Actually, seems like he did not shoot the coyote because he feared hitting his wife by mistake:
FTA: “He fired off a couple of shots,” said Police Chief Tara Laurent. “Not at the coyote, because it was near his wife, but he shot off a couple of rounds thinking it would scare the animal off....
If the coyote is near to your wife, it makes a large difference if you have a scoped varmint rifle or a small pistol.