Shooting of Nooran Rezayi: 11 youths charged after investigation into what prompted Longueuil police intervention

Eleven suspects who were all youths at the time Nooran Rezayi was shot and killed by Longueuil police last fall are facing charges as part of a parallel investigation into the events that preceded his death.

The accused, then aged 13 to 17, are facing charges that include conspiracy to kidnap, conspiracy to commit forcible confinement, conspiracy to commit assault, and possession of a weapon with a dangerous intent.

Chief Insp. David Shane with the SPVM told a press conference the charges are linked to alleged offences that extended into the day before the 15-year-old’s death on Sept. 21, 2025.

“We’re talking about conspiracy, but there are no charges related to injuring a person,” Shane said.

Five of the suspects were arrested under warrants while six others were charged by summons. The arrests followed searches at multiple locations on Montreal’s South Shore — including Belœil, Brossard, Candiac, Longueuil and Saint-Philippe — at the end of February. The accused are scheduled to appear before Quebec’s youth court by late August or early September.

The arrests and charges stem from a Montreal police (SPVM) investigation into the events that prompted the intervention by Longueuil police that resulted in Rezayi’s death.

“There’s a reason why the police officers in Longueuil were brought to the scene of the investigation. So that part is what the SPVM investigated on,” Shane said.

Officers were responding to a 911 call about a group of youths reportedly armed in a residential neighbourhood of Longueuil. Quebec’s police watchdog said the only gun seized at the scene belonged to the officer who shot Rezayi. Police later seized a baseball bat, a backpack and ski masks from the scene, but no sharp-edged weapons.

Insp. Shane could not reveal how many weapons were seized at the crime scene. “What I can tell you is that the charges don’t include possession of a firearm as such,” he told reporters. “So, carrying a weapon in a dangerous death is much broader in scope.”

A lawyer representing Rezayi’s family, which has filed a $2.2-million lawsuit against the City of Longueuil and its police force, was unhappy with how tight-lipped Shane was at the press conference.

“There’s not much information that was given by the police officers regarding what actually happened,” Fernando Belton told CityNews. “We haven’t learned anything new, helping us to shed light on why Nooran died on September 21st.

“Press conferences are usually made in order to give relevant information and answer questions, and one of the things that we have noticed is that… almost every question was answered by the fact that they couldn’t answer the question. So I’m raising the question, why did we make a press conference if we were not able to answer the relevant questions regarding what happened?”

The SPVM investigation came at the request of Quebec’s police watchdog, the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes (BEI), which completed its investigation into the shooting in March. The BEI submitted its report to Quebec prosecutors, which will determine whether criminal charges are warranted.

Insp. Shane explained the BEI had information leading them to believe an investigation was necessary into the events preceding the Longueuil police intervention. However the BEI does not have the mandate to conduct this type of investigation, as its role is to independently monitor police work.

The SPVM did not report to the BEI but rather directly to prosecutors, which authorized the charges. The inspector also stated that SPVM investigators did not meet with Longueuil police officers in the course of their investigation.

Earlier this month, Quebec Minister of Public Security Ian Lafrenière launched an administrative inquiry into the Longueuil police intervention following a request by Longueuil Mayor Catherine Fournier last year.

The inquiry focuses “exclusively” on what happened between Rezayi’s death and the arrival of the BEI investigators, which were notified 96 minutes after the teen died.

–With files from La Presse Canadienne