Simply over 5 months after police shot useless a 15-year-old boy on Montreal’s South Shore underneath circumstances which might be nonetheless unclear, Quebec’s impartial police watchdog submitted its report on the capturing to the province’s prosecution service.
Nooran Rezayi was killed by Longueuil police after they responded to a 911 name a couple of group of allegedly armed youth in a residential neighbourhood. The oversight company — Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes, or BEI — has stated the one gun seized on the scene belonged to the officer who shot the teenager. Police did seize a baseball bat, a backpack and ski masks, however no sharp-edged weapons.
The BEI’s report on the Sept. 21 capturing hasn’t been made public, but it surely comes after severe allegations that South Shore police allegedly acted inappropriately following the incident.
Paperwork from the BEI launched final 12 months say police waited too lengthy — 1 hour and 36 minutes — to tell the oversight company concerning the capturing loss of life, and through that point officers interviewed witnesses and tried to gather video footage. Longueuil police shouldn’t have been investigating the killing of a civilian by one among their very own officers, the watchdog stated.
Of their defence, Longueuil police have stated that each the delay and the officers’ actions have been cheap and justified given the circumstances.
The BEI investigates when a civilian is killed or critically injured throughout a police intervention. It will likely be as much as the prosecution service to resolve whether or not any costs are warranted towards the police officer who killed the boy. The watchdog says its report contains statements from law enforcement officials and witnesses in addition to bodily proof collected on the scene.
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“This report is confidential,” the watchdog stated in a information launch. “Consequently, no additional info obtained throughout the investigation will likely be launched by the BEI.” Two different knowledgeable stories aren’t prepared but and nonetheless should be delivered to the prosecutor’s workplace, the BEI added.
A spokesman for the prosecutor’s workplace, the Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales (DPCP), stated the Crown attorneys would wish a while to find out whether or not costs will likely be laid.
“The investigation file submitted right this moment is kind of in depth,” Crown spokesman Lucas Bastien stated.
“The prosecutors can nonetheless start their assessment of the file, however they should wait till they’ve all of the proof earlier than figuring out whether or not legal costs will likely be laid.”
Bastien added the case will likely be dealt with by prosecutors who don’t work with Longueuil police, to keep away from any look of battle of curiosity.
Rezayi’s household filed a $2.2-million civil lawsuit towards Longueuil police, saying the usage of drive towards {the teenager} was unreasonable and disproportionate. The allegations haven’t been examined in courtroom.
Legal professionals for the household introduced video in December to journalists indicating that photographs rang out solely 10 seconds after police arrived on the scene. The video footage got here from close by houses within the St-Hubert borough neighbourhood the place the capturing occurred.
Rezayi’s household has additionally stated authorities waited 5 hours earlier than informing them the teenager had died.
The authorized crew representing the Rezayi household stated Wednesday it was knowledgeable of the BEI’s submitting. “Many questions stay for the household, each relating to the sequence of occasions and the motive given to justify the deadly capturing, in addition to the next investigations,” the legal professionals stated in a press release.
“They may await the (prosecution service’s) determination and entry to the whole investigation.”
On Wednesday, Longueuil Mayor Catherine Fournier repeated her name for an impartial investigation into her metropolis’s police drive. She first made the request in December after she grew to become conscious of correspondence between the top of the BEI and Longueuil police about the way in which officers behaved after the capturing.
“My ideas proceed to be with Nooran’s household and family members,” Fournier wrote in a press release. “Now that the BEI investigation is formally full, I additionally urge the minister of public safety, Ian Lafrenière, to right away launch the investigation.”
Lafrenière stated Wednesday he has dedicated to an administrative inquiry and stated as soon as the DPCP has what it wants, it is going to be launched.
“I reiterate that finally, if the reality isn’t uncovered, I’ve dedicated to launching a public inquiry,” Lafrenière stated in a press release.
Montreal police are conducting a parallel investigation into the occasions that led to Longueuil police being referred to as on the group of younger folks. The request for the parallel probe got here from the BEI, two days after the deadly capturing.
Montreal police carried out a number of searches final month on the South Shore associated to their investigation.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed March 11, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press