Quebec’s police watchdog, the Independent Bureau of Investigation (BEI), is looking into an incident between an armed teenager and provincial police that left the boy dead.
A 911 call was made around 1:20 a.m. Wednesday about an armed person in a public area at Lac-Brome.
The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) located 17-year-old Riley Fairholm, who had what appeared to be a handgun in his hand.
Officers attempted to talk him down from a distance over a loudspeaker, but say the teen became aggressive and threatening.
“At some point, the interaction with the civilian became threatening to the police officers and they fired … hit the young man, who died,” said Martin Bonin-Charron, BEI spokesperson.
Scoobie Davies, a friend of the 17-year-old, said he’s in disbelief.
“At first it didn’t hit and then when I got confirmation, it still didn’t sink in — until I was walking here, listening to music when it clicked: I’m not going to see him around anymore,” he told Global News.
“It’s a heartbreaking feeling, it really is. Seventeen is way too young.”
Eight investigators were assigned to the case, along with two Montreal police crime lab technicians.
“You just don’t expect anything like that to happen in Brome Lake,” said Davies.
“It’s a small town and not a lot of big things happen like that.”
The BEI is calling on anyone who witnessed the event to go to its website.