METAIRIE, La. (AP) — A Louisiana deputy shot and killed a woman who dragged another deputy with her car after yelling racist slurs at workers repairing a water main, authorities said.

Capt. Jason Rivarde, a spokesman for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, said deputies were dispatched Wednesday afternoon to a neighborhood in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie when they encountered the woman.

“Deputies approached and made several attempts to calm the woman down, but she eventually fled in her vehicle while dragging a deputy alongside,” Rivarde said in a news release.

Sheriff Joseph Lopinto said the woman struck and dragged the deputy several feet. That led to a short pursuit that ended when she got stuck in traffic. When the woman accelerated again, she hit a deputy with her car, prompting another deputy to fire into the car’s driver’s side.

At least eight or nine shots were fired, based on shell casings found at the scene, Lopinto said.

The woman’s car traveled another 40 or 50 feet before coming to a stop. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. She was alone in the car.

Jefferson Parish Coroner Dr. Gerry Cvitanovich identified the woman Thursday as Anne Schilly, 65, of Kenner, Louisiana. He said an initial evaluation showed she had at least one gunshot wound but an autopsy scheduled Friday will determine exactly how many shots she sustained.

Cvitanovich said Schilly has had “multiple interactions, at least 15 or 20 times, with his office through orders of protection, which result in mental health commitments.”

“We are encouraging people to check on everyone, their family, their friends, their neighbors who might have mental health issues. Because of the situation we’re in, they might be without their medications, their routines may have changed, they might not have their usual support system and on top of that, it’s hot. We don’t want to have another situation like this that could turn into another tragedy,” he said. “It’s truly a sad outcome that happened despite everyone’s best efforts to diffuse it.”

A man recorded the woman using a profanity and racist slur in yelling that the crew members needed to go back to their countries, according to video shown to The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate.

Lopinto gave few details of the confrontation but he suggested to reporters that the woman might have been in mental distress. “There didn’t seem to be a whole lot right with her,” he said.

The deputy who was dragged was treated for minor injuries at an area hospital, Lopinto said. The names of the deputies involved in the encounter have not been released.

The man who recorded the videos told the newspaper the workers didn’t deserve the treatment they received from the woman. To support his point, he pulled up a video of them going up to residents living near the site of another water main repair and giving them their parish-provided lunches.

But he said he also was upset that the woman let the situation devolve to the point where she paid with her life.

“They really tried to help the lady,” the man said of the deputies. “And she f—-d them over.”