The grieving mother of a 20-year-old Surrey man who was shot and killed by police last weekend wants to know why she hasn’t been allowed to see his body.

In an exclusive interview with CTV News, Hudson Brooks’s tearful mother said she’s frustrated by how little information has been shared with her in the days since her son’s death.

“He was my beautiful boy. My beloved son,” Jennifer Brooks said. “I want to know what happened. I want justice.”

She also disputed the Mounties’ version of what happened early Saturday morning.

According to the RCMP, officers were responding to reports of a suicidal man screaming outside a Surrey detachment on 152 Street around 2:30 a.m. when they encountered Brooks’s son.

But Brooks insists her son was not suicidal, and she doesn’t understand what could have made him so distraught.

“He was happy. He was a wonderful boy, a wonderful spirit,” she said.

Police said a struggle ensued that ended with an officer fatally shooting the young man. One Mountie also suffered a minor gunshot wound, but B.C.’s police watchdog, the Independent Investigations Office, has confirmed only RCMP-issued equipment was found at the scene.

“My son was not armed. My son was not violent. My son never, ever carried a weapon,” Brooks said.

The RCMP said it’s investigating how the officer was shot, but no other details have been released. Neither the RCMP nor IIO has suggested Brooks pulled the trigger.

Witnesses told CTV News they heard a man crying out for help that morning, saying, “Please help me. They’re going to kill me.” They then heard about seven shots, which sounded like they came from two different weapons.

A spokesperson for the IIO, which is tasked with investigating all serious and deadly uses of police force in B.C., said they understand the family’s frustration but that its investigations take many months as they gather evidence and wait for autopsy results and ballistic reports.

That’s little comfort to Brooks, who still hasn’t even had a chance to see her boy.

“How can I hold his hand?” she said. “I just want my son back.”

With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Michele Brunoro