Could E-Harmony Have Prevented This?

I wrote about the crazy women who have killed a number of guys lately (Steve McNair, Arturo Gatti, etc.)... but, you know, there are some crazy men out here too and if this dating game is as different and as strange as some of my single friends are saying it is, I'm glad that I'm married and out of it.

Neighbors described 48 year old George Sodini, who worked in the accounting and finance department of a law firm, as anti-social, and the web page in his name showcased a resume setting forth his credentials as an unhappy loner. It listed his date of death, August 4, 2009, and his status of "Never married." He complained of not having a girlfriend since 1984, not having a date since May 2008, and not having sex for 19 years. Hmmmm, if that's true, that might make me want to pick up a gun myself. I kid... I kid...

Sodini wrote, "Women just don't like me. There are 30 million desirable women in the U.S. (my estimate) and I cannot find one." Oh come on! Not one? He should have moved here. He would have found at least one... the way the women around here are jonesin' for any man, not just a "good one". The page ended with the words, "Death Lives!" (On the other hand, he could have kept his crazy butt right where he was, near Pittsburgh.)

On Tuesday night, the gunman walked into his gym wearing workout gear and a headband, he entered a "Latin impact" dance aerobics class, and placed a duffel bag on the ground. He rooted around in the bag for a moment, turned off the lights, took out at least two guns and started shooting. Three women were killed and nine women were wounded. The police said that he may have fired as many as 52 shots before turning the gun on himself and committing suicide.

Allegheny County Police Superintendent Charles Moffatt said, "He walked right into the room where the shootings occurred as if he knew exactly where he was going. I think he went in with the idea of doing what he did." Ya Think? (I love the way some people are great at stating the obvious, don't you?)

Authorities on Wednesday identified the gunman as Sodini, of nearby Scott Township. The three women who died were Heidi Overmier 46, of Carnegie; Elizabeth Gannon 49, of Pittsburgh; and Jody Billingsley 38, of Mount Lebanon.

The 4,610 word web page, on a domain registered in Sodini's name, appeared to be a 9 month chronology of his plans for the shooting, his decision to delay it, and the process that led to the eventual carnage at his health club last Tuesday. Authorities did not immediately confirm that the site belonged to Sodini but, the elaborate nature of the comments suggested authenticity.

An entry dated Sunday state, "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. Everything stays the same regardless of the effort I put in. If I had control over my life, then I would be happier. But, for about the past 30 years, I have not." The website's author wrote of planning the attack since, at least, November and had tried to do it when the same Tuesday night dance aerobics class he targeted met on January 6th. He wrote, "It is 8:45pm. I chickened out! I brought the loaded guns and everything. Hell!"

A neighbor of Sodini's, Connie Fontanesi, who was interviewed by county detectives Tuesday evening said, "He was so anti-social, we really didn't learn anything personal about him." Usually in these situations, people say the killer was "such a nice guy... I can't imagine him doing a thing like this. But, in this case, there were no such declarations. I believe his neighbors thought that he was quite capable.

Mike Rick, a spokesman for the Pittsburgh law firm of K&L Gates, said in a statement Wednesday that the alleged shooter worked as a systems analyst in the firm's accounting and finance department since 1999. The firm was "deeply saddened by last night's events" and he offered condolences to the families and friends of the victims. The violence rocked the suburban Pittsburgh town of about 5,300 residents, which is located some 8 miles southwest of downtown.

Jordan Solomon, 14 years old, of Mount Lebanon, was in the all-female class and told The Associated Press on Wednesday that it started normally but, she thought it weird when a man walked into the class about 15 minutes later. Solomon said, "The man put a black duffel bag on the ground. He had a sweatband on his head. He was shuffling around in the bag. All of a sudden all the lights went out. I turned around, I saw him holding a gun, and he started firing." Solomon said that the man was expressionless and she didn't hear him say anything. She immediately started to run out of the room and into the parking lot, where she ran into a nearby restaurant and told the workers there to call 911.

Moffatt said that the gunman fired multiple weapons "indiscriminately", didn't say anything before unleashing a burst of bullets and police recovered, at least, two guns from the scene and a note from the shooter's duffel bag but, he would not say who wrote it. "I don't think anyone could have stopped him", Moffatt said.

Five of the wounded victims arrived in critical condition at UPMC Mercy Hospital but, three of them were upgraded to serious condition by early Wednesday. Two women remained in fair condition at another Pittsburgh hospital. One victim was treated and released for a shoulder wound and a woman with a bullet wound to the knee remained in stable condition Wednesday. Authorities initially had difficulty identifying the victims because they had workout clothes on and weren't carrying wallets, Moffatt said.

Loretta Moss, 44, of McDonald, said she was exercising on a treadmill when she heard a popping noise. "I didn't pay any attention and, the next minute, people were screaming" said Moss. She had come to the gym Tuesday night for the first time in a couple of weeks. She said she then heard more pops. "There was a whole spray of them. I'd say about 15 altogether and then, people started screaming, yelling, and started running out the building", she said. "We laid down and then, after the last set of gunshots, we got up and someone said, "Run!"

That was the proper thing to do... run! And, don't trip and fall while you're running the way they do in the movies and on television. Again, I'm kidding. Not to make light of such a tragedy but, if this is the by product of the dating scene, something really has to be done. This is not something that can be legislated either. This is something that we, as men and women, need to do about the way we relate to each other... the way we marginalize each other... and the way we push some folks out of the social circle so far that they become... well, like him!

This isn't a problem that can't be rectified. It can but, it remains to be seen how badly men and women want to change the relationship atmosphere. I wonder if texting, Facebook, Twitter, emailing, and I-chat are making us colder and less able to actually touch and get to know one another or is the problem really in the blackening of our souls? That's the text of another blog post for another time.