Her son was killed by provincial police, now this Lac-Brome mother wants answers

It was 1:42 a.m on a Wednesday in JulywhenTracy Wing received a text message from her son, Riley Fairholm. It contained only three words:"I love you."

Less than 15 minutes later, the 17-year-old was dead, fatally shot by provincial police.

• Lac-Brome teen fatally shot by police after intervention

Fairholm'sfamily has struggled ever since to get information about what happened on that early morning on July 25 in Lac-Brome, a normally tranquil town 100 kilometres southeast of Montreal.

"My biggest grievance is just not having any answerseven the smallest answers,whether it be how he died, [or] the number of projectiles," Wing saidin an interview at herLac-Bromehome.

Wing decided to take her quest for answers into her own hands. She discovered, in the process, thatone of the officers involved in the shooting is refusing to cooperate with authorities.

The family has filed an official complaint with Quebec'sPolice Ethics Commissioner, against both theSret du Qubecand theindependent investigations bureau, or BEI, which investigates police shootings in the province.

"[There are] alot of the what ifs," said Wing.

'What happened?'

Wing's living room is filled with reminders of her dead son. His photograph is on side-tables, two paintings of his likenesscommissioned from a local artist hang on the walls. A black stone urn holds his ashes.

Wing says Fairholm was struggling with depression but she knew something was terribly wrong after receiving the text message.

When she realizedher son wasn't at home, she immediately drove out to find him.

What happened next remains unclear. A rough outline, though, can be pieced together from what little information the BEI hasmade public.

SQ officers were called to an address on Highway104 in a commercial part of Knowlton around 1:20 a.m. The 911 caller reported a young man was seen walking around, armed with a gun.

Her son was killed by provincial police, now this Lac-Brome mother wants answers

6 years ago

Duration 1:01

Riley Fairholm's family decry silence from authorities.

The BEI says police tried to intervene but Fairholm became "threatening," and the officers opened fire, killing the teen.

Both Wing and Fairholm's father,LarryFairholm, arrived at the scene within a half hour of the shooting.

But it wasn't until hours later that they were told Fairholm had been killed by police. Until then, they assumed the death was self-inflicted.

"I was in shock," Wing said Tuesday."It's just a whole different mindset. It's just horrific."

Wing calledLarryFairholmfrom the hospital on the night of the shooting, informing him it was police who fired upon their son.

An SQ officer at the hospital overheardLarryFairholm'sensuing outburst. Several hours after his son's death, he was arrested and charged with uttering threats.

Those charges were later dropped.

SQ officer refuses to answer BEIquestions

Since that fatefulnight, the only additional information theBEIhas provided the family is to say the investigation is still ongoing, Wing said.

Frustrated with the lack of information, she filed access to information requests concerning the investigation.

"We've heard three different versions of how Riley died," said Wing. "Can we get the one? Can we know how he died?"

• Quebec forces routinely break law requiring officers to report independently to police watchdog: BEI head

Those requests surfaced a letter sent from Madeleine Giauque, the director of the BEIto Yves Morency, the interim head of the SQ.

In the letter, Giauque notes that one officer involved in the incident has refused to answer any of the BEI investigators'questions.

This lack of co-operation between police forces and the BEI appears to be an increasingly common occurrence.

Earlier this month,several human rights and anti-police brutality groups revealed the SQ, as well as other police forces in the province, have routinely broken the lawbyrefusing to answer BEI questions.

Investigation ongoing, BEI says

The SQ would not answer any of the CBC's questions about Fairholm's death, saying it was the responsibility of the BEI. The BEIalso refused to comment.

"The BEI will not comment on a particular case. Every BEI investigation is led with all the professionalism required,"Martin Bonin-Charron, a BEIspokesperson, wrote in an email to CBCNews.

He noted that all instances where an officerrefuses to answer the BEI's questions are reported to the police force involved, as required by law.

"They keep spinning out this word: transparent," LarryFairholm, Riley's father, said.

"I heard it that night on the scene. I heard it from the BEI. I guess they don't understand the meaning of that word."