The mother of a man shot and killed by St. Paul police last month frantically called 911 after her son called her to say that police were trying to kill him, according to transcripts of 911 calls released by police Wednesday.

On March 16 around 3:20 p.m., police were called to a home on the 400 block of White Bear Av. N., on the city's East Side, on a report that a man was armed with a rifle.

During the encounter, police fatally shot Justin Todd Tolkinen, 28, of St. Paul. It was the second incident this year in which a St. Paul officer shot and killed someone.

According to a transcript, Tolkinen's mother called a Ramsey County emergency dispatcher and said she had been talking to her son over the phone when he told her that police were at his home. The transcript provides this account of the call:

"Caller: Hi um my son called and he was um the police were at his house and um they were kinda um having ah ah I don't know I was sad the police were there and they had their guns drawn on him and stuff. (The caller is crying) and then um I saw on the newspaper or on the news there's like a shooting with an officer. I was just wondering if you could tell me anything about that."

The caller also told the dispatcher that her son "has some mental health issues and so he's afraid they were going to kill him (crying)."

Tolkinen's mother said that her son kept saying the police were going to kill him and he kept saying that he was going to kill himself. She also said that he was no longer answering his phone.

A neighbor of Tolkinen's also called authorities and said Tolkinen was yelling and waving a gun outside, according to a another 911 transcript.

"Caller: … There's a neighbor across the alley he's waving around a gun and he's got a vest on."

The neighbor described the weapon as an "assault rifle" and said Tolkinen was talking to himself and "saying something about America."

The transcripts appear to match what police and neighbors have said led up to the shooting.

At the time of the shooting, Tolkinen's family members declined to comment.

Nicole Norfleet • 612-673-4495

Twitter: @stribnorfleet