(file photo)

By Susan McNeil

Police involved shooting

SIRT; teen had pointed gun at police before shooting that killed him

Aug 14, 2025 | 10:27 AM

The 19-year-old man who was shot and killed by RCMP officers near Deschambault Lake had pointed a gun in their direction right before he was shot, according to an update by the Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) on Thursday.

Two members of the Deschambault Lake RCMP detachment were approaching a group of people in a wooded area near the community at 8:41 a.m. on Aug. 8, responding to a report of a recent gunshot.

The officers approached the group separately on foot and told one of the men in the group he was under arrest. Another member of the group, the 19-year-old, pointed a gun at police.

Both officers fired their service pistols and the 19-year-old was hit in the torso and died of his injuries at the scene. SIRT received notice of the incident within 35 minutes.

The other members of the group were arrested and Earl Ballantyne (age 31) and Sherri Custer (age 20) have been remanded into custody. Both have bail hearings Friday in Pelican Narrows Provincial Court.

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Ballantyne and Custer were part of a group of people wanted from an incident in the community on July 25. In that case, the victim of an assault was injured but managed to escape a residence where they were being held against their will.

Police began looking for eight people in connection to the incident, including Ballantyne and Custer.

A gun and two replica guns were seized at the scene.

SIRT has taken carriage of the part of the investigation into the actions of the two officers during the shooting on August 8, as is required under Saskatchewan law.

The RCMP will continue to investigate the related criminal charges from the incidents.

SIRT teams include the civilian executive director and sworn police officers from the RCMP or municipal police services across the province.

As part of the ongoing investigation, SIRT is asking anyone who directly witnessed or may have video of the incident to contact SIRT at sirt@gov.sk.ca.

A community liaison has been appointed.

SIRT must release a report into their findings within 90 days of the investigation ending, but it can take months or years for the investigation to run its course.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

On BlueSky: @susanmcneil.bsky.social