A 15-year-old boy has died after being shot during a police operation on Sunday in Longueuil.
Quebec’s police watchdog, the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes (BEI), is investigating the fatal shooting of Nooran Rezayi on Montreal’s South Shore.
Friends of the teen, who were not at the scene at the time of the shooting, told CTV News they are in “disbelief.”
“It was really tragic. I was just crying. I didn’t know if it was real or not. I thought it was fake or that it wasn’t Nooran. I couldn’t imagine that it was Nooran, my long-time friend, dead or shot,” said 15-year-old Karim Rashwan.
Rashwan described Rezayi as a “generous person with a big heart.”
The teen was a student at André-Laurendeau Secondary School, which is part of the Marie-Victorin School Service Centre. The centre confirmed the death.
The shooting took place Sunday afternoon, after a 911 call about a group of allegedly armed people in a public place.
Longueuil police (SPAL) responded to the call at Joseph-Daigneault and Monaco streets. The bureau said it was notified after the incident.
“Police officers reportedly arrived on the scene at approximately 2:58 p.m. and made contact with members of the group,” the BEI noted. “During the intervention, one person was reportedly shot by police.”
Neighbours reported hearing gunshots at the time of the police intervention.
Rashwan said friends texted him to tell him the news.
“He always made us laugh. He was always with us. He was always here. This is where he grew up. And to think he was shot where he grew up is kind of crazy,” said Rashwan.
Another friend, Mehdi Alami, said his mother broke the news that Rezayi had died.
“He was like a brother to me. We grew up together,” Alami said. “He was not a troublemaker. He was a good boy. He was always laughing. Helping people. Just a regular teenager.”
Alami said he last spoke to Rezayi on the morning of the shooting, when they had made plans to meet later in the day.
Two people who live in the neighbourhood and asked to remain anonymous told The Canadian Press that on Sunday afternoon, dozens of teenagers dressed in black and wearing masks walked through the area.
When asked what they were doing in the neighbourhood, the youths reportedly said they were about to film a video in the nearby woods.
One of the people interviewed by The Canadian Press said that a few minutes after this exchange, gunshots rang out, and they saw a bloodied teenager lying in the street.
Because the incident involved a police officer, the BEI was called to investigate the circumstances.
“First aid was administered to the person by police officers at the scene until paramedics arrived,” the bureau stated. “The person was pronounced dead at the hospital.”
Five BEI investigators, with support from Montreal police (SPVM), have been assigned to the case.
The BEI is asking anyone who may have witnessed the incident to reach out online.
