Lépine then separated the nine women from the approximately fifty men and ordered the men to leave. 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, "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. Before leaving the room, he wrote the word ""shit"" twice on a student project.