École Polytechnique massacre
Marc Lépine opened fire at École Polytechnique on December 6, 1989. He killed six women and wounded three others before turning the gun on himself. At the time, the incident was the deadliest mass shooting in Canadian history. The incident led to more stringent gun control laws in Canada.
About École Polytechnique massacre in brief
On December 6, 1989, Marc Lépine entered a mechanical engineering class at the École Polytechnique and ordered the women and men to opposite sides of the classroom. He shot at all nine women in the room, killing six. He then moved through corridors, the cafeteria, and another classroom, targeting women for just under 20 minutes. He killed a further eight before turning the gun on himself. At the time, the incident was the deadliest mass shooting in Canadian history. The anniversary of the massacre has been commemorated as the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. The incident led to more stringent gun control laws in Canada. It also introduced changes in the tactical response of police to shootings, which were later credited with minimizing casualties during the Dawson College shooting. In a search for a rationale since the attack, there have been debates over various interpretations of the events, their significance, and Lé Pine’s motives. Many characterize the massacre as an anti-feminist attack representative of wider societal violence against women. Others suggest that the massacre was simply the isolated act of a madman, unrelated to larger social issues. Still other commentators have blamed violence in the media and increasing poverty, isolation, and alienation in society, particularly in immigrant communities. In the weeks leading up to the massacre, Lé pine had been in and around the building at least seven times in the weeks prior to December 6. He had purchased the rifle less than a month earlier on November 21 in a Checkmate Sports store in Montreal.
He told the clerk that he was going to use it to hunt small game. He was seen rummaging through a plastic bag in the office of the registrar on the second floor for a while. He left the office and was subsequently seen in other parts of the building before entering a second-floor mechanical engineeringclass of about sixty students at about 5: 10 p.m. He asked the remaining women whether they knew why they were there, and when one student replied, ‘No,\’ he answered, ‘I am fighting feminism’ He then opened fire on the students from left to right, killing 6, and wounding three others, including Nathalie Provost. He wrote the word ‘Feminism’ twice on his project. He tried to shoot a female student entering another room where he twice attempted to shoot his weapon. He went down the next-floor staircase to the first-floor cafeteria, where he shot and killed Maryse Laganière, who had just locked the door to the kitchen. He later shot and wounded a woman standing near the kitchens and another woman standing in a crowd in which he had just opened the door. He failed to reload his gun and returned to the room where the students had just left, but the door had been locked. The students had left the door locked, but he failed to unlock it with three shots fired into the door; he then moved towards the financial services office where he killed one, wounding one, and wounded one, before moving towards the cafeteria.
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