Incident Summary:
08/04/2009: Around 8:00 p.m., George Sodini entered an aerobics class at LA Fitness near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States and fired two 9mm handguns. Over the course of one minute, he killed three women and injured nine others before shooting and killing himself with a .45 caliber revolver. Sodini also carried a .32 caliber semi-automatic handgun that he did not use. In the months leading up to the attack Sodini maintained an online diary in which he indicated his resentment of women--he estimated 30 million desirable women had rejected him--and resentment of black men who "have thier [sic] choice of best white hoez [sic]." Sodini's writings include narratives that have since come to be associated with the "involuntarily celibate" (incel) movement, although he does not reference the term specifically.
Overview
GTD ID:
200908040017
When:
2009-08-04
Country:
United States
Region:
North America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Pennsylvania
City:
Near Pittsburgh
Location Details:
Great Southern Shopping Center, 1155 Washington Pike, Collier Township, approximately 10 miles southwest of Pittsburgh.
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Armed Assault |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Business |
Name of Entity |
LA Fitness |
Specific Description |
Women attending aerobics class |
Nationality of Target |
United States |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Yes |
Extent of Property Damage |
Minor (likely < $1 million) |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Firearms |
Handgun |
Weapon Details |
Sodini fired two 9 mm handguns in the attack. He killed himself with a .45 caliber revolver, and also carried a .32 semi-automatic handgun, which he did not use. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | Yes |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
In addition to his online diary, Sodini called his mother approximately 15 minutes before the attack to tell her he planned to "kill a bunch of people" and he "didn't expect to survive." He also left handwritten notes in his gym bag and at his home with similar messages, as well as complaints about women and their rejection of him. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Incel extremists |
Yes (Confirmed: Unknown; Mode: Posted to website, blog, etc.) |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
1 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
4 Fatalities / 9 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
4 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
4 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
1 |
Total Number of Injured |
9 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
9 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
Sadie Gurman, "Police discuss fitness center shootings in press conference," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 5, 2009. |
Michael A. Fuoco, "Gunman fulfilled 'exit plan'; George Sodini's online diary reveals that he had contemplated his shotting rampage for 9 months and that he hated women, family," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 6, 2009. |
Jill King Greenwood, "Sodini called mom just before killings," Pittsburgh Tribune Review, August 7, 2009. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties