website) George Sodini's YouTube channel Collier Township shooting Category:2009 mass shootings in the United States Category:2009 in Pennsylvania Category:August 2009 crimes in the United States Category:History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Category:Crimes in Pittsburgh Category:Massacres of women in the United States Category:Mass murders in Pennsylvania Category:Violence against women in Pennsylvania Category:Murder–suicides in Pennsylvania Category:Deaths by firearm in Pennsylvania Category:2000s mass murders in the United States Category:Mass shootings in Pennsylvania Category:Incel-related violence Category:History of women in Pennsylvania Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in Pennsylvania Category:Mass shootings involving semi-automatic pistols in the United States