A man is dead following a chase with RCMP that ended with shots fired in a field in east-central Saskatchewan.
RCMP say Joey Desjarlais, 34, died in a confrontation with officers Tuesday afternoon on Fishing Lake First Nation. Desjarlais is from that community.
The Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) said in a social media post that it is responding to an “officer-involved” shooting on Fishing Lake First Nation. The police watchdog investigates deaths involving police agencies in Saskatchewan.
This is the third investigation launched by SIRT into the death of an Indigenous person involving police in the less than a month.
Details of the events leading up to the death on Tuesday are in a news release from RCMP. The information does not clarify if officers shot Desjarlais, only that shots were fired during the incident.
RCMP were searching for Desjarlais since early September in connection to a series of armed robberies in the area. Just before 1 p.m. on Tuesday, RCMP notified the public of an increased presence of officers in the Fishing Lake First Nation area as they searched for the wanted man. Within an hour of the notice, Desjarlais was dead.
The incident started just after 1 p.m. when RCMP officers spotted a speeding van. RCMP said they then learned Desjarlais stole a van from a Fishing Lake school and drove off down the back roads. Officers pursued, eventually following Desjarlais into a field where shots were fired.
“Firearms were discharged and the van continued travelling,” the RCMP said in a news release. “The van came to a stop and additional shots were discharged.”
Desjarlais was found injured inside the van and died at the scene, according to RCMP.
There was no word from police whether or not a gun was seized.
Fishing Lake First Nation is about 240 kilometres east of Saskatoon.