Family of Quebec man shot by police march for answers

The family of Ronny Kay, a Quebec man shot by Montreal police during a September intervention while he was in emotional distress marched demanding answers and justice for Ronny and all other victims of police violence.

The crowd shouted “fund the services, not the police,” through Chinatown where Ronny participated in community organizations, starting at Sun Yat Sen park on the corner of de la Gauchetière and Clark making their way to Montreal’s City Hall .

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Ronny Kay was shot when he allegedly refused to drop what might have been a weapon while in his apartment in Nun’s Island.

Two Months since his death, his family says they have not received any information on what happened from those heading the investigation.

“Two months of waiting, two months of not knowing why Ronny was killed. It’s not acceptable,” says Ronny’s sister Michelle Kay.

Both Michelle and Ronny’s older sister, Debola Kay spoke to those in attendance recounting the painful events of September 17 and the moments leading up to their brother’s death.

Debola explained, Ronny was working from home on the 17 and that his ex-girlfriend made an unannounced arrival to pick up some of her belongings which led to an argument.

The first call to police was made by Ronny’s ex-girlfriend asking for their intervention so that she could access her belongings.

Around noon, a second call was made to the police, this time by Ronny’s work supervisor indicating that she was worried for the safety of her employee because he had just called her and had made concerning comments that indicated he was in distress.

At 12:25 p.m Ronny contacted his older sister, Debola to inform her that the police were coming to his home and that he was in a panic. Debola quickly made her way over to Ronny’s Condo in Nun’s Island “in hopes of talking to her brother,” she says.

When she arrived, she saw two police officers near Ronny’s condo, they told her they did not locate him as yet, tearfully she says “ I told them my brother was in distress and he was not stable. That I needed to be present to calm him down, I told the police they should not shoot, and to tell their colleagues that, but they told me to wait in the car, and did not follow my request.”

But shortly after that, one of the police officers informed her that the police had located Ronny and that he was being taken to hospital, without providing any further details.

The family says that was the last contact the SPVM had with them and that after waiting for more than an hour at the hospital Debola learned from a doctor that her brother had died.

“You killed a life. Ronny was only 38 and you killed him and you’re asking us to wait, not one month, but many months,” Michelle says, adding that the lack of communication from authorities is “not human, it’s not respectful.”

The family of 38-year-old Ronny Kay from Nun’s Island who died after being shot by Montreal police last month is now demanding a public inquiry. (Credit: Michelle Kay)

The family with the support of the community wrote an open letter to those in authority, including Sophie Roy, the Interim Chief of the SPVM, Pierre Goulet, from the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes (BEI), Mayor Valérie Plante, François Bonnardel, the Minister of Public Security, and Pascale Descary, Quebec’s chief coroner.

The letter demands three things:

• A public coroner’s inquest as soon as possible into the causes and circumstances that led to Ronny Kay’s death.
• Immediate access to psychosocial services.
• Condolences from the SPVM to the family.

CityNews reached out to all 5 authorities addressed in the letter, but only Montreal police provided a response in which they say,

“The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) sympathizes with the pain of Mr. Kay’s family. It should be remembered that in all cases where a person, other than a police officer on duty, dies during a police intervention, it is the Bureau of Independent Investigations (BEI) whose mission is to shed light on the events. The SPVM will therefore not make any further comments, in order to avoid influencing the ongoing process in any way whatsoever.”

In October, Guy Lapointe, a spokesperson for the BEI told CityNews, they are trying to piece together the moments that led up to the shooting.“We are in contact with the family, we’ll keep them apprised, but we can’t go into all the fine details because it is a police investigation,” Lapointe said over the phone. “We’re not at the liberty to discuss more because we’re trying to establish the exact sequence of events.”

“I don’t think that they know how impactful they are, what the consequences of all this is, the killing and all the aftermath, and how they handled the situation. They don’t talk.They don’t support us. We’re being left alone,” says Michelle.

(Credit: Michelle Kay)

The family says until they get answers, they will continue to demand justice for Ronny.

In a message to her brother, Michelle says, “I hope you are so proud of everyone here and that he just can be at peace. Just be at peace.”