'Wouldn't even hurt a fly': Memorial grows for B.C. teen shot dead by police

Memorial for shot teen

Photo: The Canadian Press

A growing memorial of flowers, stuffed animals, condolence cards and cans of Orange Crush for a 15-year-old boy who was killed in a police shooting in Surrey, B.C., is seen Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nono Shen

A memorial of flowers, stuffed animals, condolence cards and cans of Orange Crush is growing for a 15-year-old Surrey, B.C., boy who died in a police shooting on Sunday.

Friends, family members and strangers, many of them crying, have stopped at the memorial not far from the site where the Surrey high school student was killed.

A statement from the Surrey School District says the student is from Clayton Heights Secondary School and counsellors are on the site to support students, staff and the community.

One man who stopped by the memorial says his son was good friends with the boy and they had been in same classes for years.

The man, who only gave his first name Stephen to protect his son's identity, says the boys’ friendship started in elementary school and the teen who was killed was a good kid, who “wouldn’t even hurt a fly.”

He says the teen was autistic, so he may not have understood what police were saying to him.

B.C.’s police watchdog says it’s investigating the RCMP-involved shooting where police responded to reports of a person "armed with a firearm" in a schoolyard on Sunday afternoon.

The Independent Investigations Office said in a statement Monday that police told its investigators that there was a confrontation with the person shortly after officers arrived, shots were fired and the male died at the scene.