Shield Actor-Wife Killing

Actor Michael Jace appears in court in Los Angeles Thursday, May. 22, 2014. A judge has delayed the arraignment of Jace on a murder charge filed over his wife's shooting death earlier this week. Attorneys for Jace, who played a police officer in the hit TV series "The Shield," sought a continuance during the actor's first court appearance in Los Angeles on Thursday. He's due back in court June 18. The 51-year-old was charged Thursday with a single count of murder and he is accused of shooting his wife April multiple times in their home Monday evening May 19,2014.
BY ANTHONY MCCARTNEY
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Actor Michael Jace, who is charged with killing his wife, called and told his father-in-law about the shooting and asked him to come for the couple's two young children soon after it happened, a 911 call released Thursday indicates.

In the three-minute call, the father of April Jace told a dispatcher that his son-in-law had called and texted him about the shooting.

"My son-in-law called me, and (texted) me, and said come get the kids because he shot April, our daughter," the caller, whose name was redacted from the audio, told a fire department dispatcher.

Michael Jace, who played a police officer on the TV series "The Shield," was arrested on May 19, and police have said he also called 911 directly to report that he had shot his wife. That 911 call was not released.

Jace has been charged with murder but has not yet entered a plea.

His father-in-law called 911 while driving to the Los Angeles home of the couple. By then, police had already been notified of the shooting, according to the audio.

Michael Jace's attorneys Jason Sias and Jamon Hicks did not comment on the content of the audio but noted that the case is relatively new and they were still investigating.

"We have the utmost concern for the Jace children," Sias and Hicks wrote. "Mr. Jace has a constitutional right to a defense. It remains extremely early and we are still in the fact-finding process."

Police have not disclosed a possible motive for the shooting but previously said they were investigating whether it was prompted by financial difficulties or other marital problems. Michael Jace had filed for bankruptcy in 2011 and had fallen behind on payments to creditors as recently as December.

The family of April Jace released a statement last week calling her death "a senseless act of domestic violence." The family said it was rallying around April Jace's three sons, who range in ages from 5 to 18.

April Jace, 40, a financial aid counselor at Biola University, had two sons with her husband, both of whom were at home at the time of her killing. They were uninjured. Her oldest son was from a previous marriage.

Michael Jace also appeared on the show "Southland" and had small roles in the movies "Planet of the Apes," `'Boogie Nights" and "Forrest Gump."