ST. MARTINVILLE, La.—On the day her son was killed, Barbara Noel saw familiar signs that the 32-year-old needed help: Michael Noel was guzzling coffee and growing agitated, kicking an ironing board and knocking over an ashtray.
Barbara waited until Michael left their home that morning before she dialed 911, a call she made many times during her son’s lifelong struggle with his mental illness. This time, her call for help led to a deadly encounter last month between Michael—who had paranoid schizophrenia—and two deputies from the St. Martin Parish sheriff’s department in south Louisiana.
Noel’s killing appears to fit a troubling, tragic pattern. Deadly confrontations between law enforcement officers and people with mental illnesses have remained a persistent problem for years, but experts see anecdotal evidence and limited data that suggests the problem has worsened as governments dismantle networks of health care services.
