She said the man had been harassing her, once walking without permission into her apartment in St. Paul’s Lowertown — and frequently texting that he wanted her.

He seemed homeless, always wearing the same tattered clothes. Her husband told him to stop.

But when he and another man came out of the dark Tuesday evening and pointed a gun at her husband — seated in front of her in the passenger seat of their friend’s car — she was sure there would be blood.

“To my knowledge, he’s a drifter downtown. He’d seen me go into my building a couple times. Followed me into building. My friend mistakenly gave him my number, thinking he knew me. He made it very clear he was ‘going to have me,’ and ‘he wanted me,’ ” said the 27-year-old Lowertown resident, who for her safety asked not to be named by the Pioneer Press, and whose identity was concealed in a criminal complaint filed Wednesday.

She heard two gunshots Tuesday night and thought her 21-year-old husband was dead.

But the only blood shed turned out to be that of the alleged assailant — Kevin Deandre Ashford, 31, of St. Paul — when the couple’s friend shot first.

Shortly after Ashford approached, “He was trying to take the safety off. … We saw his tendons in his hands, he was just about to squeeze the trigger. And just as he was trying to squeeze the trigger, (the couple’s friend) pulled it a split second faster,” the woman said. Ashford never got a shot off.

Police confirmed that Ashford — charged in Ramsey County with three counts of making terroristic threats — was shot by a car driver Tuesday evening at Fifth and Wacouta streets, on the edge of Mears Park. The woman’s husband was in the passenger seat, and she was sitting behind him.

Shortly after being flagged down by the driver just after 8 p.m., police found Ashford bleeding a few blocks away, shot in the chin and collarbone. He was taken to Regions Hospital, where he stabilized. A Daisy Powerline 340 BB gun — a replica of a Beretta automatic handgun — with blood on it was found nearby.

The man with Ashford — who the couple said had been trying to pull open the rear car door to reach the woman — fled the scene. Police had not located him as of Wednesday.

Police initially investigated the incident as a robbery, but when it became clear Ashford knew some of the people in the car, they investigated other motives.

“When he pulled the gun, he said, ‘See, I told ya I’m not playin’,” the husband told the Pioneer Press. “Three days prior, he came to my wife’s place, kept flirting with her, stepping out of bounds, and wouldn’t leave her alone.”

The wife added, “He was clearly on drugs; very, very high. Eyes bloodshot, sporadic actions. This man took off down the road after getting shot twice. I would think you’d have to be very high to be able to continue to run after that.”

The driver, a longtime Minnesota music artist with YouTube videos garnering thousands of views, and whose label has numerous albums, had met the couple after they reached out to him as fans.

The couple said the artist — who advocates on issues relating to mental health and homelessness — was sharing his new album with them, and they were listening to it in his car.

The Pioneer Press is not identifying him because he requested that police not release his identity, and according to investigators does not appear to be at fault in the incident.

Police confirmed the driver had a permit to legally carry a firearm. The couple said he got the .38-caliber handgun because of a previous threat on his life.

“He intentionally aimed low when he fired because he didn’t want to shoot Ashford in the face because that would likely have resulted in Ashford’s death,” the complaint read, adding, “(The driver) inquired as to Ashford’s condition when speaking to investigators, and he was very upset about being involved in a shooting.”

The wife added, “He doesn’t want people to think he’s someone who shoots people. It’s rap, but it’s about dealing with depression and homelessness, and reaching out to people. He doesn’t want people to think he’s a shooter. … He’s an incredible guy, he saved our lives.”

The couple say they are afraid to return to the apartment.

“We can’t go back there, we’re practically homeless, with nothing. The detective told us to stay out of St. Paul, maybe stay out of town,” the husband said.

The complaint notes that Ashford has a prior conviction for aggravated robbery.