The surveillance cameras caught it all. Yesterday at 6:30 p.m., Shane Tamura stepped out of his BMW at 345 Park Avenue, carrying an M4 rifle across the Manhattan plaza like he was heading to a boardroom meeting. He walked past the glass façade, through the revolving doors, and into a building that had everything security experts recommend: uniformed police officers, professional guards, controlled access points.
Within thirty minutes, four people were dead, including NYPD officer Didarul Islam — a father of two with another child on the way. According to the Associated Press, Tamura had been targeting the NFL headquarters but took the wrong elevator, instead shooting his way through the building before killing himself on the 33rd floor.
For Canadian HR professionals watching this unfold, the Manhattan incident exposes an uncomfortable truth: traditional security measures, even robust ones like having a cop on-site, cannot prevent workplace violence without comprehensive prevention strategies that address root causes before they explode into headlines.
Canada’s hard-earned lessons in prevention
We learned this truth through our own tragedies. I’ve been around long enough to cover some of the worst episodes of workplace violence on Canadian soil. On April 6, 1999, Pierre Lebrun walked into the OC Transpo garage in Ottawa with a high-powered rifle, shouting “It’s judgment day!” before killing four colleagues and wounding two others.
The subsequent inquest revealed an “atmosphere of bullying” and a “poisoned environment” where Lebrun’s complaints about harassment over his speech impediment had been ignored by management.
Three years later in Kamloops, B.C., Richard Anderson received a disciplinary letter on Oct. 15, 2002, went home to retrieve a handgun, and returned to shoot his supervisor and a colleague before taking his own life. The coroner’s inquest found that Anderson had made comments about reacting violently if fired, but employee complaints weren’t taken seriously and there was no mechanism to address potential violence threats.
These incidents — along with workplace shootings at Canada Post facilities and other sites — catalyzed a uniquely Canadian approach to workplace violence prevention. Unlike our American neighbours, who focus heavily on active shooter response, our legislation emphasizes early intervention, workplace culture transformation, and employer accountability.
The statistics tell the story of two different approaches: While the United States experiences nearly 50 workplace shootings annually, Canada sees perhaps one every two years. According to FBI data, 30% of U.S. mass shootings between 1966 and 2021 occurred at workplaces. In Canada, workplace violence more commonly manifests as harassment and threats — with over 70% of Canadian workers experiencing some form of workplace harassment or violence, according to recent surveys.
The Canadian legislative response
Canada’s workplace violence prevention framework emerged directly from our tragic experiences. Bill C-65, which came into force in 2021, requires all federally regulated employers to implement comprehensive harassment and violence prevention programs, including mandatory risk assessments every three years, designated recipients for reports, and detailed incident documentation.
Ontario’s Bill 168 broke new ground by addressing domestic violence as a workplace safety issue — the first jurisdiction worldwide to do so. Provincial legislation across Canada now requires employers to assess workplace violence risks, develop prevention policies, and investigate incidents promptly.
The legal framework creates a “general duty of care” that goes far beyond compliance checklists. Employers must take “every precaution reasonable in the circumstances” to protect workers, creating both moral imperatives and significant liability exposure for organizations that fail to implement adequate prevention measures.
Beyond guards and cameras: comprehensive prevention strategies
The Manhattan shooter bypassed armed security because he represented the type of threat traditional measures can’t stop: an individual in acute crisis who has moved beyond rational deterrence. Plus, he had a high-powered weapon. By that point, all the policy in the world is useless.
Effective workplace violence prevention requires addressing the pathway to violence before someone reaches that point.
Threat assessment teams represent what I believe to be the gold standard for Canadian organizations. These multidisciplinary groups — including HR, security, mental health professionals, and legal counsel — use structured tools like the Workplace Assessment of Violence Risk (WAVR-21) to evaluate concerning behavior systematically. Rather than relying on gut instincts, these teams assess 21 evidence-based risk factors to determine appropriate interventions.
Early warning systems focus on behavioral changes that precede violence: increased absenteeism, difficulty accepting criticism, social isolation, deteriorating job performance, and expressions of grievance or persecution. The key insight from Canadian incidents is that workplace violence rarely occurs without observable warning signs — if someone is trained to recognize them. Though the story becomes more complicated when, like in the Manhattan shooting, the threat is external and drove literally across the country to cause mayhem.
Cultural interventions address the root causes revealed in our tragic cases. The OC Transpo inquest found that workplace harassment and toxic cultures create conditions where violence becomes more likely. Organizations that invest in respectful workplace training, conflict resolution, and psychological safety see significant reductions in all forms of workplace aggression.
The technology factor
Modern prevention increasingly relies on sophisticated technology that goes far beyond traditional security cameras. AI-powered video analytics can now identify aggressive behavior, drawn weapons, and unusual movement patterns in real-time, transforming existing surveillance infrastructure into proactive threat detection systems.
Mass notification systems enable instant communication across multiple channels — mobile apps, desktop alerts, PA systems, and digital signage — reaching all employees within seconds during emergencies. These platforms integrate with access control systems to automatically lock down facilities and guide evacuation procedures.
Anonymous reporting systems remove barriers that prevent employees from raising concerns about threatening behavior. Mobile apps and web portals allow workers to report incidents confidentially, while AI-powered natural language processing can identify escalating patterns across multiple reports.
The evidence-based top 10
Drawing from Canadian experiences, expert research, and proven best practices, HR professionals should consider implementing these core prevention strategies. Some of these will be tough for smaller organizations, but if you’re in an office complex? Building management has a role to play as well to ensure the safety of all tenants.
1. Establish multidisciplinary threat assessment teams with representatives from HR, security, mental health, and legal, using structured assessment tools like WAVR-21 to evaluate concerning behavior systematically rather than relying on subjective impressions.
2. Implement comprehensive violence prevention policies that cover all forms of harassment, threats, and domestic violence spillover, with clear reporting procedures and consequences that are consistently enforced across all organizational levels.
3. Deploy modern emergency communication systems including mass notification platforms and panic button applications that can reach all employees within 60 seconds and automatically coordinate with emergency services and building security systems.
4. Create systematic termination and discipline protocols that include formal risk assessments for high-risk situations, mandatory consultation with qualified professionals, and post-termination security measures when indicated by threat assessment teams.
5. Develop extensive employee training programs covering threat recognition, de-escalation techniques, emergency response protocols, and legal reporting obligations, with annual refresher training and documented completion tracking for compliance purposes.
6. Upgrade physical security with smart access controls, AI-powered video analytics for existing cameras, improved lighting, controlled entry points, and secure areas designated for emergency shelter during critical incidents.
7. Build robust workplace culture programs emphasizing respect, inclusion, and early conflict resolution through Employee Assistance Programs, diversity initiatives, regular climate assessments, and peer support networks that address root causes of workplace aggression.
8. Establish comprehensive investigation procedures with multiple confidential reporting channels, protection against retaliation, prompt and thorough investigation protocols, and documentation that meets legal requirements for incident tracking and analysis.
9. Create detailed emergency response protocols including “Run, Hide, Fight” training adapted for Canadian contexts, regular evacuation drills, coordination with local law enforcement, and post-incident trauma support services for affected employees.
10. Implement continuous monitoring and improvement through regular risk assessments, incident trend analysis, policy updates based on lessons learned, and staying current with emerging technologies and evolving best practices in violence prevention.
