The mayor of Longueuil, Que., is asking the Quebec government to investigate police actions in the aftermath of a fatal police shooting involving a 15-year-old boy.
Mayor Catherine Fournier says she took the exceptional decision to ask Public Security Minister Ian Lafrenière to intervene after she reviewed what she described as very serious information last month regarding police actions following the shooting of 15-year-old Nooran Rezayi.
The letters were exchanged between Brigitte Bishop, head of the police watchdog, the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes, and Longueuil’s police chief, Patrick Bélanger, and released by the city on Thursday.
The letters indicate that police took more than 90 minutes after the shooting before informing the watchdog what happened and that officers continued to question witnesses at the scene, contrary to the rules they were supposed to follow.
“These letters reveal several alleged breaches of (Longueuil police’s) legal and regulatory obligations in the events following the tragic death of Nooran Rezayi on September 21, following a police shooting,” the city’s statement said.
The watchdog’s rules of conduct are also enshrined in the Police Act, which state an independent investigation must be conducted if a person, other than an on-duty police officer, dies or is seriously injured by a firearm used by a police officer during an intervention or while in custody.
According to the act, the director of the police force involved in such an incident “must inform the Bureau without delay.”
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Per the watchdog’s own information, the shooting took place about 2:58 p.m. and the agency started its own probe at 4:54 p.m.
One of the letters, sent by Bishop and dated Nov. 5, noted that the police force only informed the watchdog about the incident at 4:34 p.m., after officers spoke to witnesses on the scene.
Bélanger responded on Nov. 11, suggesting that the rules do not require police to inform the watchdog “immediately,” instead suggesting that they should give notice at “the first reasonable opportunity.”
He also said police officers remained on scene to provide care to the person who was shot, as well as to ensure that there was no additional public safety threat.
He said police also received a call at 3:26 p.m. a few kilometres away about a potentially armed youth, leading them to believe there was a link. He said it required “rapid action” to completely take control of both scenes to ensure they were safe for both police and members of the public.
Under the circumstances, Bélanger wrote that the delay was “reasonable and justified.”
But Bishop rejected his assessment in a subsequent letter, dated Nov. 25, noting that a police officer signalled at 3:01 p.m., that there were no additional suspects.
She also noted that the police continued collecting witness statements until 6:22 p.m., after the watchdog had started its investigation.
“In this context, I am startled by your statement that you were not concerned about the time elapsed before giving notice to the BEI, even though, in similar situations, the average time is 33 minutes.”
Fournier notes that the city cannot interfere in police operations and that the only legal option her administration could take, under the Police Act, was to send the letter to Lafrenière to request a probe.
In a message posted on social media, Lafrenière said the government was reviewing her request.
On Tuesday, Rezayi’s family announced it was launching a $2.2-million lawsuit against the City of Longueuil.
Video presented at a news conference by the family and their lawyers show Rezayi was shot within 10 seconds of police parking their police cruiser on the scene.
“They killed my child for nothing,” Fahima Rezayi, the boy’s mother, told reporters.
“Why was this officer in such a hurry to fire two bullets at Nooran without even taking the time to think? He didn’t even give him five seconds to lie down.”
The family has said that police waited more than five hours to tell them about the shooting.
A Longueuil police officer involved in the shooting was placed on “indefinite sick leave.”
Fournier said the sequence of events must be fully investigated. The police actions are already being investigated by the watchdog while Montreal police have launched a parallel criminal investigation in connection with the shooting.
“Trust in our institutions is at the heart of my political commitment,” Fournier said.
She called for transparency from the police watchdog in September and on Thursday, she said the same transparency must apply to Longueuil police.
“The sequence of events must be fully investigated to preserve the organization’s credibility and to identify the sources of any shortcomings,” Fournier said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 11, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press