Quebec watchdog submits report into police shooting of 15-year-old Nooran Rezayi

MONTREAL — Just over five months after police shot dead a 15-year-old boy on Montreal’s South Shore under circumstances that are still unclear, Quebec’s independent police watchdog submitted its report on the shooting to the province’s prosecution service.

Nooran Rezayi was killed by Longueuil police after they responded to a 911 call about a group of allegedly armed youth in a residential neighbourhood. The oversight agency — Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes, or BEI — has said the only gun seized at the scene belonged to the officer who shot the teen. Police did seize a baseball bat, a backpack and ski masks, but no sharp-edged weapons.

The BEI’s report on the Sept. 21 shooting hasn’t been made public, but it comes after serious allegations that South Shore police allegedly acted inappropriately following the incident.

Documents from the BEI released last year say police waited too long — 1 hour and 36 minutes — to inform the oversight agency about the shooting death, and during that time officers interviewed witnesses and tried to collect video footage. Longueuil police should not have been investigating the killing of a civilian by one of their own officers, the watchdog said.

In their defence, Longueuil police have said that both the delay and the officers’ actions were reasonable and justified given the circumstances.

The BEI investigates when a civilian is killed or seriously injured during a police intervention. It will be up to the prosecution service to decide whether any charges are warranted against the police officer who killed the boy. The watchdog says its report includes statements from police officers and witnesses as well as physical evidence collected at the scene.

“This report is confidential,” the watchdog said in a news release. “Consequently, no further information obtained during the investigation will be released by the BEI.” Two other expert reports are not ready yet and still need to be delivered to the prosecutor’s office, the BEI added.

A spokesman for the prosecutor’s office, the Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales (DPCP), said the Crown attorneys would need some time to determine whether charges will be laid.

“The investigation file submitted today is quite extensive,” Crown spokesman Lucas Bastien said.

“The prosecutors can still begin their review of the file, but they will have to wait until they have all the evidence before determining whether criminal charges will be laid.”

Bastien added the case will be handled by prosecutors who do not work with Longueuil police, to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest.

Rezayi’s family filed a $2.2-million civil lawsuit against Longueuil police, saying the use of force against the teenager was unreasonable and disproportionate. The allegations have not been tested in court.

Lawyers for the family presented video in December to journalists indicating that shots rang out only 10 seconds after police arrived at the scene. The video footage came from nearby homes in the St-Hubert borough neighbourhood where the shooting occurred.

Rezayi’s family has also said authorities waited five hours before informing them the teen had died.

The legal team representing the Rezayi family said Wednesday it was informed of the BEI’s filing. “Many questions remain for the family, both regarding the sequence of events and the motive given to justify the fatal shooting, as well as the subsequent investigations,” the lawyers said in a statement.

“They will await the (prosecution service’s) decision and access to the entire investigation.”

On Wednesday, Longueuil Mayor Catherine Fournier repeated her call for an independent investigation into her city’s police force. She first made the request in December after she became aware of correspondence between the head of the BEI and Longueuil police about the way officers behaved after the shooting.

“My thoughts continue to be with Nooran’s family and loved ones,” Fournier wrote in a statement. “Now that the BEI investigation is officially complete, I also urge the minister of public security, Ian Lafrenière, to immediately launch the investigation.”

Lafrenière said Wednesday he has committed to an administrative inquiry and said once the DPCP has what it needs, it will be launched.

“I reiterate that ultimately, if the truth is not uncovered, I have committed to launching a public inquiry,” Lafrenière said in a statement.

Montreal police are conducting a parallel investigation into the events that led to Longueuil police being called on the group of young people. The request for the parallel probe came from the BEI, two days after the fatal shooting.

Montreal police carried out several searches last month on the South Shore related to their investigation.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2026.

Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press