Officer Who Shot 17-Yr.-Old Breaks Down As Family Fumes Outside

The family of slain 17-year-old Jeffrey Reodica weren’t convinced that the emotional breakdown of the man accused of killing the teen was genuine on Friday.  

Detective Constable Dan Belanger broke down into tears on the stand at the inquest into the death, but the slain teen’s loved ones believe the officer’s display of emotion was as fabricated as his take on what happened that ill-fated day.  

“Over the past two months he showed very, very little emotion at all,” said Jeffrey’s brother Joel Reodica.

The family insists that the officer is lying when he claims that Jeffrey came at him with a knife, forcing him to shoot.

“It’s absolutely ridiculous and it just goes to show how far these people will go to have their names cleared and to maintain their career.”

“And it’s pretty clear that he’s lying about Jeffrey having a knife. It’s pretty clear that he’s lying that he identified himself to Jeffrey,” the mourning brother adds.

Reodica was killed in May 2004 after police responded to a call concerning two groups of teens in a violent clash.   When Constable Belanger tried to arrest Reodica, he claims he broke free and pulled out a knife, forcing him to draw and fire his weapon three times.

“I’m afraid that more children, more teenagers will get shot by trigger-happy police officers,” Joel adds.  

The province’s Special Investigations Unit has already cleared the officer for the decision to fire his weapon.