George Sodini, 48, Pa. Gym Shooter, Plotted Attack in Online Diary Before Killing Four

George Sodini, 48, of Scott Township, Pa., has been confirmed as the man who police said walked quietly into an aerobics class at LA Fitness in Bridgeville, Pa., where he was a member, turned off the lights and started shooting. Police said they found 52 casings at the scene. He killed three and injured as many as 15 others before committing suicide. According to ABC News, Sodini kept an online diary detailing his hatred for his domineering mother and brother, and his lust for other women. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, among those reportedly shot were Sodini's ex-girlfriend, who survived, and the class instructor, who had just told her class she was pregnant.

Sodini's Aug. 3 online diary entry, which included a date of death, was full of disturbing musings about religion and his plans for the attack. He noted that he hadn't had a drink since 2:30 on Friday as part of his preparation.

"Total effort needed. Tomorrow is the big day. Unfortunately I talked to my neighbor today, who is very positive and upbeat. I need to remain focused and absorbed COMPLETELY," the diary read. "Last time I tried this, in January, I chickened out."

The diary also indicated that Sodini hadn't had sex since 1990 and that his so-called "practice papers" -- details about the planning of the attack -- are welcome to be published afterward because "maybe all this will shed insight on why some people just cannot make things happen in their life, which can potentially benefit others.

"Maybe soon, I will see God and Jesus. At least that is what I was told. Eternal life does NOT depend on works. If it did, we will all be in hell," Sodini apparently wrote, before adding later, "I was reading the Bible and The Integrity of God beginning yesterday, because soon I will see them." Source: ABC News

It seems that Sodini had been planning this attack for quite some time. He even reportedly wrote that he had put off his original plan until after November's 2008 presidential election, in a rambling entry that complains black men have their choice of the best white girls.

According to the blog, he tried again in January and May, but "chickened out." Various blog entries detail his worry about losing his job and having to re-enter the job market, as well as his troubles with alcohol. A May 5 entry -- the day of his second attempt to launch an attack on the gym -- notes that he stopped to buy a bottle of Jack Daniels, his first drink in 20 years. And on Monday, the day before the shootings, Sodini gave what might be the closest thing to his reason for the attacks.

"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," the blog reads. "Everything stays the same regardless of the effert (sic) 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." Source: ABC News This is eerily reminiscent of Jiverly Wong, who was consumed with so much hatred as he mercilessly shot so many in an upstate New York immigration center. It also reminds me of the callousness of the Virginia Tech gunman. Whatever issues Mr. Sodini had, they didn't rise to the level that warranted a bloodbath at the LA Fitness center. This is another senseless tragedy that didn't have to occur. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of Heidi Overmier, 46; Elizabeth Gannon, 49 and Jody Billingsley, 38. Sodini left a note inside his gym bag that indicated he expected to die in the bloodbath. This is the fifth mass shooting in Allegheny county in 10 years.

Bruce Windsor Joins a Growing List of Recession Criminals Under Financial Strain Who Seek Quick Cash by Robbing Banks

Church deacon and bank robber Bruce Windsor is back in the news again. You will recall that I blogged about this when the news of his escapade first surfaced. The father of four was a deacon, a youth soccer coach and a volunteer who helped build orphanages in Brazil, but yet, he was so weak that he succumbed to his flesh and donned a mask, wig and sunglasses and tried to rob the Greenville First Bank at gunpoint on February 26. According to a FBI affidavit, he demanded that bank workers fill a bag and two boxes with cash. He wasn't a career criminal. I am revisiting his case because it is part of a dangerous trend in this country -- recession crimes.

Windsor was sinking into a financial hole and rather than do the right thing and seek gainful employment, he sought what seemed as the easy way out -- robbing a bank. He was a real estate investor who ran several property businesses and it is being reported that his financial troubles predated the recession but were magnified as the housing bubble burst and access to credit dried up. Mr. Windsor's story isn't new. In fact, it's a disturbing and growing trend. He has found himself among a crowd of unlikely suspects -- seemingly ordinary people from ministers to ex-law enforcement workers who cite financial duress as the main factors in pushing them into a life of crime, specifically bank robbery to score some quick cash.

Bank holdups aren't as horrendous as the murder-suicides we have heard about lately and have managed to fly under the radar, but industry statistics show they go up during recessions, and experts have said that the financial pressure inevitably pushes some otherwise law-abiding people to find themselves accosting a teller at a window. According to media reports, the latest FBI statistics tallied 1,617 bank robberies in the fourth quarter of 2008, up from 1,358 in the third quarter and 1,561 a year earlier, although there are no statistics that differentiate between first-timers and repeat criminals in bank heists. This is very troubling.

Here are a few cases that have flown under the radar:

• James Creason, former associate pastor at the First Baptist Church of Leesburg, was arrested in August on charges he used a handgun to force tellers to hand over $36,000 at a bank where he was known and where his ex-wife had worked. Creason is being held without bond until his trial. His attorneys have said they plan to pursue an insanity defense.

• Retired Ohio bank teller Barbara Joly was sentenced in February to nine years in prison for robbing four banks. Her attorney said the crimes were attempts to support an adult son who'd fallen on hard financial times. Joly and her husband decided they couldn't afford to give their son any more of their own money, so she robbed the banks to continue to help him financially.

• James Gaddis, 27, a former high school valedictorian, and police patrolman in the southern Illinois university town of Carbondale, was arrested and charged in January with robbing a bank there last October. Prosecutors said Gaddis carried out the crime with a friend because of money troubles as his home faced foreclosure. He is free on $1 million bond and has pleaded not guilty.

• Donald Keith Giammanco was charged with robbing 12 St. Louis banks from November 2007 through last September. The unemployed, single father of twin teenage daughters told police he stole more than $100,000 to provide for his children. He had filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in September 2007. Source: Comcast News

We are all experiencing financial strain in different degrees, but I have never thought about pulling up to a bank, entering and pulling out a gun to commit a robbery. This shows desperation based on a "me, me, me" mentality. Times are tough and jobs are disappearing quickly, but there is no justification to take the life of another or rob a bank because one is in the throes of financial hardship. Sorry, there is a better way out.

Jiverly Voong, Kills 13 in NY, Fifth Massacre in Past Month, Three Cops Killed in Standoff at Richard Poplawski's Stanton Heights, Pa. Residence

Jiverly Voong, AKA Jiverly Wong (Photo: NY Daily News)

There is a very serious problem simmering in this country -- escalating gun violence. Something drastic needs to be done and quickly. We cannot just sit by and watch people being gunned down in this country on a weekly basis. The massacre in upstate New York comes on the heels of the massacre in the North Carolina nursing home, the massacre in Alabama, the mass killings of Lovelle Mixon of four police officers in Oakland, California, the slayings in Boston by Kerby Revelus of his sisters, as well as the rising incidents of murder-suicides in this country. It seems that the underlying theme in all these horrific crimes are extreme rage, financial hardships and easy access to high-powered guns. It is time for this country to enact stricter gun control laws, including zero-tolerance to offenders.

Coming on the heels of this senseless massacre, five police officers have been shot, three killed, at a Stanton Heights residence in Pittsburgh, Pa., after police tried to serve a warrant. There was a stand-off, with the suspect, Richard Poplawski, who was barricaded inside the home. It is now being reported that he is now in police custody. According to media reports, friends said Mr. Poplawski had several guns, including an AK-47 assault-type rifle, a .357 Magnum revolver, a .380-caliber handgun and a .45-caliber handgun. This gun-loving lunatic was afraid President Obama would ban firearms. The three dead officers are Eric Kelly, Stephen Mayhle and Paul Sciullo III. Kelly had been on the force for 14 years and the other two only two years each. Another officer was shot in the hand and a fifth broke his leg on a fence.

Mr. Voong was a Vietnamese immigrant who decided to play "judge and jury" with the lives of innocent people. Though no motive for the massacre has been released, it is ironic that he chose a place where he could identify with some of the people -- the American Civic Association. The community center was filled with people from different countries, all working to become a part of their new home -- learning English, taking a class to become an American citizen, much like the gun did when he became a citizen decades ago. He planned this massacre down to the last detail, as evident in his actions. He parked his car against the back door, stormed through the front and started his short reign of terror. Some people ran to the boiler room to get away from this horror. When the dust settled, 13 innocent people were dead, before he apparently killed himself. Four were critically wounded and fighting for their lives.

The man was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in an office, a satchel containing ammunition slung around his neck, authorities said. Police found two handguns - a nine mm and a .45-caliber - as well as a hunting knife, authorities said. He was prepared to do irreparable damage and, shamefully, he succeeded. It has been reported that he was angry at losing his job and he couldn't speak English very well. We are all experiencing some financial hardships in this economic climate, but you don't just pull the trigger and kill others to solve your problems. It is being reported in the New York Daily News that he reportedly talked to his coworkers about guns and that he was angry. He also reportedly went to target practice every weekend, another reason why he was able to do so much damage at the civic center.

These are two senseless crimes. At least Mr. Poplawski is still alive and will face some serious charges. We have to find a way to curb this escalating gun violence -- from the streets of the inner cities to the suburbs, there should be zero tolerance. We are experiencing an unprecedented level of violence that has no end in sight. I have lost count of the incidents that have occurred in the last six months alone. We have lost seven police officers in three weeks and numerous civilians. This bloodshed has to end.