Family of boy shot by Longueuil police ‘shocked’ by alleged interference in investigation

The lawyers for a family of a teen boy shot dead by Longueuil police said they were 'shocked' by allegations of interference in the investigation.

The legal team representing the family of a 15-year-old boy shot to death by a Longueuil police (SPAL) officer said they were “shocked” after learning about alleged interference during the police watchdog investigation.

Lawyer Fernando Belton told CTV News his team learned that SPAL officers allegedly waited over an hour and a half before contacting Quebec’s police watchdog, the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes (BEI), after Nooran Rezayi was shot on Sept. 21.

• A timeline of what happened after Longueuil police opened fire on a teenager

In addition, Belton said officers met with 16 witnesses.

Both actions are against protocol.

“We know that the BEI investigation is meant to be independent,” said Belton. “Independent means no one has to interfere with that investigation.”

BEI investigations are opened when a person, other than a police officer, “dies, suffers a serious injury or is injured by a firearm used by a police officer, during a police intervention or while in the custody of a police force.”

The vision statement on the BEI’s site reads, “Conduct each investigation rigorously and impartially to shed full light on an event, with respect for the people involved and in a way that maintains public trust.”

The Quebec Police Act says that the BEI must be informed “without delay of any occurrence,” or face a fine.

Belton said his team found out SPAL officers allegedly continued to lead investigations after the BEI case was opened, meeting with witnesses.

“Every protocol that’s been made in place to ensure transparency, to ensure independence, has not been respected, and this cannot be the way that we conduct investigations that are meant to be independent in Quebec,” he said.

Reminders for reporting

The Ligue des droits et libertés (LDL) is also denouncing the SPAL and its director, Patrick Bélanger, for the alleged interference, saying that the actions add “to a mountain of violations committed by police forces in Quebec concerning their legal and regulatory obligations since the BEI began operating in 2016, with complete impunity.”

The league is calling for sanctions against Longueuil police and the officers who broke protocol.

In addition, the league said that the BEI director “merely reminded the director of the SPAL of his obligations and copied the City of Longueuil on the correspondence,” but did not report the alleged breaches and obstructions to the Crown Prosecution Office (DPCP).

“Furthermore, the LDL is surprised that the director of the BEI wrote to the director of the SPAL on Nov. 25, stating that she was ‘aware that certain obligations related to the BEI and its mission are sometimes misunderstood’ and proposing a training session,” the league said.

“Need we remind you that police officers are not supposed to be ignorant of the law and are not above the law?”

“A veritable system of impunity has been established for police forces with regard to so-called independent investigations, where police officers break the law without being punished,” said LDL spokesperson Lynda Khelil.

‘You have to trust us’

The day after Reyazi was killed, BEI Director Brigitte Bishop urged people not to conduct their own investigations in the shooting’s aftermath.

“You have to trust us. We’re the ones who are doing the investigation. We’re an independent office. Our mission is to shed light on what happened, and that’s what we’re going to do,” she said.

“What the BEI is saying is trust us to make sure that we will get the truth, but the officers that are implicated in this shooting do not trust the BEI,” said Belton. “What we learned yesterday is not something to be taken lightly because when people are dying from police force, we want to make sure that the force that was used was used in a reasonable manner.”

The family’s $2.2 million lawsuit against the City of Longueuil and Longueuil police argues the force used to kill Rezayi was unreasonable, Belton added.

Longueuil mayor calls for investigation

Longueuil Mayor Catherine Fournier is also calling for an investigation into the SPAL’s handling of the case after learning about the alleged breaches of protocol.

She has asked Public Security Minister Ian Lafrenière, a former police officer who represents the riding of Vachon, which includes Longueuil, to order the investigation.

“Trust in our institutions is at the heart of my political commitment. In September, I called for transparency from the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes,” said Fournier in a news release.

Lafrenière said on X that he has “taken note” of the mayor’s request.

“We are analyzing the request to determine the follow-up actions that will be taken in coordination with the BEI and the DPCP so as not to interfere with the investigations that are already underway,” he said. “Just like the mayor, as the Minister of Public Security and the MNA for Vachon, I wish for light to be shed on the circumstances surrounding the triggering of the independent investigation.”

He said later during a news scrum that he was open to a hearing after the two that are open are concluded, but that it would be an administrative hearing and not a criminal one.