The head of Quebec’s police watchdog said investigators recovered only one firearm from the scene where a police officer shot and killed a 15-year-old on Sunday — the officer’s service weapon.
At a rare media conference on Tuesday morning, Brigitte Bishop, the head of the police watchdog agency known as the BEI, insisted her bureau will investigate the shooting death of Nooran Rezay impartially and asked the public to co-operate with investigators.
“I can assure you that our bureau is independent,” she said. “We are impartial and our mission is to cast light on the events. To do that we need the most rigorous evidence so we don’t want people to meet [each other and discuss] or alter evidence. So if people saw anything, I repeat, communicate with the BEI.”
Though Bishop declined to answer most questions about the evidence so far gathered by investigators, providing few new details to the events that led to the teenager’s death, she did say investigators had recovered ski masks, a baseball bat and a backpack at the scene.
But she also said officers recovered only one gun and it was the one used by an officer to shoot Rezay. Her comments suggested there was no other gun present at the scene. She did not say who was in possession of the baseball bat.
Preliminary information provided by the BEI on Monday indicated that officers in the South Shore city of Longueuil responded to a 911 call reporting armed individuals moving through a public place. On Tuesday, Bishop said the initial information given to police indicated the individuals wore masks.
Officers arrived to the corner of Joseph-Daigneault and Monaco streets just before 3 p.m., and, according to an eyewitness, shouted “stop” twice to a group of teens.
Then, an officer fired two bullets, according to the eyewitness, Johnny Inthisone.
He said the shooting happened “in two seconds, not even,” and that the officer shot the 15-year-old “far too quickly,” barely interacting with him at all before firing two bullets.
WATCH | Grieving family speaks after teen boy’s death:
Sadness and anger in Longueuil, Que., after 15-year-old fatally shot by police
Quebec’s police watchdog, the BEI, is investigating after a 15-year-old boy was shot and killed by Longueuil police on Sunday.
Bishop’s Tuesday update was an unusual step by the BEI, which normally releases minimal preliminary information when launching an investigation and remains tightlipped until its work is complete.
Speaking with reporters on Monday, the teen’s family and friends described him as a kind, gentle boy who wasn’t violent and had only been carrying a school bag containing books when he was shot.
Nooran attended André-Laurendeau high school, located about two kilometres from the scene of the shooting.
“We need justice,” Nooran’s father, Sharif Rezay, told reporters on Monday.
Police cars swarmed the scene on Sunday after a teen was fatally shot during a police intervention in Longueuil, Que. (Pascal Girard/Radio-Canada)
The BEI investigates incidents where people are injured or killed during police interventions.
The watchdog initially assigned five investigators to the case. On Tuesday, Bishop said that total has been bumped up to 15. Montreal police are also assisting the investigation, Bishop said, having provided a drone and other forms of investigative assistance.
Bishop said investigators have spoken with numerous witnesses and have gathered seven videos of the incident which are currently being analyzed by forensics teams.