feel free to shut off the comments on this one...

terrible

That's horrifying. There's no excuse for what he did, but it sounds like he was a seriously sick and tragically lonely man.

What a coward. Pathetic.

Another reason prostitution should be legal.

Oh, no! How is a shoot-up/suicide an "answer"?

How was this not monitored?? These blogging services need to hire some folks who can run keyword searches for "gun," "kill" etc periodically so that tragedies like this may be prevented.

RIP to all the victims ... thoughts and prayers are with their families.

He looks reasonably good-looking. If he had some balls and had sex with some women, maybe his head wouldn't have been so muddled.

He killed his ex-girlfriend from 19 years ago? He's a pretty normal looking guy. He was obviously competant enough to hold a good job for 10 years, so probably well educated as well (he writes better than Elie). Really surprising photo and journal. A story like this inspires me to charity and maybe a kind word to my fellow employees. It also makes me appreciate what I have a bit more after a hard day in the office.

I don't think you're competent to be posting about anything concerning gyms, MysTTTal.

I don't think you're competent to be posting about anything concerning gyms, MysTTTal.

Incredibly creepy.

what a self-absorbed dick.

i feel terrible for those poor people and their families.

These comments will not end well. I recommend putting them out of their misery.

10, perhaps he had Lat's proclivities but his religion told him it was evil. Repressed urges often turn out ugly. Agree that he could have had many chicks. I am much worse looking and do okay.

This post is as telling as any other:

"While driving I radio surfed to a talk show. The caller was a 30ish black man who was describing the despair in certain black communities. According to him, life is cheap there because you are going to die anyway when you get old. It is the quality of life that is important, he said. If you know the past 40 years were crappy, why live another 30 crappy years then die? His point was they engage in dangerous behavior which tends to shorten the lifespans, to die now and avoid the next 30 crappy years, using my example. The host got sarcastic and ended the call instead of trying understanding his point. Agreement wasn't necesary. I put music back on. But it was an interesting, and useful point for me to hear."

maybe we should be talking about the lack of recognition of mental illness (namely depression) in the legal profession? i'm not taking pity on this guy, but i'm sure he wasn't the only one ready to go "falling down" on the community...

This is a well written, well researched and absolutely horrifying post. This man's life reads like an awful movie script.

selfish, childish, and demented

8: this was not on a blogging service site. It was his personal site

You're a fucking jackass, #12. Have a look at the byline.

19 - but he wasn't an attorney, and surely didn't lead the same lifestyle that leads to so much depression in the legal profession. Not saying that we shouldn't be talking about depression, but if we're talking about this guy, not in the context of the legal world.

This guy seems incredibly sick reading the journal entries but looked totally normal from the outside. Good looking guy, steady job, etc. Freaky.
My thoughts are with the families of the victims.

The man is probably some sort of pedophile. Notice how he emphasizes young girls and focuses on the young girl that his neighbor is seeing. Odds are his emotional advancement stopped when he was in his 20s, and he is only attracted to college-aged females, who naturally want nothing to do with a 48 year old waste of life.

It appears as though this guy was depressed, lonely, a drinker, religious and worried about his job.

Just awful.

November 5, 2008:
Planned to do this in the summer but figure to stick around to see the election outcome. This particular one got so much attention and I was just curious. Not like I give a flying fcuk who won, since this exit plan was already planned. Good luck to Obama! He will be successful. The liberal media LOVES him. Amerika has chosen The Black Man. Good! In light of this I got ideas outside of Obama's plans for the economy and such. Here it is: Every black man should get a young white girl hoe to hone up on. Kinda a reverse indentured servitude thing. Long ago, many a older white male landowner had a young Negro wench girl for his desires. Bout' time tables are turned on that shit. Besides, dem young white hoez dig da bruthrs! LOL. More so than they dig the white dudes! Every daddy know when he sends his little girl to college, she be bangin a bruthr real good. I saw it. "Not my little girl", daddy says! (Yeah right!!) Black dudes have thier choice of best white hoez. You do the math, there are enough young white so all the brothers can each have one for 3 or 6 months or so.

WGWBG?

Absolutely horrifying.

Ctrl+c, ctrl+v = well written, well researched post?

Was Roxana at the gym? Did she maybe take a trip to Pittsburgh to meet with a new staffing coordinator that she was planning on breathlessly writing about in her next Breadline article?

not gonna read the comments for this one. way too tragic.

Sad....

8- I hope you're not serious. But he didn't use a blogging service anyway. He posted this to his personal website.

He sounds like the typical poster here--racist, sexist, bitter, complete lack of insight. Even has the BigLaw connection. Makes sense.

This is really sad. Even more sad because he did all of this because he was so lonely. I think as we become more disconnected as people, more of this will happen. Maybe its time to really focus on building close-knit communities, so people like this de don't feel as if the only way to make a mark on the world is to kill innocent people.

IT guys at my firm freak me out too. Here's another reason to just try and avoid them. But when they took over my laptop by remote when it was having problems, the IE page was on ATL. FML.

Speaking of layoffs, notice Sodini did not get laid off. This summer he actually got a raise, a promotion, and a better supervisor but was still unhappy:

July 20, 2009:
Been a long time since last write. Everything still sucks. But I got a promotion and a raise, even in this shitty Obama ecomomy. No more grunt programming. Go figure! New boss is great. He tactfully says when you did something wrong or complements on good things. Never confused with him. But that is NOT what I want in life. I guess some of us were simply meant to walk a lonely path. I have slept alone for over 20 years. Last time I slept all night with a girlfriend it was 1982. Proof I am a total malfunction. Girls and women don't even give me a second look ANYWHERE. There is something BLATANTLY wrong with me that NO goddam person will tell me what it is. Every person just wants to be fucking nice and say nice things to me. Flattery. Oh yeah, I am sure you can get a date anytime. You look good, etc. Pussies.
Awwww, wait. I can just start being self-righteous and say I live a good, clean life. I am holy, that's all Rick Knapp stuff. Hear that you mother fucker: I Am Just Good!

Very sad. Americans have so much and yet are often so empty inside. RIP all victims.

The guy was obviously mentally ill . Is there any indication why he picked the gym? Were the victims random or targeted?

Sounds to me like he was clinging to guns and religion, and obviously overcompensating.

36

Take your butt back to the commune hippie

Dude wasn't a drinker. Don't blame alcohol for this one. It says somewhere near the end that he had been sober for something like 20 years. I'm not going through the site again to find it.

Of course, the lesson to be learned in all of this is that if the women in the aerobics class all were permitted to carry concealed weapons, this never would have happened. Obviously. No one in America will truly be safe until everyone is packing at all times.

Where is the pic of the perp?

Boooooring!! More layoff news!

Things must be really miserable at K&L Gates when the IT people are going crazy. I wonder what it is like for the attorneys.

27 and 41 -- he despised religion. he didn't "cling" to it. he also hated right wing "fundies," so there goes your convenient stereotype

43: If it said he had been sober for 20 years, why did he point out that he "hadn't had a drink since Friday" as if it were something Earth-shattering?

Not shocking that he was NOT laid off but instead promoted by K&L Gates.

40: As I understand it, his ex-girlfriend was taking the class and he shot (but didn't kill) her.

I blame the gun. Guns are bad and the Second Amendment should be repealed.

Regards,

Rosie O'Donnell

43 = too drunk before noon to remember what he read 10 mins ago.

He hated one particular right-wing fundie, r48--he embodied all the typical Obama-hating hysteria about black men screwing-white girls that goes along with the "convenient stereotype" that this site is lousy with, and you know it. Don't even start with trying to distance him from--it's right there in his own words, and the result is all over the news.

#35 is spot on. Frankly, I'm surprised this sort of thing isn't more common within the legal world, among lawyers or support personnel.

While I certainly can't condone what this man did, we must recognize the hopelessness and indeed, powerlessness, that so many people must live with daily. Those who feel they have little or no control of their destinies will have less of a problem devaluing their own lives or the lives of others. Obviously, that wasn't Mr. Sodini's only problem, but it clearly was a big part of it.

He may have been lonely. He may have had a difficult childhood, but so what? He was 48 years old. At some point you have to take responsibility for your own life and stop blaming the world for your problems. I don't give a damn about any "mental illness" this guy may have suffered from. I hope there is a hell so he can spend eternity there for what he did to these innocent people.

"On still another thought, I had 20+ years of sobriety and achieved nothing about friendships, girlfriends, guys, etc. Zilch. What a waste."

Okay, I misread. He once had been sober for a span of 20+ years.

- 43

49 - Probably because this one is obviously not mentally well.

48, he despised religion?:

-----

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. Christ paid for EVERY sin, so how can I or you be judged BY GOD for a sin when the penalty was ALREADY paid. People judge but that does not matter. I was reading the Bible and The Integrity of God beginning yesterday, because soon I will see them.

-----

Yup, sure sounds like it.

Some of you are absolutely devoid of empathy. Of course this is a tragic situation, but it should also be a learning experience. Read the guy's journal. See where an otherwise normal person can be led astray, taking everything he says at face value, anyway. Controlling mother, bully brother, absent/non-caring father. Confidence lacking. Religion as excuse. No support network. Add it all to the brew and mix it up, and you get a guy who thinks that he *deserves* things (read: women, at least that's what society says he should get), things should come to him, because he's been dealt such a bad hand. If only he had some friends to explain that *everyone* feels that way, to some extent, he might have been OK. If he had someone to explain that it's not enough to make physical changes, but psychological ones, too -- for instance, he certainly should have been seeing a shrink -- he might have been turned around. If someone had bothered to pay closer attention at work... for 10 years, no one noticed the warning signs? In a profession full of depressed people? Well, I suppose lawyers are so insular, why would they have noticed? Especially some IT guy.

Maybe he was a repressed homosexual. Maybe he was a pedophile. Maybe it was deep-seeded and he was past the point of no return. But there is a chance that this guy could have been different.

Lesson: pay attention to people.

He also says "I haven't had a drink since Friday at about 2:30."........

is he referring to water or milk? Probably not....so this doesn't tie in with your sober theory.....

60: This dude is another textbook misogynist (and racist) piece-of-shit who managed to arm himself. "Pay attention to people"? What, I'm supposed to be kinder to some freak with a fucking siege mentality who elected year after year to fuel rather than quell his rage toward the world?

Krazy with a capital f*cking K.

60: No, that is not the lesson. The lesson should be, if you act like a fuck-up like this guy, people will not mourn your death. People will trash your memory and shun your family. His body should be left in the woods for the maggots to eat.

Homicidal maniacs are not sympathetic characters. All the more reason to not befriend weird, sexually repressed males (ever notice how it is always the males that do this kind of bull shit)???

Tell me why I don't like Tuesdays.

RIP victims... if he wanted to die he could have taken his own life without hurting others. Selfish lunatic.

2 years of planning and the best idea he could come up with was to shoot up a gym?

62 -- Right on. It doesn't matter how lonely or depressed someone is; there is NO excuse for killing innocent people. This piece of garbage deserves to rot in hell.

@ 69:

I guess he just picked a familiar target (the gym he frequented). Still, if he really wanted to make himself noticed, he would have done something more dramatic. He obviously didn't have much of an imagination.

The only good thing about this is he killed himself too, so society doesn't have to pay for him spending the rest of his life in prison. What a complete idiot. How could his family not know that he was totally fucked up.

Guns don't kill people.
I do.

Mystal's father in "Happy Gilmore."

I wonder what happened to his child . . .

Was this planned to occur on Obama's birthday, or was that just a coincidence?

The computers at K&L Gates are screwed up today. Lots of glitches

you're right 54, we on the right should be embracing this guy, not distancing from him. f*cking idiot.

It's armchair psychology, but it seems he wanted to destroy the object of his desire and focus of his hatred -- the women he watched working out daily at his gym.

62 - yes, be kinder to everyone, in general. He didn't hurt anyone until yesterday, as far as we know. What reason would you have had not to be kind to him? Because he was weird? So what?

The bigger problem is that it doesn't seem a lack of general kindness was the guy's problem. It was a lack of a real support network - friends and family.

It's such a one-dimensional characterization to call someone a lunatic or a "freak with a fucking siege mentality." Of course he was crazy; that's clear, and it doesn't add anything to the conversation to keep repeating it, except as an outlet of righteous anger. So you let off your steam and move on. Or you could pause and think about it a little harder.

I'm not saying this guy deserves sympathy. Of course he ended up being a monster. But he could have been something else. What good does it do to stamp it "lunatic" and go on our merry ways?

69 -- I heard that the dance class at the gym was attended by his ex-girlfriend. I believe she was referenced on his website as having dated him back in the 80's. This hasn't been officially confirmed yet though.

ATL is now doing its reporting by reading xoxo

This would never happen in Dallas, where people still treat each other with a little class and dignity. Not like you faggots from the North.

I know someone works for K&L Gates... I don't know if the 12-14 hour days, the frequent weekends spent working, or the total lack of work/life balance put this guy over the edge or what, but I'm sure it helped.

71, that's also from UHF. Respect Weird Al!

I'm not near as good looking at that guy, how could he have not gotten laid since 1990.

you're right 54, we on the right should be embracing this guy, not distancing from him.
__________________________________________

Exactly. White, "straight," gun-lover, opposed to interracial relationships--what's not to love?

Fucking idiot.

77 -- Bullshit. There are plenty of lonely people with no "support network" who deal with their problems constructively and find ways to improve their lives. They take responsibility for themselves and do not victimize innocent people.

Isn't this the second K&L Gates suicide in the last year?

I don't know, 81--it seemed like his job was really the only thread he had to hang onto. If he had been laid off, he might have done this sooner.

77: 62 here. Yes, I think this guy was a freak, but I actually don't think this guy was truly mentally ill. I think he was paranoid, angry, and insecure and finally carried out a plan he had been working on for months if not years. Perhaps that's a too-narrow interpretation of "mentally ill", but I don't think this guy was hearing voices or in any other way incapacitated. I think he knew precisely what he was doing, as evidenced by his attempts and failures to carry out the same exact plan in the past.

As to being kinder to everybody despite their being "weird". I'm not sure if you're female or not. I am and can tell you from experience that any kindness toward this type of creepy dude is nearly always a huge mistake. Women are too-often made to feel sorry for guys like this, to their detriment. I predict that the ex he is rumored to have shot in the aerobics class was somebody who felt sorry for him, threw him a bone by going out with him, broke things off as nicely as she could, and then got stalked by him.

85 - Even if that's true -- although I would challenge that -- so what? Some people can maybe deal on their own, some people can't. Is that an excuse to dismiss this is a one-off and not even try to understand how and why, past one-dimensional characterizations? I know that it opened my eyes a bit, and I'm going to try to be nicer to people who exhibit signs of depression. A conversation -- ask them how it's going, if they did anything fun over the weekend -- is not too much to ask.

85 - Even if that's true -- although I would challenge that -- so what? Some people can maybe deal on their own, some people can't. Is that an excuse to dismiss this is a one-off and not even try to understand how and why, past one-dimensional characterizations? I know that it opened my eyes a bit, and I'm going to try to be nicer to people who exhibit signs of depression. A conversation -- ask them how it's going, if they did anything fun over the weekend -- is not too much to ask.

"He also says "I haven't had a drink since Friday at about 2:30.".......is he referring to water or milk? Probably not....so this doesn't tie in with your sober theory....."

Um, I guess you didn't read the whole diary. He didn't drink and had not had a drink in 20 years. However, he chickened out the first time he tried to shoot up the gym so he made a conscious decision to start drinking in an effort to take the edge off and help him go through with it. Although based on the diary he didn't seem to actually drink much and did not drink prior to the shooting.

If the Lifetime Fitness where this happened was posted as a GUN-FREE zone, yet, there was no metal detector or guard to enforce this policy would the survivors have a Section 90 or detrimental reliance claim?

The righteous anger of people like 85 is of no value. You would think people might want to learn from this man's life in an attempt to help people in the future dealing with the same demons. I guess it's just easier for some to be dismissive of events like this rather than try to understand.

Give an unbalanced person seething with resentment and alienation easy access to firearms and this is what you get. Gee thanks Mr. La Pierre! This Second Amendment sure is fun!

83: Because he probably freaked women out and you probably don't.

Did anyone hear about the shooting at a New York gym? I hear it was some guy who worked at Cravath.

93 -- There is every reason to have "righteous anger" at this guy. What he did was blatantly inexcusable.

Layoffs at SkaddenDC.

JUDGMENT FREE ZONE!

You would think people might want to learn from this man's life in an attempt to help people in the future dealing with the same demons.
__________________________________________

People always says this after the latest mass shooting. Righteous anger may not be "helpful," but simply deeming him mentally ill isn't helpful either. Anyone claiming to have an absolutely sure and concrete understanding of why he did this is kidding themselves. He gave an explanation: he was lonely, and hadn't had a girlfriend in decades. Either that makes "sense" to you, or it doesn't.

Not trying to be flip, but I really think that this sort of horrible tragedy should make us rethink our prostitution illegality. Any time this sort of thing happens it is hard to disaggregate pure insanity from preventable rage that culminated in something terrible, but I wonder if he would have acted out if he could pay a sex worker without fear of prosecution.

Just a thought. Prayers to all those affected by this tragedy.

And to those making incredibly dark and inappropriate comments, it's always said in times like these, but you guys are fucking awful human beings.

Trust the Sheriff, Ladies. His looks are deceiving.

Why could he not get laid? Little dick, a closet gay or both. Being gay is no big deal. Being a closet gay is, as that means he "tried" to like women, and probably did stuff like this half-ass.

I know a guy like this at the office. He has done some work for me, but not much. When we discuss beautiful women, like stunningly beautiful, like you can take my left nut after having sex with someone so beautiful, he says that they are not hot, etc., and then stalks some homely women. He is single, conservarive, never married, NEVER HAD SEX, and claims to be very religious (which is why we believe he is in closet). He scares the shit out of this rightoeus Black man.

SO watch your back, brothers.

Not trying to be flip, but I really think that this sort of horrible tragedy should make us rethink our marijuana illegality. Any time this sort of thing happens it is hard to disaggregate pure insanity from preventable rage that culminated in something terrible, but I wonder if he would have acted out if he could smoke a joint without fear of prosecution. At least his aim would have been off.

Just a thought. Prayers to all those affected by this tragedy.

And to those making incredibly dark and inappropriate comments, it's always said in times like these, but you guys are fucking awful human beings.

26: 48 yar old men who are "only attracted to college-aged females" are not "pedophiles".

If you can't go on, do it alone in your home instead of killing others. Maybe if the media stopped publishing the name and life stories of these deperados who go out with guns blazing, there'd be fewer of these incidents. Hate the fact that he died knowing he would get publicity by doing this.

"Don't blame alcohol for this one. It says somewhere near the end that he had been sober for something like 20 years."

That's it! No booze.

105: Exactly. He didn't hate himself - he hated women, blacks, religious people, whoever (mostly women). If he hated himself that much, he would've just blown his brains out at home.

"Don't blame alcohol for this one. It says somewhere near the end that he had been sober for something like 20 years."

That's it! No booze.

Not trying to be flip, but I really think that this sort of horrible tragedy should make us rethink our insider-trading illegality. Any time this sort of thing happens it is hard to disaggregate pure insanity from preventable rage that culminated in something terrible, but I wonder if he would have acted out if he could sell some stock options he might have garnered at K&L based on information he gained in a position of trust during his employment.

Just a thought. Prayers to all those affected by this tragedy.

And to those making incredibly dark and inappropriate comments, it's always said in times like these, but you guys are fucking awful human beings.

Narcissism. It's why his teeth are so white, his hair so perfect, his life so empty and his finale so extreme

he wanted us to embrace his 'tragic' story. other fuc... up people will see this and think they too can have the spotlight and be pitied by america. this is horseshit! whoever has the power to take this guy's blog off the web should do it!

110: Very well-put.

And, 101, he probably would've just killed the prostitute.

109> "Just a thought. Prayers to all those affected by this tragedy."

Praying does not bring back the dead. Nor does it bring you closer to "God."

109 > And to those making incredibly dark and inappropriate comments, it's always said in times like these, but you guys are fucking awful human beings.

That's not a nice thing to say to people who simply have a different sense of humor. Maybe we should pray for them instead.

I wonder if he ever tried Match.com or similar. I understand that it is like legalized prostitution, but cheaper. People I know (seriously, not me) who you'd think might struggle get a$$ all the time for the price of dinner and a movie from like minded females. Which is to say, if he wanted to get laid, he could have.

I'm sure these chicks are not top shelf, SEC-quality southern college coeds, but if his issue was getting his d___ wet he could have made it happen.

109--stock options in K&L Gates, a law firm? Are you serious? Insider trading? Rather than worrying about being flip, you should worry about being an idiot and posting to blogs.

109, you are a complete fucking failure. How did you find ATL anyway?

What I don't understand is why can't these assholes - this guy, the lady on Taconic highway - if they can't manage, why not just punch their own tickets and leave everyone else out of it? Why kill three innocent girls? Very sad and very stupid.

Not trying to be flip, but I really think that this sort of horrible tragedy should make us rethink our no-U-turns at certain intersections illegality. Any time this sort of thing happens it is hard to disaggregate pure insanity from preventable rage that culminated in something terrible, but I wonder if he would have acted out if he could have made a U-turn at the light near the Lifetime Fitness and instead headed to Blockbuster and rented Porkys II.

Just a thought. Prayers to all those affected by this tragedy.

And to those making incredibly dark and inappropriate comments, it's always said in times like these, but you guys are fucking awful human beings.

i have a few friends who have been laid off from big law that i think could pull shit like this. the problem is you are there for them, but nut jobs (like my friends) prefer to wallow in their own self pity (e.g., the latham 1st year that posts everyday). so what are you suppose to do if you've already told them they need to get professional help--go tell their parents? in the case of my friends, the parents already know about the issue and have also suggested counseling.

it's sad b/c ive just started avoiding these people out of fear that they are going to pull some stunt like this.

damn crazy people suck.

Folks, if you think he only "needed to get laid," you are putting the cart before horse. This guy wasn't getting laid because he was a psycho, not the other way around.

Should we call this guy the K & L Gates Killer?

Well said 110 and 120.

This guy was a narcisstic freak, which probably became obvious to anyone who spent more than 5 minutes with him.

Very sad story. Thoughts are with the victims.

Anybody want to come in my mouth?

D. Lat

What's ironic is that he says he left an estate of $250,000. Watch as his father, mother and brother (all of whom this lunatic hated), try to recover that money in front of the victims of this serial killing/shooting. The money will most likely end up in the pocket of you blood-sucking leeches--the lawyers.

To those saying someone being kind could have helped, how do you know people weren't kind to him? The NY Post reprinted the whole contents of the blog. He talks about a conversation with an upbeat neighbor. So it sounds like there were people in his life who were kind to him.

As for the drinking he was sober for a long stretch then decided to start drinking again recently. There's reference to buying & consuming liquor.

Hey, I'm in my 40s, no significant other and grew up with alcoholic parents, plus dad had a problem with cocaine and prescription pills. I have my issues but I've never felt the urge to kill someone. The sad childhood excuse doesn't explain it because there are plenty of us who go through things like this and don't kill people.

It's scary to reach out to people, whether it's for therapy or to make friends, but when you do that, you get the strength to go on. Once you get to adulthood, the choices are ours to make. We can either work on healing and repairing the damage or we can stay mired in our sad pasts. We do have a choice.

I hate to say it, but this guy's blog is going to resonate with roughly 70% of the 40 year old + male population.

Two 40-ish single guys at work have already come over to my desk to discuss this story. They're really shaken. And sadly, their sentiments were both eerily similar, very much in the vein of Chris Rock's shtick about O.J. Simpson - "Now I'm not saying he should have killed her, but I understand."

Wow.

So how to prevent this from happening again?

I'm not sure, but I think that acknowledging the presence of your 40 year old + single male co-workers is a start. It's also important that you understanding this demographic's fears:

They know that you know that their respective apartments are borderline disaster areas (strewn with Japanese anime and Taco Bell wrappers), that their bathtubs are enshrouded in moss-like mildew (shared showers ceased in '87), and that they've long since discontinued using toilet paper (no one is coming over; a feces covered t-shirt will do).

And despite the fact that a decade's worth of cum coats the underside of their respective apartment desks, these men are striving to be normal - they're merely using their computers as an outlet, a means to interact with the indifferent 20-something female, a defense mechanism to stave off skull numbing loneliness.

Yes, your 40 year-old + single male co-workers are still people, too. They still want to watch sunsets, drown kittens, and fight Kimbo Slice. They want to be normal - just like you.

So with that said, won't you extended the olive branch to your single 40 year-old + male co-workers?

Lots of guys from Systems Integration are waiting to hear from you . . .

I stupidly read many of these comments. Gotta love some lawyers. This is awful to say, but I kinda hope some of you are in the way the next time someone goes nuts like this. So many really disgusting people in this profession. BY NO MEANS do I defend what this guy did, but I am definitely glad I left biglaw. Definitely glad.

Holy shit 127, psycho much?

Apologies for the double post

127 - Sounds like next time, you will be the one picking who gets in the way - you fucking psycho.

107 - I think he hated this economy more than anything. Note that he was ready to do this back in early January but changed his mind. But then in August he was ready to roll. Probably something to do with the economic decline in the last few months.

God bless all the victims, and R.I.P. to the three who lost their lives to this psycho.

124 -- That got me thinking. I wonder if he prepared a will. If not, PA intestacy law will parcel out what he had.

131 gets an F- in psychology.

127: Oh, I'm sure it'll come out that this guy hated the "stuck-up bitch" lawyers he worked with, just as you did. They always do.

126- Can you recommend a good cleaning service for my apartment. I have heard good things about merry maids.

Thank You.

I can wholeheartedly relate to the "life is crap, it's been crap and there's no realistic hope for any type of change in the future," and I honestly would have checked out awhile ago... EXCEPT, I have a family that would be devastated, regardless of how I feel about them. Not to mention the abhorrence I feel at the concepts of taking innocents with me.

It's got to be narcissism. I can relate to the backdrop of his life and feelings, but there must have been a circuit missing in his brain - the "how might my actions affect others?" link was clearly not there.

That aside, 88 makes an excellent point in her second paragraph. I've had the same experience, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

126 wrote: "I hate to say it, but this guy's blog is going to resonate with roughly 70% of the 40 year old + male population."

That is ridiculous. The blog was written by a psychopath. Shit like that doesn't "resonate" with anybody but the most debased members of society. Less than 1% of any demographic.

A comment like that is no better than saying that a pre-menopausal woman can't be president because she might nuke a country on a 'bad day.' Basically, you fell into the identity politics stuff peddled by Elie and Obama.

127 here, like I said, hope some of you are in the way. 60 hit the nail on the head. but many of you asshole republi, I mean douchebags, have no concept that instead of talking about why people should be packing heat or why no one should give a shit about WHO this guy actually was, you should be asking yourselves how YOU contribute to this kind of thing happening. ASSHOLES!!!!!

127 again, and TO BE CLEAR before some idiot goes off on why I am planning to do something, I am only pointing out that the heartlessness and superficial gloss at what actually happened here is disheartening given that we are in a highly esteemed profession that requires us to have some level of empathy. Yeah, this guy was clearly nuts, but from what I have read from his blog, this awful event could have been averted if someone had paid enough attention and reached out to this guy. That is all I am saying. And several of the comments above are truly disgusting. You may think mine is disgusting, but I assure you, I am not the only person who sees it this way.

135 - If you are in the dallas area i recommend top-maids.com. Apparently they keep your apartment clean and your thoughts dirty.

127, you are one hateful piece of shit...

141, 127 here. What specifically was the last "nice" thing you did for someone you barely knew???? Bet you and a lot of the gross posters above can't answer.

127, 138, 139: If your ego is as fragile as this narcissistic piece of shit's is, then I fear for you and your loved ones. Seriously. Are we all supposed to go out of our way to placate this kind of guy?

For the record, I'm a Democrat with lots of empathy, but not for people who buy guns, plan a mass murder, walk into an aerobics class, turn off the damn lights in the class, and blow away a bunch of innocent people.

77 is spot on. Simply labeling this monster as crazy adds nothing, and frankly goes without saying. 77 says the point is that he could have been someone else. True enough. But more to the point, someone else could have been him, or could end up just like him.

Depression is a mental disease, and it is fairly simple to treat in many cases. Problem is the motivation goes down the drain and seeking help becomes a monumental task. Forget this guy - he's over and done with. But look around you, and if you see people who are clearly lonely, sad, depressed, and without hope, reach out to them. Ask what you can do. You don't have to be a friend, but you can be human. And you can suggest help. You think you're overstepping, and you may very well be, but consider the alternative. You may also change their world entirely with the simplest acknowledgement of their pain. The slightest empathy or consideration could pull someone back from the brink, and you'd never even know it. This guy says he talked to an upbeat neighbor, and that was almost enough to delay his exit plan another day. Just think if they would have sat down for a cup of coffee.

What he did was an avoidable tragedy.

Not trying to be flip, but I really think that everyone reading these comments should take a long hard look at the condition of their bathtubs, check if they have toilet roll, and for G-D's sake clean up that sticky mess under your desk.

Not 126

Not trying to be flip, but did this guy flip out or what.

"This guy says he talked to an upbeat neighbor, and that was almost enough to delay his exit plan another day. Just think if they would have sat down for a cup of coffee."

Did you read his website? He probably would've jerked off in her coffee.

127/138/139 - You have narcissistic personality disorder. I am totally serious. You probably have co-morbidity with major depressive disorder, but the narcissism is what's really central.

I am absolutely serious and confident in the diagnosis. Go see a shrink.

Maybe he wouldn't have gone on a shooting rampage if he had these breasts to look at (from ATL's sister site):

http://fashionista.com/2009/08/mid-day_snack_75.php

127/138 - Oh, I got it now, this whackjob killed 3 people because Republicans are douchebags. Impeccable logic.

guys in my high school used to randomly shoot people more successful than themselves all the time.....

too soon?

127 here and 60, 77, and 144 make my point. I should not have made the "hope some of you are in the way" comment. That was extreme, and wrong, and for that, I apologize and I take it back. HOWEVER, my point was that the world would be a much better place without the heartlessness that some of the comments above suggest many lawyers carry around. I've worked with some really hateful lawyers who were really into themselves, hierarchy, and applying 'brute force' to every situtation all the time. I just cannot stand that mentality and it saddens me to see it alive and well even here in the face of this awful tragedy. In any event, I know who I am and have no need to justify myself to any of you. But those of you who criticized that comment have rightly done so, and I apologize.

150, why thank you. I agree that my logic is impeccable!!!!!

150: Not to mention that he was probably a Libertarian or some other such nonsense.

127/152 - you spineless hippy. dont apologize on an anonymous message board,regardless of what your mom tells you to do.

ps. i can see she is online, too, from her cam show.

155, what makes you think i'm a "he"? No need to answer because i'm not interested. But for the record I am not even close to being in this guy's demographic. But you prove my point. Ugh, anyway, back to work.

151, you are one sick bastard. Keep up the good posts.

156, I agree there was no need to apologize. But I also took the Bush years seriously. And I am not interested in someone blowing my comments out of proportion and making it seem like i'm next in line to be this guy. That's the crazy world we live in and, unfortunately, I respect it.

157: I was referring to the shooter, not to you. Perhaps the earlier poster's diagnosis of your narcissism is spot-on.

158 here, that was supposed to be a reference to 155.

159, I don't care about what you said.

If you think this person wasn't in the grips of mental illness, I refer to you to the following from his blog. I do NOT post this to sympathize or excuse, but to encourage each of you to ask yourselves have you ever felt this way? If you can answer yes, get a therapist. Does wonders.

"The problem is I feel too good now to do this but too bad to enjoy life. I know I will never enjoy life. This is an over 30 year trend. Some people are happy, some are miserable. It is difficult to live almost continuously feeling an undercurrent of fear, worry, discontentment and helplessness. I can talk and joke around and sound happy but under it all is something different that seems unchangable and a permanent part of my being."

This article gives bios of 2 of the victims:

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_636888.html

Question following up on 162 – could simple pills have helped this guy? Or did he need extensive therapy? How do you know if chemistry is to blame? Pills don't work if the unerdlying chemistry is not imbalanced, right?

Another article on the victims:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09217/988738-100.stm

These dead women and their families deserve sympathy. The piece of shit that killed these women deserves none.

Awesome.

did he buy guns just to do something like this? or did he have them for other reasons and then chose to use them for this violence. this story doesnt make sense though. why do this if you're snapping out? i dont get it. it seems fake.

148, suck it.

The blog/diary is gone, google cash and wayback don't have it: anyone got a mirror?

165 - agreed.

113 - thank you for unambiguously demonstrating that you are a complete moron with your statement "Praying does not bring back the dead. Nor does it bring you closer to 'God.'" Statements such as "prayers to the victims' families" or "praying for those impacted by this tragedy" are generally understood to be expressions of sympathy. I don't see anyone suggesting that prayer will bring back the victims of this tragedy - fairly obvious this was not the intended message. But it was thoughtful of you, in the immediate aftermath of 4 innocent lives being cut short, to criticize isolated language in a post expressing sympathy (as opposed to, say, chastising a poster for inappropriate humor). Taking a wild guess here, but I'm thinking you have such a problem with religon that it causes you to show yourself an idiot anytime somebody uses the word "God" or "religon" or "church".

169 - It's reproduced at the ABC site; you can find it (minus swear words and racial epithets) via the link in the ATL post.

Audit the Fed and legalize cannabis ASAP!

i can understand how this guy felt but the people he killed never did anything to him. They were just representations of what he felt was rejecting him, being women. Its really sad for the victims and this poor man George who was in such despair that he did this terrible thing, hopefully it raises some important issues but it seems most people are using the tired excuse "mental illness" to cover up the real issue which was his loneliness and feelings of isolation amongst a huge society. Think if you were in his shoes though no friends, no GF, just going to a job he cant stand to survive does that sound fun, im not saying what he did was right but just think if you were him how would you feel.

If the guy didn't had sex in awhile and had no prospects for romantic love or even consensual one-night stand, why not go to a pro? That could have solved a lot of his problems.

We're all paying for sex one way or another; "dating" in NYC might as well be prostitution. Dinner usually gets you at least a blow job; add a movie and drinks and you are definitely having sex; go to a Broadway show or to a movie premier and anal is practically guaranteed. Maybe the dude should have just moved.

174, talk to 148. ick.

173: And I'm sure if your wife, daughter, sister, mother got killed by this dude you'd be extremely concerned with how hard life was for him.

Comments 6 and 101 - you are right on. I think that if we had legalized prostitution then this guy would have had someone to go to - and if he had, then maybe he would have felt more connection with the rest of the world and not done this. We take extrodinary pains as a society to make sure that every little want or need or desire that our women have is met in full, but we just hang our men out to dry. Single 40-year old men have a need and it is not getting met. We can either just keep telling them to suck it up (it's not working) or work out some sort of consensual compromise that benefits all involved - as many Western countries have already done. If we have legalized prostitution is it a guarantee that such a thing will not happen again? No it is not, but if it prevents even one such rampage, then it would seem to be worth it.

Wow. I think using this to drum up the legalize prostitution rhetoric is the definition of chutzpah.

6, 101, 177, etc.: What? Legalized prostitution makes men more sensitive and kind? Let's to a do-over in an alternative universe with legalized prostitution in Pittsburgh. I read his blog. He believed he was entitled to women. He was enraged that women were not coming to him. You actually think this man's issues would be resolved by letting him pay for sex? He would resent the fee. It's not like a trip to Vegas is out of the question for a single guy working at K&L Gates. He chose his celibacy.
I'm grateful that this guy never turned to prostitutes--I'm sure he would have slaughtered them too.

Out of the universe of 10-20 million depressed people--
few resort to homicide.

Bush who is arguably sane killed nearly a million Iraqis.

They both based their actions on irrational metaphysical
constructs.

I guess lawyers depression rate isn't so high

http://oas.samhsa.gov/2k7/depression/occupation.htm

or suicide--but nd among professions

Now if you are talking big law definite skew

Prostitution is legal in LA.

Beautiful women will lay it all done if you
say you are an entertainment lawyer or in the Biz--
of course there must be a minimal threshold of male
attractiveness.

179 - This has nothing to do with sensitivity or kindness. If you really read his posts, the shooter did not feel like he had a connection with anyone in the world and he was very bitter about not having sex recently. Instead of just saying "it's horrible" (which it is), how about trying to fix the problem - get guys like him some action and maybe some sort of support group. Other than that, what's your best suggestion about how to make this not happen again? Or are you content to just say "that's too bad" and do nothing? I guess the next time you will just say the same thing?

183: If you read his posts you'll see that he never, never takes a second to consider that, perhaps, HE is the problem. It's all about women, sorry, "hoez" [sic] rejecting him even though he's in shape and looks good. He was very wrapped-up in his woe-is-me drama and didn't want it to end.

@180 Logic Failure.

You are a fool arguing that "Bush killed millions of Iraqis" - you may as well argue that the psycho's parents or his second grade teacher are responsible for the massacre. There are many influences in every individual's life and many different degrees of separation.

183, 179 here: all I'm saying is that this guy's problems were not for lack of sex. The guy felt entitled. He would resent having to pay for it and hate women as much as ever.
Your support group idea is a good one. Obviously, the decades without real human connection played a role in his breakdown. I just don't think that paying for sex was going to make this guy like women better or make him feel connected.

I just want to point out that Sodini knew everyone would be reading this blog after he did this and likely put his own spin on things. So take all of it with a grain of salt. I am certain he was in much worse mental shape than those blog postings illustrate. Some people may feel they relate to what he said but that's because he didn't give us the entire story. If those people actually knew what was going on his mind they would likely be horrified.

well put, 187.

187: Very true.

Only someone who has gone through what this guy went through could understand what he did. For a period in my life, I went through some similar things, and I understand how he felt. A prolonged period of anger at the world and increasingly bizarre, unchecked bad emotional periods can do this. Fortunately I obtained professional help, and I am cured. This guy needed therapy, and he clearly could have afforded it. It is really sad that he chose to kill innocent people instead of obtaining help for his own problems.

Here's a hint: If you post crazy rants on the internet, no one will date you.
Love the attitude too -- only top shelf, even if I am fat, old or ugly. Why? Because I'm a guy and I deserve it!

People need to realize that the common thread with these killers is that they are totally self-absorbed. Depression goes hand-in-hand with being completely self-centered. Believe me, I know.

Someone told me something that helped me come back from an episode of major depression. They said, "Focus on someone else. Focus on helping someone else who is less fortunate than you." It must have been hard for them to say, but they were totally right.

Look at what this guy writes. EVERYTHING is self-focused. He constantly felt sorry for himself and did not devote one thought to another human being, how they felt (unless it was how they felt about HIM), how he could help someone in need. People didnt need to reach out to him, he needed to reach out to OTHERS.

As someone mentioned earlier, as an adult, you take responsibility for your own happiness. One key to happiness is looking outward and not always focusing on me me me.

192, this is 190. I hear you loud and clear. I spent months feeling sorry for myself and having a major depressive episode. No one wanted to be around me, and it's not hard to see why. Talking about how great I was and how no one appreciated me was just what this guy did. Oddly, no one suggested reaching out to help other people, but that would have been a great thing to do.

192/193 - similar story here, and I hear you loud and clear as well. However, the irony is, to get into a position where you can interact with others, you need some serious focus on 'me' in a therapeutic way. Not the " I'm god's gift to earth and so much better than you, why won't you date me" way, but the "what's gone on in my life to make me so angry" way.

19 years without sex and this is all he did???

19 years without sex and this is all he did???

19 years without sex and this is all he did???

Sympathy to the victims' families.
But you can be sure that someone in Sr. Management at KL is breathing a sigh of relief about this reduction in headcount. One less stealth lay-off for them.

194, I hear you back. My therapy started with something very simple-- smiling at every person I saw. Interestingly, the physical act of smiling made *me* feel better, which was a step to recovering. Being less angry all the time really helped, especially in the attraction department.

200 baby

Don't feel bad for this asshole. Idiots like him shoot up schools, gyms, and offices to get attention. They want the world to remember their otherwise insignificant and unimportant lives. This is no different from that idiot VA Tech shooter that sent his video to the media for some more post-death attention.

Those of you showing "sympathy" are simply giving future idiots more of a reason to shoot shit up. Ignore them and move on.

test

NOTE: I am anonymous and male and different person from anonymous persons.

Anyway, this situation reminds me of "Days of Our Lives" storyline from 1982.

In one storyline, a guy had romantic issues on his own (well different from his) and ended up psychotic--strangling anonymous women (whom he found them dirty and unclean) to death. Later on, he ended up dead.

Go to YouTube, search "days of our lives" "strangler" or "salem strangler", or google "Days of Our Lives" "Salem Strangler"

NOTE: I am anonymous and male and different person from anonymous persons.

Anyway, this situation reminds me of "Days of Our Lives" storyline from 1982.

In one storyline, a guy had romantic issues on his own (well different from his) and ended up psychotic--strangling anonymous women (whom he found them dirty and unclean) to death. Later on, he ended up dead.

Go to YouTube, search "days of our lives" "strangler" or "salem strangler", or google "Days of Our Lives" "Salem Strangler"

88 is spot on. Innocent people (though let's face it: the majority of victims are women) fall prey to these assholes because they politely engaged in some sort of interaction with him that sparked a full blown obsession. As a woman, myself, I can personally attest to being the unlucky recipient of inappropriate and incredibly creepy behavior from more than a handful of men throughout my life, simply because I was kind enough to say hello one day or carry on polite, begrudging conversation. More often than not, it's "reaching out" that gets some sicko stalking you. To respond to demands for empathy: Sorry, but I don't need to coddle a 50 year old man whom I barely know. I have my own problems to deal with. People can generally gauge the creepy vibe from someone. It's ignoring your survival instinct and not avoiding the hell out of these people that gets you in trouble.

Oddly enough, the IT guy at my firm is also a total creep who acts inappropriately toward all the 20-something admins here. Slightly off topic, but from speaking with friends of mine at other firms, there seems to be a resurgence of sexual harassment in the workplace. Not that it ever disappeared, but it seems like the trend is swinging back to ignoring this shit, and I think that's completely unacceptable. People are often too polite to report anything. And then some asshole kills a bunch of innocent people.

Has anyone else observed this?

195-97:

That's what happens when you use handguns instead of rifles. You get survivors.

I kid, I kid.

This sounds like a socialization failure. It is sad because there's no reason for that sort of thing to happen.

K&L attorney here. My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of this horrible tragedy.

to 164: Combining medicine and therapy gets the best results. More than likely, a depressed person's brain chemistry is off.

to 187: You are correct - sociopaths lie.

to 192: Not every one who is depressed is self-centered.

Prostitution should be legalized on general principles. Sex is healthy - why is it illegal ?

Pot should also be legalized - it's an herb - mother natures' gift to us.

The blog was written by a psychopath. Shit like that doesn't "resonate" with anybody but the most debased members of society . . . Basically, you fell into the identity politics stuff peddled by Elie and Obama.
__________________________________________

Considering that you think just like him, it sounds like it resonated with you.

208, sex is healthy, sure. Excessive obsession with sex, or emotionally detached sex is NOT. Prostitution would only make a bad problem worse.

Anyone notice the huge difference in his appearance in the photos. Looks like when he was lifting he might have been on steroids. Roid rage perhaps?

Interesting that K&L Gates stated that "b/c he was so anti-social, no one knew anything about him." I think they're just embarrassed and want to distance themselves. He could not have been that anti-social ad survived 2 rounds lof lay-offs and recently gotten a promotion and a raise. The truely anti-social types are the first ones to get laid off.

163, 165 - Thanks for posting the links. It's a shame that after something like this happens, the media (and others) rush to take up the story of the gunman's life rather than that of the victims.

No one's life is 100% roses and kittens, yet most of us manage to get along just fine. Elizabeth Gannon (one of the victims) survived a serious car accident, lost both her parents by age 24, was divorced, and never had any children, yet was able to find happiness and be a productive member of society. Jody Billingsley (another victim) was a 37 year old woman who lived alone, yet was able to find happiness in her career as a physical therapist. Heidi Overmier (yet another victim) was a single mother just trying to raise her 15 year old son. Not to mention the other victims who will, undoubtedly, rack up on medical bills and struggle with attempting to go back to their everyday lives after their bullet wounds have healed.

The above people should be the topic of conversation. They are the ones who need to be remembered and their families sympathized with. The papers need to stop publishing sympathetic stories about the gunman's life. Stop re-posting that narcissistic piece of trash's blog posts. He is unworthy of being remembered. I hope the families file a claim against his estate, as even his family is unworthy of receiving a red cent as a result of his self-absorbed, murder-suicide rampage.

This country needs to stop sensationalizing crap like this and try piece together whatever integrity we claim to have.

213. You make som good points. But the reality is that peopl want to avoid it from happening again. They are tyring to pin down a "type" so that they can spot him ahead of time and stop him. That's why they are talking about the guy...they don't give a crap about him.

214--fair point but you risk overstating what can be learned from this case study to help build profiles and prevent future tragedies. The sad truth is that there is very little "interesting" from a criminal/psycological profiling point of view in this case. The pathology of a deeply inadequate, withdrawn, narcasitic individual with sociopathic traits is fairly well developed. What is left is to hone in on the early warning indicators, which are most easy to spot with the benefit of hindsight.. Like most mass murderers., this individual lived a fairly normal life and was not suspected as being capable. Pointing to the blog and web-page as warning signs is obvious but not that helpful given the breath and difusions of the internet. Until anything happened, they were irrelevent.

212, you obviously don't realize the importance of office politics in determining who gets fired first

127, BRAVO!!! clapclapclapclap----- take a bow!! I'm glad I'm out of biglaw myself. It was a blessing in disguise. My guess is that some idiot in the copy room of one of these big firms, you know, one of those guys with the gang tattoos on his neck covered up by the white starched shirt, will go off on everyone around him. But only then the lawyers will just gather around, choked up and looking terribly confused only to return to their offices and bark at the underlings for not scrambling to get the filing out when he was in charge and should have prepared much sooner. That's biglaw life.

I think you got a picture of the wrong guy. Here's a recent picture of the actual murderer:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090810/ap_on_re_us/us_health_club_shooting

He doesn't look at all like the guy in that picture. Maybe it's just an old picture from his online journal, but this more recent picture helps explain why women would avoid him.

I have been to KL Gates to do depositions (about 2 years ago). My wife's cousin was at this gym earlier in the day -- was about the same age as the victims. Reading his diary you see that he was very troubled. Having been married twice -- and having a child -- I understand that relationships are not always great. Then again, for over 20 years the longest that I went without a serious relationship was 2 years (and during the 2 year period I did date a lot). Maybe I would be crazy too if I were about 8 years older and it had been 25 years since having a girlfriend and 20 since I had sex. I don't know. Why not get a mail order bride? Why resort to murder? Aren't there way more resorces for dating than even 10 years ago (internet, etc.)? I don't know. This guy really was alright looking -- not that I am an expert.

219 again. Unlike Soldini, I prefer people not to know my personal opinions on lots of stuff -- I figure it might interfere with my career -- not that I ever post anything like Soldini posted. In that picture above he looks like a famous criminal I knew in high school named Alex Kelly. Despite being accused of rapes, that guy has never had a problem getting girlfriends. I guess life is really unfair -- and Soldini just did not "get" how to date (and it is kind of like not being able to speak a language).

He is absolutely right about this firm, and other firms, using the recession as an excuse to downsize and reduce salaries disproportionately to the adverse economic consequences.

Also, no sex for 19 yrs?! Why didn't he just get a hooker, he could've gotten a girlfriend experience for a small premium. This is exactly why the government should legalize prostitution (and marijuana also)

Really, 174? What kind of slimeballs do you "date"? Are these homeless women? Anal is "practically guaranteed" if you take these women to a Broadway show? Either you're a stinking liar or you're picking up crack whores.

Anal is there for you if you just ask. I asked once, but didn't like the smell