Marc Lépine

Marc Lépine (French: [maʁk lepin]; born Gamil Rodrigue Liass Gharbi; October 26, 1964 – December 6, 1989) was a Canadian mass murderer. On December 6, 1989, he murdered fourteen women and wounded another ten women and four men at École Polytechnique de Montréal, in what is known as the École Polytechnique massacre.

Lépine was born in Montreal, Quebec to French Canadian nurse Monique Lépine and Algerian businessman Rachid Gharbi. Gharbi was abusive towards and contemptuous of women. After his parents separated when he was seven, his mother returned to nursing to support her children; Lépine was seven at the time. Lépine and his younger sister lived with other families who cared for them during the week, only seeing their mother on weekends. Lépine was considered bright but withdrawn, and he had difficulties with peer and family relationships. At the age of 14, he legally changed his name, giving "hatred of his father" as the reason.

Lépine's application to the Canadian Forces was rejected. In 1982 he began a science program at a college, switching to a more technical program after one year. In 1986 he dropped out of the course in his final term, and was subsequently fired from his job at a hospital due to his poor attitude. Lépine began a computer programming course in 1988, and again abandoned it before completion. He twice applied for admission to the École Polytechnique, but lacked two required compulsory courses.

Lépine had long complained about women working in "non-traditional" jobs. After several months of planning, including the legal purchase of a Ruger Mini-14, he entered the École Polytechnique on the afternoon of December 6, 1989, separated the men from the women in a classroom, and shot the women, while yelling, "I hate feminists". He said he was "fighting feminism". He moved into other parts of the building, targeting women, before fatally shooting himself. His suicide note blamed feminists for ruining his life.

Lépine's actions have been variously ascribed from a psychiatric perspective with diagnoses such as a personality disorder, psychosis, or attachment disorder, noting societal factors such as poverty, isolation, powerlessness, and violence in the media. The massacre is regarded by criminologists as an example of a hate crime against women. Feminists and government officials considered it a misogynist attack and an example of the larger issue of a high frequency of violence against women. December 6 is now observed in Canada as a National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.