A neuropsychiatrist who saw young Riley Fairholm just months before he was killed by police in July 2018 told the coroner’s inquest on Thursday he diagnosed him with symptoms related to an injury traumatic brain.
Posted at 9:54 p.m.
The inquest is into the death of the 17-year-old, who was killed by the Sûreté du Québec while in distress and waving an air pistol early on July 25, 2018.
The entire interaction in the parking lot of an abandoned restaurant in Lac-Brome, Estrie, lasted just over a minute, with a veteran police officer repeatedly telling Riley Fairholm to drop his gun before one of the six police officers present opened fire, hitting the teenager in the head.
Police told the inquest he was shouting incoherently and pacing while waving the gun, but did not appear to be pointing it at any particular officer.
Riley Fairholm had left a suicide note and texted his mother minutes before he was shot. He had called 911 himself and provided police with an accurate description of what he was carrying and that he had a weapon. However, the officers who responded were unaware that the person in front of them was the one who called 911 and that the weapon he was holding was an air gun.
photo Taken from Riley Fairholm’s Facebook page
Riley Fairholm
The shooting was investigated by the Bureau of Independent Investigations (BEI), after which the Criminal and Penal Prosecution Branch decided not to lay charges.
Riley Fairholm’s family have argued that the police were too quick to open fire and they accused the BEI of lacking transparency.
Several health experts testified Thursday before coroner Géhane Kamel, including neuropsychiatrist Dr Sylvain Boucher, who assessed Riley Fairholm in February 2018 and recommended treatment for post-concussion syndrome. He identified at least two incidents of head trauma in Riley Fairholm’s youth, including a skiing accident at age 12.
Mr Boucher told the inquest the teenager suffered from symptoms consistent with post-concussion syndrome, including sensitivity to light and sound and slowed thought processes. He said it could explain the teenager’s problems concentrating in school and cyclical depression. Head trauma can lead to symptoms of anxiety, inattention, depression and behavioral problems, Boucher said.
But he said he had no reason to believe Riley Fairholm was suicidal. If there had been any concerns, he would have reported them, he said.
Mr Boucher had recommended that the teenager undergo “neurofeedback” therapy to improve brain function, a popular therapy used by professional athletes. But Riley Fairholm suffered a rugby-related concussion in May 2018 and therapy was never administered.
After Mr. Boucher’s diagnosis, the teenager’s family doctor prescribed him an antidepressant, Wellbutrin, in April 2018. The doctor, Normand Chagnon, said he never noticed any outward signs of depression.
Mr Chagnon became aware of Riley Fairholm’s problems in 2015 when his mother complained of mood swings, depression and problems at school. She tried to have him seen by a psychiatrist, but it was determined that he would be evaluated by a psychologist, Anna Beth Doyle.
Mme Doyle met with him a few times in late 2015, but the patient cut off visits. When she last saw Riley Fairholm in November 2015, he was doing better, sleeping regularly and had cut team sports to focus on school. So M.me Doyle said she didn’t push any further to continue therapy.
“He was a charming young man, very cooperative, but not very talkative,” she said, adding that she had worked with him on different ways of dealing with stress when he fell into moments of moderate depression. .
She said that in hindsight, she might have been able to work more closely with the mother. But she stressed that he had just turned 15, and that she was bound by a teenager’s right to make their own health decisions.