The officer who killed the Quebec teen who had a weapon says he was afraid for safety

A state police officer who shot and killed a Quebec teenager who had an air pistol says the young man poses an obvious danger to the police officer.

Joël Desruisseaux added today in an inquest of a coroner investigating Riley Fairholm’s death that fellow police officers repeatedly asked teens to put down their weapons and that there were no signs that the situation would worsen.

The interaction between Fairholm, 17, and the officers in the early morning of July 25, 2018, lasted for just over a minute. Des Luisau then shot the teenager’s head in the parking lot of an abandoned restaurant in Lac-Brome, Montreal. 1 hour southeast of Montreal.

Police did not know that Fairholm had left a suicide note to his parents shortly before calling 911.

According to Desruisseaux, the corresponding officer did not know that Fairholm’s weapon was an air pistol and thought it was a pistol.

The shooting was investigated by Quebec’s independent police guard dog and the crown decided not to prosecute.

Fairholm’s family was critical of police and an independent police surveillance agency in Quebec (known as Bureaudesen quêtes independantes) due to the lack of transparency in the case.

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