Gym Gunman, a Systems Analyst at K&L Gates, Told of Plans in Online Diary
A gunman who killed three women at an LA Fitness Gym near Pittsburgh on Tuesday evening was a systems analyst at K&L Gates who apparently wrote about his plans and his law firm in an online diary.
The gunman, identified as 48-year-old George Sodini, injured nine people and killed three others before turning the gun on himself, the Associated Press reports. Police did not confirm a report that one of those injured was Sodini’s former girlfriend.
Law firm media relations manager Michael Rick confirmed that Sodini was currently employed by the law firm. “K&L Gates is deeply saddened by last night’s events, and offers its condolences to the families and friends of all who were involved in this terrible tragedy,” the law firm said in a statement.
Sodini had worked for K&L Gates since 1999, CNN reports, a fact he noted in a disturbing online diary in which he talked about layoffs and his fear that he would be next, Above the Law reports. “Most people there are OK and I would never have a shoot ‘em up there,” Sodini wrote about his firm. “They paid me for 10 years, so far!”
ABC News had discovered Sodini’s online diary in which he talked about plans for the attack and his rejection by women. His last post lists his age, the date of his death, his status as “never married” and the words “death lives,” according to the AP account.
“The biggest problem of all is not having relationships or friends, but not being able to achieve and acquire what I desire in those or many other areas,” he said in an entry dated Sunday evening.
Sodini also writes of women problems in a diary entry in which he talks about his fear of being laid off, according to the Above the Law account. “I predict I won’t survive the next layoff. That is when there is no point to continue,” he wrote. “Right now, life is bearable and I can get by indefinitely. Something bad must happen. The paycheck is all I have left. The future holds nothing for me. Twenty five years of nothing fun. I never even spent one weekend with a girl in my life, even at my own place. Also unlikely to find another similar job. I guess then is when I take care of things. I don’t have kids, close friends or anything. Just me here. If you have nothing, you have nothing to lose.”
In another post, he said he first planned the attack for Jan. 6, but he “chickened out.”
