The wife of the Hawaii island man fatally shot by police while holding a loaded crossbow Saturday said she called police earlier that day to ask for an officer to check on her husband because he was agitated.

Kyra Bernhardt said her husband, Gene Bernhardt, 59, was anxious because someone had threatened him earlier in the morning. In the afternoon he told her he was threatened again, prompting her to call police for the second time that day.

In the second call, police told her they were already on the way, having received a complaint from a neighbor.

Police said officers responded to a disturbance at a Papaaloa residence in North Hilo at about 3:35 p.m. when they encountered Bernhardt, who was holding a loaded crossbow. One officer fired multiple shots, killing Bernhardt, police said.

Police did not identify Bernhardt and did not provide any further information Sunday, including whether the crossbow was cocked.

Police said the department’s Criminal Investigations Section will conduct a criminal investigation into the shooting, and the Office of Professional Standards will head an administrative investigation.

Kyra Bernhardt, who was visiting family on the mainland at the time, said by telephone Sunday the events leading up to the incident began about a week ago when her husband’s tractor broke down off their property.

Her husband was trying to repair the tractor along the road near where it broke down, but then a vandal cut the oil line a few days ago. In response, her husband began guarding his tractor.

On Saturday morning someone threatened Gene Bernhardt, and he went to the police station to report it but left without filing a report because police didn’t believe him, she said.

Kyra Bernhardt called police the same day and spoke to a lieutenant because she was concerned about her husband’s mental state. She told the supervisor that her husband was extremely vigilant out of fear but would not harm himself or others.

She asked police to visit him and let him know he would be safe, and the lieutenant told her he was good at calming down people.

After she spoke with the lieutenant, her husband began texting her, asking her to call police because someone had threatened him with a gun. He said the threat came from a group of people in an SUV.

She called back the lieutenant for her husband and hoped to warn police to respond calmly and to understand her husband’s situation. The supervisor told her that a neighbor had already called police, and police were en route.

She said the neighbor called police about the tractor and other property next to the neighbor’s property line, and police “just happened to come at an inopportune time.”

“I don’t believe police took the time to find out what was really going on,” she said.

Gene Bernhardt, a retired Navy senior chief petty officer who was in the military for 23 years, spent part of his time in the military in law enforcement and repeatedly remarked that a responding officer must remain calm under all circumstances, his wife recalled. She said she wanted to learn more about the shooting to prevent a similar tragedy in the future.

Kyra Bernhardt, who met Gene Bernhardt 20 years ago, described her husband as a person with a rough exterior but “a good heart” who wanted to help seniors, widows and children. He is survived by a biological son and her two adult children.

She said her husband grew up farming in Oklahoma and was working to improve their land on Hawaii island to raise livestock.