Actor Michael Jace Charged With Murder After Allegedly Shooting His Wife

Actor Michael Jace, who played a sexually conflicted cop on “The Shield,” was charged with killing his wife Tuesday after he made a damning 911 call for help.

“I shot my wife,” Jace reportedly told the operator, according to TMZ.com.

Jace then obediently stayed on the line until police officers arrived at his Los Angeles home and found his wife, April, dead of gunshot wounds, police said.

While Jace was hauled off to jail, the couples’ two young sons were turned over to their maternal grandmother, sources said.

Both were in the house when their mom, a 40-year-old school teacher, was fatally shot around 8:30 p.m. Monday, they said.

It’s not clear where Jace got the gun. On a statement of the actor’s assets obtained by the Associated Press, he checked the box indicating he didn’t own a firearm.

“This is more than a shock,” the slain woman’s big brother, Carlo Laune, told the Daily News. “It’s out of this world. That’s not humanity what happened.”

While local media reported the couple had been arguing over money, Laune said he had no inkling Jace and his sister were at odds. “Not at all,” he said. “Not at all. Zero.”

Then Laune, 44, gave way to his grief.

“I can’t process this,” he said. “She was so wonderful. She taught me how to love unconditionally. I was on two combat deployments with the Marine Corps and she wrote to me like clockwork. She knew what dedication was. She knew what love was. She knew what truth was. She was tough but super sweet.”

Jace, 51, was booked on suspicion of homicide and ordered held on $1 million bail. And it’s not clear he’ll be able to raise the money.

The Paterson, N.J.-born actor filed for bankruptcy in March 2011 and listed debts of $500,000 to $1 million — most of it owed on his home in the Hyde Park section, the AP reported.

Jace also owed more than $22,000 in state and federal income taxes, and still owed the state of California more than $20,000 in back taxes for 2008.

As part of the bankruptcy, Jace agreed to a repayment plan, but by last November he had already fallen $2,000 behind, according to the AP.

Jace is best known for playing Officer Julien Lowe on the FX series, a devoutly religious cop who is struggling with his homosexuality.

He also appeared on the show “Southland” and had small roles in the movies “Boogie Nights,” “Planet of the Apes” and “Forrest Gump.”

Jace and his dead wife were married for nine years. His previous marriage to Jennifer Bitterman ended in divorce in 2002.