Republished July 25, 2018 - 2:42 PM
Original Publication Date July 25, 2018 - 7:26 AM
LAC BROME, Que. - Quebec's police watchdog continued on Wednesday to probe the circumstances that led Quebec provincial police to fatally shoot an armed teenage boy in a town southeast of Montreal.
The investigations unit said police received a 911 call at about 1:20 a.m. concerning an armed suspect who was in a public area along Rte 104 in Lac-Brome.
Police tried to speak over a loudspeaker to the suspect, who appeared to be armed, according to a news release provided by the unit.
Police opened fire and fatally wounded the youth, described only as a male under the age of 18, after he allegedly became threatening towards officers.
The youth was later found to be holding a handgun, but the watchdog said it wasn't clear whether it was working at the time.
"As in all investigations involving firearms, expert assessments will be conducted to determine if it was functional," read the statement.
The police watchdog named eight investigators to probe the incident with the help of Montreal police technicians.
The watchdog unit, the Bureau des Enquetes Independentes, is charged with investigating whenever a civilian dies or is injured during a police intervention or while in custody.
The unit added that all the information it has provided is preliminary, and that all the facts reported thus far will be verified as part of the probe.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2018