‘Devastated:’ Family, friends hold vigil for 15-year-old boy fatally shot by police

LONGUEUIL – Family and friends of a 15-year-old who was shot and killed by police on Montreal’s South Shore united in grief on Saturday as they held a vigil in honour of a teen who died too soon.

Nooran Rezayi was shot dead by police on Sunday after officers responded to a 911 call about a group of armed young people in a residential neighbourhood in Longueuil. 

Quebec’s independent police watchdog says the only gun seized at the scene belonged to the officer who shot the teenager.

Members of the crowd wore T-shirts reading “Justice for Nooran” as they joined in a silent march and a vigil. Under blue September skies, several hundred people wound their way through a suburban Longueuil neighbourhood in a march that ended with speeches at a football field behind a nearby school.

The teen’s father described his son in a statement read on his behalf as a thoughtful and loving teen who was “full of dreams, full of life.” 

“Our family is devastated,” he said. “We mourn not only the loss of our child, but also that of the future which has just been taken away from him, and from us as well.” 

Police had put out a call for calm ahead of the vigil and another event set for Sunday, after saying they’d received information that some people might try to infiltrate and cause violence. On Saturday, officers watched from a distance but had no reason to intervene in the peaceful event.

The father’s statement said the march wasn’t an act of anger, but a call for compassion and justice.

“May his memory remain a light in our community and this light guide us towards good conscience, healing and real change,” he said.

Many who attended nevertheless waved signs that were critical of officers, including ones that read “police, stop killing our kids,” and “Nooran had dreams, not weapons.” 

Sanna Mansouri, whose younger brother was a close friend of Rezayi’s, denounced the racism faced by youth in the North African community in a speech to the crowd. She told reporters after the event that her brother and his friends were struggling to process the death.

“Fifteen is very young to lose a friend,” she said. 

The changes she wants to see include defunding the police and “stop the racism in society, because racism kills.” 

Mansouri’s brother tearfully told the crowd that Rezayi had been like a brother to him. “Nooran was always smiling, he was always there to console or understand a person who didn’t feel good,” he said. 

Quebec’s police watchdog — the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes — is investigating the death. The Montreal police are conducting a parallel criminal investigation into the shooting.

The Longueuil police announced this week the officer who shot the teenager is on an indefinite sick leave. 

Hadjira Belkacem, a representative of a group that helps organize Muslim funerals, says the community “has buried too many young people” in recent years.  

She said the event was organized to support the family, but also to demand justice. 

She expressed doubts about the investigation, noting that the police watchdog has investigated hundreds of cases in the nine years it’s been operating, and only two have resulted in charges against officers. 

She said she wanted to ensure the person who shot the teen faces judgment. “Everyone has to assume their responsibilities, and nobody is above the law,” she said. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2025.