'The Shield' Star Called Cops ... 'I Shot My Wife'

UPDATE 3:51 AM PT: Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Jace's 2 kids witnessed him allegedly shooting and killing their mom. The kids -- both under 10 -- were extremely upset and taken to the police station. We're told cops are angry it took Children's Services 4 hours to get to the station and take the kids to the home of a family member where they could be comforted.

Jace is being book (sic) for murder. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Actor Michael Jace called police himself to report his wife had been shot, and he had pulled the trigger Monday night in Los Angeles... TMZ has learned.

According to law enforcement sources Jace called 911 around 8:30 PM and told police ... "I shot my wife."

We're told Jace's neighbors in the Hyde Park area of L.A. had reported shots fired in the home ... and shortly thereafter Jace made his call to 911.

Sources tell us the actor stayed on the phone, as instructed, until LAPD arrived and found his 40-year-old wife, April Jace dead.

We're told Jace was home alone when his wife arrived with their kids ... a short time later he allegedly shot her.

Jace -- best know as Detective Lowe from "The Shield" -- was taken into custody, and as of 1:00 AM Tuesday ... was being questioned, but had not been booked for his wife's death.

Exactly...

(That’s how distraught I was).

I actually asked Kenny Johnson (the guy who played Lem) that very question during a Q&A of “Bates Motel” fans (he’s on that show now).

I asked him how it felt being killed off of “The Shield”. He said he was upset, and then he said that that was “the beginning of the end for [creator] Shawn Ryan”. I thought that was an interesting answer.

updates via TMZ:
>>Michael Jace was a violent, abusive husband who choked his wife in front of their kid ... this according to legal docs from his prior divorce.

Jace — who was booked Tuesday morning for allegedly murdering his wife April — went through a divorce in 1997. In the docs — obtained by TMZ — a friend of Jennifer Bitterman claims she personally witnessed Jace choking and slamming Jennifer against a wall ... as his 6-month-old son screamed in his crib next to them.

Michael Jace and his wife were locked in an angry argument over money before he allegedly murdered her ... law enforcement sources tell TMZ.

We’re told “The Shield” star was facing serious money problems and it became a source of family conflict.

There’s certainly evidence showing there was great financial stress. TMZ has learned Jace filed for bankruptcy in March 2011. He filed for Chapter 13, allowing him to restructure and reduce his mortgage payments.

Jace owed $411K on his South L.A. home where he shot his wife. Jace stopped paying his mortgage and was on the brink of a foreclosure sale ... according to documents obtained by TMZ.

Jace’s bankruptcy settlement allowed him to drastically lower his monthly payments, but he went delinquent again late last year.

As TMZ first reported Jace called 911 last night and said he shot his wife in the face, allegedly while his 2 children watched.

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