Montreal Police Charge 11 Over Events Before Fatal Shooting of Teenager Nooran Rezayi

Hundreds of people pass by a memorial for Nooran Rezayi, in Longueuil, Que., on Sept. 27, 2025. The Canadian Press/Peter McCabeMontreal police say 11 people are facing charges in connection with alleged events preceding the death of a 15-year-old boy who was fatally shot by Longueuil police last September, leading to police watchdog and criminal investigations.At a news conference, Police Chief. Insp. David Shane said four young men and seven teenagers will appear in youth court in the coming months.The Montreal police investigation stemmed from the death of Nooran Rezayi, who was killed in Longueuil, Que., on Sept. 21 after police responded to a 911 call about a group of reportedly armed youths.Shane said the youth facing charges were between 13 and 17 years old at the time of the events. He added that the information police can make public is limited as the case involves minors.Shane did not confirm the relationship between all 11 people or whether they were at the scene when Rezayi was killed. He did not specify if Rezayi was considered a suspect in the investigation.The charges include conspiracy to kidnap, conspiracy to commit unlawful confinement, conspiracy to commit assault, wearing a disguise for a criminal purpose, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and unlawful assembly.Shane noted that none of the charges included harm to a person or possession of a firearm, but did not provide any more details on the weapons found.“I’m sorry I couldn’t go as far as you would have wanted, but I hope you understand the parametres of dealing with such a case,” Shane told journalists at the end of the news conference.He said the Montreal police investigation focused on the events leading up to Rezayi’s shooting, while the province’s police watchdog will focus on the intervention involving officers.The police watchdog has said the only firearm seized at the scene by its investigators in September belonged to the officer who shot Rezayi. The watchdog also said investigators seized a baseball bat, a backpack and ski masks, but no sharp-edged weapons.Witnesses told The Canadian Press in September that the group of young people said they were going to shoot a movie in a nearby wooded area prior to the police intervention.The Rezayi family filed a lawsuit against the officers involved and the city of Longueuil last December.In the lawsuit, the family alleges that Rezayi and five friends, all racialized teenagers, were sitting on a sidewalk looking at their phones when a police car drove toward them at high speed. The family said that video taken by residents in nearby homes showed police shooting at Rezayi within 10 seconds of parking their car on scene.Fernando Belton, a lawyer representing the Rezayi family, said in an interview that the Montreal police announcement provides little new information on why the 15-year-old was shot.He said he didn’t want to downplay the seriousness of the charges announced Tuesday, but questioned the extensive police resources that appeared to have been put into investigating the youth.“We can ask the question of, for each fight—or possible fight—that could happen between high school students, do we put as many resources to get to the bottom of it? It’s quite particular,” he said.Belton said the Rezayi family is still waiting for answers about what happened to Nooran, and they hope the police watchdog’s investigation will provide further information.