Where were you?

[carly_kai]

19 years ago gunman Marc Lepine confronts 60 engineering students during their class at l'École Polytechnique in Montreal on Dec. 6, 1989.

He separates the men from the women and tells the men to leave the classroom, threatening them with his .22-calibre rifle. The enraged man begins a shooting rampage that spreads to three floors and several classrooms, jumping from desk to desk while female students cower below. He roams the corridors yelling, "I want women."

Before opening fire in the engineering class, he calls the women "une gang de féministes" and says "J'haïs les féministes [I hate feminists]." One person pleads that they are not feminists, just students taking engineering. But the gunman doesn't listen.

He shoots 14 women women and then kills himself. Almost immediately, the Montreal Massacre became a galvanizing moment in which mourning turned into outrage about all violence against women.

December 6 has officially become known as the national day of commemoration and action against violence against women.

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