A Quebec coroner says the 2018 death of a teenager shot by provincial police was avoidable had health-care workers communicated with each other and followed up with the teen regarding his mental health issues.
Coroner Géhane Kamel says in her report that Riley Fairholm was not seeking a so-called “suicide by cop” and that police were justified in using lethal force because they thought their lives were in danger.
Police shot Fairholm in the head after they were called to a parking lot of an abandoned restaurant in Town of Brome Lake, Que., and found the teenager yelling and waving what turned out to be an air pistol.
The police investigation discovered that it was Fairholm who had called 911 on himself.
Kamel says that if Fairholm had taken medication and had been closely followed by health professionals, his mental health would have improved and his risk of suicide decreased.
The coroner says that before the shooting, the teen’s parents had been left alone and helpless without the assistance of doctors or their son’s school.
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