Actor Michael Jace apparently killed his wife:

Michael Jace, who played a Los Angeles cop in TV’s “The Shield,” has been arrested in the fatal shooting of his wife, police said Tuesday.

Police found April Jace, 40, shot to death in her south Los Angeles home Monday night, Los Angeles Police Det. Lyman Doster said.

Michael Jace, 51, called 911 to report that his wife had been shot, Det. Dean Vinluan said, adding that he “was on the phone with the operator.” Neighbors who heard gunshots also called 911, he said.

Fans of The Shield will remember him as Julien Lowe, initially a beat cop who later moved on to become a member of Vic Mackey’s Strike Team. Lowe’s primary angle was that he was deeply religious and struggling with homosexuality. In the commentary, Jace departed from the other actors in a moderate endorsement of “pray the gay away” (which the Lowe character underwent, with at least temporary sorta-success) which sort of left Michael Chiklis (who played Mackey) trying to avoid saying “Wait. What?”

In any event, it wasn’t a particularly prominent part in the ensemble cast. If I were to write a list starting with the most prominent characters on the show, he’d make near the bottom of the top ten. Which actually make this tidbit kind of surprising:

Jace appeared to be suffering severe financial strain in recent years, according to court documents obtained by CNN. The actor filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in March 2011, citing $500,000 in debts and an annual income of around $80,000 from residuals from his TV and film work, the documents said.

Most of that had to come from The Shield, which is the most successful thing he’s ever been a part of. Which is pretty remarkable, considering that it was a cable show on which his part was not very prominent. That’s a nice chunk of annual change.