Was mental illness a factor in Port St. Lucie shooting?

We might never know all the reasons surrounding the fatal shooting of Samson Fleurant, 25, by a Port St. Lucie police officer on Nov. 18.

Police were called to the Fleurant family home on Southwest Colleen Avenue that afternoon after receiving a 911 call that Samson was slashing at walls with a machete. By the time police arrived, Samson had locked himself in his bedroom and refused to talk to officers.

Family members said they asked in vain for police to wait until Samson's older brother arrived so he could try to talk his brother down.

Instead, after waiting for about an hour, police broke down the bedroom door and came face-to-face with Samson holding the machete in a threatening manner. An officer shot Samson after a Taser failed to stop him from charging at officers.

Could Samson's wild behavior have been prompted by drugs or some other factor?

From the little we know, Samson had become increasingly withdrawn recently. He worked long hours at the Walmart Distribution Center on Glades Cutoff Road. Outside of work, he went jogging for hours at a time or locked himself in his room playing video games, family members said. If there was any drug use, there was no evidence at the house. Samson does not seem to have had any friends.

His father, Ylovy Fleurant, told a reporter he communicated with his son by passing notes underneath his bedroom door.

That pattern of behavior might indicate mental health issues. One of Samson's sisters speculated her brother might have been having a "mental breakdown."

The case now is in the hands of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which will determine if the police shooting was justified. That decision and a parallel investigation by the State Attorney's officestill are months away. Even once the investigations are concluded, Samson's state of mental health at the time of his death might never be known.

Yet, according to a report issued in March 2016, almost half of the people who die at the hands of police have some kind of disability, as officers often are drawn into emergencies where urgent care might be more appropriate than lethal force.

A report published in March by the Ruderman Family Foundation, a disability organization, analyzed incidents across the U.S. from 2013 to 2015. The report argued people with "psychiatric disabilities" are presumed to be "dangerous to themselves and others" in police interactions.

"Police have become the default responders to mental health calls," the report said.

"Justifiable Homicides: What is the role of mental illness?," a report published by the Treatment Advocacy Center of Arlington, Virginia, came to similar conclusions.

"The responsibility of law enforcement officers for seriously mentally ill persons has increased sharply in recent years and is continuing to increase," the TAC report noted.

Let me emphasize here I'm not placing any blame on the officers involved in this case. That will be up to the grand jury to decide. Yet the split-second nature of a life-threatening incident could run counter to taking a more measured approach to people who might be suffering a mental health crisis.

The Ruderman report recommended police adopt specific training to address people with disabilities. In fact, most law enforcement agencies on the Treasure Coast, including the Port St. Lucie Police Department, already take part in such training.

Anne Lotierzo is the program manager for assessment services and a member of the Mobile Crisis Response team at New Horizons, a mental health treatment facility serving the Treasure Coast.

New Horizons offers Crisis Intervention Team training, a 40-hour program that "attempts to increase law enforcement officers' understanding of mental illness and teaches them how to recognize symptoms," Lotierzo said. "Mental health is invisible but the training helps make it real for officers," she said.

Officers can and do seek the help of New Horizons' mobile crisis team at the scene, Lotierzo said. That did not occur in the Fleurant case.

"It may be in cases of imminent danger they don't involve us," she speculated.

Lotierzo pointed out it is difficult to call police into a volatile situation and then tell them not to take action.

Failing to diagnose mental illness in the first place is a significant factor, Lotierzo noted. The stigma associated with mental illness might cause families to ignore warning signs or rationalize them. Yet any sign that someone is deviating from the norm – i.e., changes in eating or sleeping habits or suddenly not going to work or school – are all red flags, she said.

"Treatment is free, available 24/7 to anyone who asks for it," Lotierzo said. Call 772-672-8470 for help and advice.

Yet to make real headway in diagnosing and treating mental illness, first we have to start talking about it.

"Bringing it into the light alleviates fears and lets us concentrate on the facts, not the myths. That's a big factor in bridging the gap," Lotierzo said.

Anthony Westbury is a columnist for Treasure Coast Newspapers. This column reflects his opinion. Contact him at 772-221-4220, anthony.westbury@tcpalm.com, or follow him on Twitter @TCPalmWestbury.

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Anthony Westbury