École Polytechnique massacre

The École Polytechnique massacre (French: tuerie de l'École polytechnique), also known as the Montreal massacre, was a mass shooting that occurred on December 6, 1989, at the École Polytechnique de Montréal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Fourteen women were murdered in the misogynistic, antifeminist attack; another ten women and four men were injured. Among the injured was eventual gun control advocate and politician Nathalie Provost.

On December 6, 1989, Marc Lépine, armed with a legally-obtained semi-automatic rifle and a hunting knife, entered a mechanical engineering class at the École Polytechnique. He ordered the women to one side of the classroom, and instructed the men to leave. After claiming that he was "fighting feminism," he shot all nine women in the room, killing six. The shooter then moved through corridors, the cafeteria, and another classroom, specifically targeting women to shoot for just under 20 minutes. He killed a further eight women before turning the gun on himself. It was the deadliest mass shooting in Canada until the 2020 Nova Scotia attacks.

After the attack, Canadians debated various interpretations of the events, their significance, and the shooter’s motives. The massacre is now widely regarded as an anti-feminist attack and representative of wider societal violence against women; the anniversary of the massacre is commemorated as the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

The incident led to more stringent gun control laws in Canada, and increased action to end violence against women. It also resulted in changes in emergency services protocols to shootings, including immediate, active intervention by police. These changes were later credited with minimizing casualties during incidents in Montreal and elsewhere.