Death of Nooran Rezayi — Four mothers and their teenagers sue the City of Longueuil and its police department and demand answers

It's a Sunday afternoon. It is September 21, 2025. Nooran and five of his friends are sitting on the sidewalk in front of a house in Saint-Hubert when SPAL police officers respond to a 911 call. In less than 10 seconds, shots were fired and the teenager was shot dead.

Six months later, the five young people, still affected by the events, sued the City of Longueuil and its police department for nearly $1.9 million with the support of their mothers. What does this lawsuit reveal about the Nooran case? And on the system's ability to establish accountability?

School failures and expulsions, psychological distress, behavioral problems, and conflicting relationships with family members: lawyers paint a worrying picture of the situation of five young people and the current or potential repercussions of the tragedy on them.

The police intervention that cost the life of Nooran Rezayi, 15, would have caused major consequences for the five adolescents present at the scene of the tragedy: this is what the lawyers representing these young people and their families will try to demonstrate. A civil lawsuit was filed with the Superior Court of Quebec on March 19. It targets the City of Longueuil and two officers from its police department involved in the lethal intervention.

“They are not doing very well. The event is very recent — it's been six months. It is very likely that they will have post-traumatic shocks. It takes time before it appears...”, tells us M.^E Virginie Dufresne-Lemire, one of the lawyers representing the applicants.

“Their friend died in front of them in a completely — in our opinion — unjustified manner, deplores the lawyer, who specializes in defending victims of police abuse. It's a lot of misunderstanding, a lot of anger; a loss of trust in government institutions. (...) Their journey is incredibly affected. It is their world that is falling apart. These are lives that are turned upside down.”

It will be remembered that, in the moments before the police intervention in the residential area of Saint-Hubert, Nooran was accompanied by five young people. After a 911 call, police officers arrived at the scene. One of them orders the young people to lie down on the ground. A few seconds later, Nooran was shot dead. Resuscitation maneuvers are then carried out, to no avail. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. According to An article From Radio-Canada, five minutes passed between the gunshots and the start of the maneuvers to try to save the injured young man.

“Between the moment the vehicle stops and the shots are fired, less than 10 seconds pass. Between the moment when the first order is yelled and the shots are fired, less than 3 seconds pass,” the authors of the lawsuit note in the court documents. They explain that this approach is “particularly aimed at the highly negligent and reckless actions of two SPAL police officers (Service de police de l'agglomération de Longueuil)”.

This time between the first order and the gunshots is extremely short, insists Mr.^E Dufresne-Lemire. “The judge will ask himself: “Would a reasonable police officer, under the same circumstances, have fired?” ” she continues. It will be necessary to determine if there was an imminent danger.

No firearms were found on the young people. Just a baseball bat.

For the adolescents who witnessed the intervention, “heavy damage” was suffered, according to their lawyers. The young people, all minors, are not identified in court documents at this time. On the other hand, it contains a story of the consequences of the tragedy on their daily lives and, by extension, on that of members of their immediate family.

Psychological distress and behavioral changes

There is the case of two 15-year-old twins, who are related to Nooran. On that fateful day, they saw their best friend die right in front of their eyes. Both were afraid of being also targeted by police gunfire during the intervention. The situation is described as traumatic. Sadness, anger, demotivation and feelings of injustice have inhabited them since the events. The twins, who were in 4^E high school, saw their school results drop after the tragedy. They also have behavioral problems, especially towards authority figures. Both ended up being expelled from their school.

The relationship with their mother is also affected, as she asks them not to go out, fearing for their safety, which causes friction. “Before the intervention, she had never had a bad experience with the police, [for] whom she had nothing but consideration and respect. However, since Nooran's death, she has lost all trust in them and instead sees them as a threat to the safety of her sons,” reads the lawsuit document.

This distrust of the police is also mentioned several times among young people. One of them fears the police and is frightened by the sound of the patrol car siren that accompanies the flashing lights. At night, “he has nightmares where the police show up at his house and kill him.” Also aged 15, “he no longer has any motivation at school, even though he has always had his academic success at heart.” He is less interested in sports activities that he enjoyed and he is socially isolated.

The compensation claimed is around $1.9 million. Part of this sum would make it possible to provide, among other things, psychological or therapeutic care to five young people and four adults. The rest, in the amount of $1 million, represents punitive damages, to punish reprehensible conduct and to deter the repetition of such conduct.

Several alleged faults

According to the prosecutors, a series of errors were committed, such as poor planning of the intervention, insufficient de-escalation measures or the use of a firearm without legitimate justification, for example.

The victim's clothing itself did not match the clothing mentioned in the 911 call. An individual was reported wearing black pants; Nooran was wearing white shorts.

“The police endangered all the young people and the surrounding citizens, including children, in addition to using abusive and disproportionate force”, allege the authors of the lawsuit.

In addition, they argue that racial profiling could have been a factor explaining the speed with which lethal force was used. “We are talking about an intervention that degenerates extremely quickly, we are talking about six racialized young people and a history of problems with profiling within SPAL: in our opinion, these are indicators of racial profiling,” says Mr.^E Dufresne-Lemire.

Alleged misconduct also included the disclosure of confidential information to the media. According to the prosecutors, SPAL agents transmitted the content of the 911 call to a journalist. “The sole purpose of this unusual leak of information was to influence public opinion and to justify the use, by the police officer, of his service weapon during the intervention,” they say.

Contacted by La Converse, the City of Longueuil replied, in a written statement, that it would not comment on this case, as it is judicial.

Support, transparency and accountability

In addition to demanding financial compensation, in order to provide adequate psychological support to adolescents and their mothers, the prosecutors hope to get answers about what happened. They also want greater accountability from the City of Longueuil, as well as its police officers, even if they work in a profession that can be dangerous.

For the moment, several gray areas remain in the story of the events that led to Nooran's death. The content of the report of the Bureau of Independent Investigations (BEI) is not public. Families want a complete picture of the situation. Filing a civil lawsuit could allow them to get clarifications. Among these clarifications would be the EIB report.

Ultimately, the question is: “What can we do to prevent a tragedy like this from happening again?” ”, summarizes M.^E Dufresne-Lemire. “These moms are scared, it could have been their son,” she said, reporting that some are now suffering from anxiety and insomnia.

The lawyer admits that she does not have the answer to this question yet. She very much hopes that the judicial process will make it possible to make some progress. Deaths caused by police interventions are not a new phenomenon. “Why is it still happening today? It's a really complex question. Certainly we can think about police culture, about the impunity that reigns,” suggests the lawyer.

Training is often presented as a part of a solution, but it has its limits, according to her. “There are obligations to attend training in order to be qualified to use a firearm, but there is no obligation annually in terms of de-escalation,” she illustrates.

Let's mention that the Coroner's report on the death of Pierre Coriolan, shot dead by the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) in 2017, recommended, among other things, making annual requalification in de-escalation and tactical communication mandatory for police officers.

“A firearm is deadly, there is no going back: you have to think about the power that police have to use force”, underlines Mr.^E Dufresne-Lemire.

Long delays

Filing the initiating claim for damages is only the first step. If the case goes through the courts, getting a judgment could take three to seven years, according to the lawyer. Preparing the case is in itself a long process, in addition to the existing delays in the justice system.

The five teens, who are currently aged 15 to 17, will have time to reach adulthood by then. One of them has already started a therapeutic follow-up. For others, who want to have access to care and professional support, it will be necessary to wait several years before perhaps obtaining financial assistance. The costs associated with legal proceedings add an additional burden to all of this. Although the family lawyer did not comment on the costs incurred in this case, she recalls that “access to justice is not free.” Moreover, “a lot of people [...] have to do GoFundMe to have access to justice,” she illustrates.

Second civil suit

This is the second lawsuit in this tragic case. Last December, Nooran's family announced that they were filing a $2.2 million civil lawsuit against the City of Longueuil and SPAL. According to M^E Dufresne-Lemire, this is the first time that there have been two separate prosecutions in a case of this type.

“It is a case that is still extremely shocking”, she says, referring in particular to the age of the minor victim.

Recall that the Bureau of Independent Investigations has submitted at the beginning of March the conclusions of his investigation into Nooran's death to the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions: the latter will determine whether charges will be laid or not.

Last February, the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal conducted searches in residences on the South Shore of Montreal as part of an investigation into the events that preceded the police intervention of September 21, 2025. The SPVM was commissioned by the BEI to conduct this parallel investigation.

Even if additional information emerges as a result of these searches, it will not be useful in judging the behavior of the police, comments Mr.^E Dufresne-Lemire. “What is important for the prosecution is what information the police officers had at the time of their intervention and what they observed.”

In her opinion, these searches are worrisome, but the information available is not sufficient for further comment. “Accountability is needed,” insists the lawyer.

‍