LAFAYETTE, La. (The Advertiser)- A Lafayette man with a history of mental illness and violence died after an officer shot him during a confrontation outside his mother’s townhome on the southside.

Jeremy Todd Baham, 40, died Monday during a struggle with two officers who were responding to reports of an armed man outside Cypress Bend Townhomes on Kaliste Saloom Road where his mother owns a home.

When the officers arrived, Baham approached them in the parking lot, said Louisiana State Police spokesman Trooper Thomas Gossen. Baham fought with officers and was shot during the altercation, Gossen said.

One of the officers, who has been with the department since August 2018, sustained minor defensive wounds during the incident and is in stable condition, Lafayette police spokeswoman Cpl. Bridgette Dugas said.

The other officer, who joined the force in January 2019, was not injured. 

It’s not clear from initial police reports if Baham had a weapon, although officers were responding to reports of a disturbance involving a weapon in the parking lot. The police reports did not specify what weapon was involved in the disturbance.

Authorities have released limited information about the incident. But court records show Baham suffered from mental illness, had received mental health treatment several times and had restraining orders issued against him after violent episodes.

“Defendant was diagnosed as bipolar approximately one year ago,” according to handwritten notes included in an October 2007 petition for protective order filed by Angela Abadie, Baham’s mother. “He has not been taking medicine.”

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