6 dec 1989--ecole polytechnique (montreal) massacre

[niyad]

École Polytechnique massacre

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mtl_dec6_plaque.jpg


The École Polytechnique Massacre, also known as the Montreal Massacre, occurred on December 6, 1989 at the École Polytechnique in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Twenty-five-year-old Marc Lépine, armed with a legally obtained Mini-14 rifle and a hunting knife, shot twenty-eight people before killing himself. He began his attack by entering a classroom at the university, where he separated the male and female students. After claiming that he was "fighting feminism", he shot all nine women in the room, killing six. He then moved through corridors, the cafeteria, and another classroom, specifically targeting women to shoot. Overall, he killed fourteen women and injured ten other women and four men in just under twenty minutes before turning the gun on himself.[1][2] Lépine was the son of a French-Canadian mother and an Algerian father, and had been physically abused by his father. His suicide note claimed political motives and blamed feminists for ruining his life. The note included a list of nineteen Quebec women whom Lépine considered to be feminists and apparently wished to kill.[3]

Since the attack, Canadians have debated various interpretations of the events, their significance, and Lépine's motives. Many feminist groups and public officials have characterized the massacre as an anti-feminist attack that is representative of wider societal violence against women.[4][5][6] Consequently, the anniversary of the massacre has since been commemorated as the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. Other interpretations emphasize Lépine's abuse as a child or suggest that the massacre was simply the isolated act of a madman, unrelated to larger social issues.[7][8] Still other commentators have blamed violence in the media[9] and increasing poverty, isolation, and alienation in society,[10] particularly in immigrant communities.[11]

The incident led to more stringent gun control laws in Canada.[12] It also introduced changes in the tactical response of police to shootings, which were later credited with minimizing casualties at the Dawson College shootings.[13]

Massacre

Sometime after 4 p.m. on December 6, 1989, Marc Lépine arrived at the building housing the École Polytechnique, an engineering school affiliated with the Université de Montréal, armed with a semi-automatic rifle and a hunting knife.[1] He had purchased the Sturm, Ruger brand rifle, Mini-14 model, on November 21, 1989 in a Checkmate Sports store in Montreal, telling the clerk that he was going to use it to hunt small game.[14] Lépine was familiar with the layout of the building since he had been in and around the École Polytechnique at least seven times in the weeks leading up to the event.[1
Lépine sat for a time in the office of the registrar on the second floor. He was seen rummaging through a plastic bag and did not speak to anyone, even when a staff member asked if she could help him. He left the office and was subsequently seen in other parts of the building before entering a second floor mechanical engineering class of about sixty students at about 5:10 p.m.[1] After approaching the student giving a presentation, he asked everyone to stop everything and ordered the women and men to opposite sides of the classroom. No one moved at first, believing it to be a joke until he fired a shot into the ceiling.[15]

Lépine then separated the nine women from the approximately fifty men and ordered the men to leave.[9] Speaking in French, he asked the remaining women whether they knew why they were there, and when one student replied "no," he answered: "I am fighting feminism". One of the students, Nathalie Provost, said, "Look, we are just women studying engineering, not necessarily feminists ready to march on the streets to shout we are against men, just students intent on leading a normal life." Lépine responded that "You're women, you're going to be engineers. You're all a bunch of feminists. I hate feminists." He then opened fire on the students from left to right, killing six, and wounding three others, including Provost.[1][3] Before leaving the room, he wrote the word shit twice on a student project.[9]
Lépine continued into the second floor corridor and wounded three students before entering another room where he twice attempted to shoot a female student. His weapon failed to fire so he entered the emergency staircase where he was seen reloading his gun. He returned to the room he had just left, but the students had locked the door; Lépine failed to unlock it with three shots fired into the door. Moving along the corridor he shot at others, wounding one, before moving towards the financial services office where he shot and killed a woman through the window of the door she had just locked.[1]

He next went down to the first floor cafeteria, in which about a hundred people were gathered. The crowd scattered after he shot a woman standing near the kitchens and wounded another student. Entering an unlocked storage area at the end of the cafeteria, Lépine shot and killed two more women hiding there. He told a male and female student to come out from under a table; they complied and were not shot.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89cole_Polytechnique_massacre



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Flowers sit in front of the memorial plaque at the Ecole Polytechnique on the 22nd anniversary of the Montreal massacre, Tuesday, December 6, 2011 in Montreal.


Canadians mark 24 years since massacre at Montreal’s École Polytechnique
By Staff The Canadian Press



Vigils will be held across Canada Friday to mark the 24th anniversary of the massacre at Montreal’s École Polytechnique.

On this day in 1989, gunman Marc Lepine walked into the engineering school and murdered 14 women and shot and injured ten more women and four men before taking his own life.

“While we will never fully understand this atrocity, our government is committed to helping ensure that it does not happen again by making our streets and communities safe for women, girls and all Canadians,” said Prime Minister Stephen Harper in a statement Friday. “As we continue to work to eliminate violence against women, let us remember and commemorate the lives of all women who have been victims of gender-based violence.”

Annual vigils are a reminder that much work remains to be done so women are no longer the victims of violence.

In Montreal, women’s groups will hold a ceremony to mark the end of a 12-day Quebec campaign to eliminate violence against women.

http://globalnews.ca/news/1013888/canadians-mark-24-years-since-montreals-ecole-polytechnique-massacre/