The OC Transpo Incident

1
The OC Transpo Incident

• Timeline
• July 1994
• Lebrun is diagnosed as paranoid by his doctor
• Sometime in 1997
• Lebrun takes course to help with speech
  impediment
• August 1997
• Lebrun punches co-worker. He is moved to another
  work site and forced to take an anger management
  course.

2
The OC Transpo Incident

• Timeline
• March 1999
• Lebrun writes in diary that union officials were
  following him while he was on vacation
• April 6, 1999
• Lebrun kills co-workers and self.

3
The OC Transpo Incident

• Psychology
• Question
• What factors in his personality caused him to
  commit the crime?
• Assumption
• personality is shaped by a combination of
  biological factors and prior life experiences
• Explanation
• It appears that Lebrun was suffering from a
  mental illness characterized by growing feelings
  of paranoia and persecution.

4
The OC Transpo Incident

• Sociology
• Question
• What common factors are there in the lives of
  people who have gone on shooting sprees at their
  former place of work?
• Assumption
• an individuals acts can only be explained when
  they are compared with the acts of similar
  individuals
• Explanation
• Like others who have committed similar acts of
  violence, Lebrun was a loner, had anger
  management issues, was unpopular with fellow
  workers, experienced much frustration and poor
  self-esteem and had access to a weapon.

5
The OC Transpo Incident

• Anthropology
• Question
• What were the values of the cultures in which
  Lebrun grew up and later worked?
• Assumption
• there are factors in the wider Canadian culture
  and in the particular culture at OC Transpo that
  influenced the tragic shooting spree.

6
The OC Transpo Incident

• Anthropology
• Explanation
• Canadians are inundated with scenes of violence
  in sports, the media, etc. The atmosphere at OC
  Transpo featured considerable hostility,
  aggressions, and low morale. The prevailing
  culture was somewhat aggressive and
  male-oriented. Lebrun endured much harsh
  criticism and ridicule and fought back with
  violence.

7
The OC Transpo Incident

• Which of the approaches to the incident to you
  believe provides the most convincing explanation?
• Psychology
• Sociology
• Anthropology
• Be prepared to defend your answer.