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A Montreal teenager fatally shot by police last summer was attacking an officer and inches from the gun when he was shot, Quebec prosecutors have concluded.

Therefore, the officer, whose actions sparked a race riot, won't face charges in the death of 18-year-old Fredy Villanueva. A full public inquiry has been called.

Citing independent witnesses and some of the youth involved, Louis Dionne, director of prosecutions in Quebec, and prosecutor François Brière outlined how their office believes the events unfolded on Saturday, Aug. 9.

Officers spotted a group of youths, the young Mr. Villanueva among them, in a parking lot playing a dice game, which contravenes municipal laws in Montreal against games of chance being played in public.

A pair of Montreal police officers moved to break the game up. The youth picked up their dice and moved away from the police. Mr. Villanueva's older brother, Dany Villanueva, 20, moved away on his own and refused identify himself, Mr. Brière said yesterday.

There was an outstanding warrant for the arrest of the older Mr. Villanueva.

Police tried to arrest him, but he resisted, pulling his arm from the grip of one of the officers. His younger brother was among those who then moved in, and a fight ensued. Jean-Loup Lapointe, one of the two officers, was slapped and kicked. He heard his female partner being attacked, including being kicked twice into their police cruiser. The group of youths ignored three warnings to stop advancing on the officers.

Officer Lapointe decided to reach for his gun when Fredy Villanueva was inches away and reaching for the officer's neck and gun, according to the police account.

Almost immediately after, he opened fire, with the younger Mr. Villanueva just 38 centimetres from the barrel of his service pistol. Fredy Villanueva died and two others were hurt.

"The fear of death overcame me," Mr. Brière said, quoting from Officer Lapointe's statement to investigators. "I was held by the throat and felt people grabbing at me from all sides. I was in a position of extreme vulnerability, lying on the ground, with no way to move."

"He shot as soon as the weapon was out of its holster, moving the weapon toward the masses in front of him and shooting toward the masses," Mr. Brière said.

Officer Lapointe stopped shooting when he sensed the "masses" of youth were moving away.

A race riot broke out the next day, with residents of Montreal North enraged by the death of the Honduran-born Mr. Villanueva at the hands of the two white officers. Four people were hurt, and dozens of stores were looted.

Mr. Dionne said last night that six senior Quebec prosecutors reviewed the evidence, including several videos, 911 phone calls, and dozens of witness statements.

"These facts are confirmed equally by members of the group and other witnesses at the scene," Mr. Brière added. "The officers of the Montreal police were justified in intervening and detaining the group."

Last night's press conference was hastily arranged after the prosecutor's report was leaked to the media.

The Sûreté du Québec, which investigated the shooting because of the involvement of Montreal police officers, delivered its own report on the shooting earlier this fall.

Public Security Minister Jacques Dupuis announced immediately after the prosecutors' report last night that he has ordered a public inquiry.

"The families and the people, particularly the people of Montreal North, want light to be shed on the events of August 9," Mr. Dupuis said.