GREEN BAY, Wis. -- An online weapons dealer who sold guns and accessories to those who carried out massacres at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University also sold accessories to a man who killed three women and wounded nine other people at a Pittsburgh-area health club.
TGSCOM Inc. last year sold an empty Glock 9 mm magazine and magazine loading apparatus to George Sodini, who shot up a Collier Township, Pa., health club Tuesday. TGSCOM owner Eric Thompson said yesterday that the sale was legal and his company did nothing wrong.
It was not immediately clear if Sodini used the accessories during his attack. Sodini fatally shot himself after the attack.
Seung-Hui Cho used a .22-caliber handgun bought from TGSCOM in his attack at Virginia Tech in April 2007, in which 32 people were killed. Stephen Kazmierczak, who killed five people in an NIU classroom before killing himself in February 2008, bought two empty 9 mm Glock magazines and a Glock holster through a TGSCOM site.
Thompson's company is based in Green Bay.
Thompson visited the Virginia Tech campus after the attack to support a local chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus. And after the NIU attack, he said the Web site Kazmierczak visited saw a spike in traffic.
Andrew Goddard of Richmond, whose son Colin was shot and wounded at Virginia Tech, said Thompson "needs to have some sort of social responsibility."
"I take issue on the basic principle that he's selling something that doesn't have a legitimate use outside of stalking and killing people," Goddard said.
Someone who wants to buy a gun from an online site must first find a licensed firearms dealer in their home state who will receive it and conduct the proper background checks. The local dealers earn a fee for processing paperwork and conducting background checks.
Thompson said the company complies with all state and federal laws.
Thompson said attacks like Tuesday's underscore the need for people to protect themselves because police can't respond in time to crises, he said.
"This story should be about the victims and the tragedy and how to prevent things like this in the future," Thompson said.
"This guy was a sick individual with stunted social skills and a hatred of women, the worst kind of person," he said. He told The Associated Press by phone that it's unfortunate "crazies and mad men catch all the news" but they could just as well shop at Wal-Mart.
Sodini did not have a criminal record, and he legally bought the guns he used, police said.
The funerals for two of the victims will be held today, and a third will be held Wednesday. Killed were Heidi Overmier, 46, of Carnegie; Jody Billingsley, 37, of Mount Lebanon; and Elizabeth Gannon, 49, of Pittsburgh.
Hundreds of mourners gathered at a funeral home yesterday to pay respects to Overmier and Gannon, whose bodies were in separate rooms across the hall from each other. The Rev. Ed Saxson, Overmier's former pastor, called on churches to reach out to the "George Sodinis of the world . . . before they reach such a stage of hopelessness that this becomes their out."
Four of the women wounded in the shooting rampage remain hospitalized.
Two are listed in fair condition at Allegheny General Hospital. Two other women are being treated at UPMC Mercy Hospital. One remained in serious condition yesterday, while the other is listed as fair.
Police say Sodini didn't know the victims.
In a chilling diary posted on the Internet, he complained that he hadn't had a girlfriend since 1984 and hadn't slept with a woman in 19 years. The online diary revealed that he felt ignored by women and had an "exit plan" to avenge his rage.
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