A woman who North Branch police fatally shot on Thursday night was struggling with mental illness and alcohol, according to her husband.

Nick Williams said on Sunday that his wife, 36-year-old Jamie Crabtree, was known to police, and officers had responded to their home near Third Avenue and Elm Street “more than five times” in the last few years to get help for her related to those issues.

Williams said he called 911 for the final time on Thursday at 9:15 p.m., after he found Crabtree outside with a bottle of rum in one arm and a black case he knew had a gun inside of it.

“I called the cops for help. I called them to help her,” he said. “They knew she’s mentally ill.”

Official details remained sparse as of Monday. According to an initial police press release on Friday, officers responded to a report of an “intoxicated and suicidal woman who was armed with a handgun,” and after officers located her, one discharged a Pepperball and another officer fatally shot her with a gun.

“I said, ‘Where are you going and why do you have that?'” Williams recalled from the final conversation with his wife after discovering her outside. “And she said, ‘I’m out of here,’ and I go, ‘Well then, I need to call the cops to get some help.'”

“You know, the same routine, but this time she had the gun in the case,” he continued.

Williams said his wife walked away from him across a nearby open field as he made the call, telling the dispatcher that “suicide by cop” was among her final comments.

“And I emphasized the gun case,” he said, adding that he reiterated this to an officer who arrived on scene minutes later.

Williams said just one to two more minutes passed before he heard “six to 12” gunshots.

Police haven’t clarified whether Crabtree took the gun out, and Williams said he could only see that she fell to the ground. He said he questions the time it took after that for the cops to render aid.

“They shot her. She wasn’t moving,” Williams said. “But nobody made an attempt to go help her until 17 minutes later.”

Through it all, Crabtree was on the phone with a client she’s close to as a personal care attendant, Williams added.

“He stated to me she was calling out for help, begging for help,” Williams said.

Neither the North Branch Police Department nor the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension would confirm or deny Williams’ account of events, citing the ongoing investigation.

The department’s use-of-force policy is vague, but it notes that officers “should exercise special care” when interacting with people known to struggle with mental illness. It also says that when an officer does use force, they are to render first aid “as soon as it is practical and safe to do so.”

As he waits for the release of body camera footage to better answers his questions and concerns, Williams and his kids are left grieving a wife and mother.

“She loved everything. She loved everybody. She loved everything she could care for. She loved more than anything I know,” he shared.

A GoFundMe was set up for Williams and his family as they navigate the future without a second income.