Alpine man arraigned on charges of shooting wife

By Christy Scott
The Alpine Sun

     ALPINE — Alpine residents are still shaken by the shooting incident that took place in a small neighborhood home last Thursday night. Police responded to the home in the 700 block of Camino Scarpitta, to find Kristen Marie Maxwell-Bruce, 38, shot in the face by her husband Lowell Bruce, 40.
     “He told us he had accidentally shot his wife,” said San Diego County Sheriff Department Lieutenant Dennis Brugos at the scene.
     Brugos told reporters that Bruce, a deputy assigned to the Las Colinas Detention Facility, initially said the shooting was an accident that occurred during an argument. The couple’s two sons (ages 4 and 7), the victim’s mother and another relative were also at the house off of South Grade Road on Thursday night. Investigators believe that one of the couples’ sons was in the room at the time of the shooting.
     On Tuesday, Bruce appeared via television screen at his arraignment, standing next to his attorney, who entered a not-guilty plea to the charges of murder and felony child-endangerment.
     In court, prosecutors described their version of the incidents inside the house in Alpine that took place last Thursday night, gathered from investigators.
     “The defendant returned home from work on Thursday night some time after 8 p.m., we believe, and began to argue with his wife in their bedroom,” said prosecutor William Gentry. “The victim and the defendant have two small children, ages 4 and 7. They were present in the home.
     “The argument escalated and at some point, the defendant retrieved his service pistol from his duty belt — a .40 caliber Glock. He pointed it at the victim, and we believe she said something to the effect of, ‘Just go ahead and shoot.’ And the defendant shot her once in the face.
     “The victim was conscious and ambulatory for a period of time. We believe the 4-year-old son was present in the room when this happened. She left the room, screaming. She had suffered a bullet wound to the lower right jaw, which exited behind her left ear, shattering her jaw.
     “She was able to talk with a 911 operator for a couple of minutes. She died within an hour,” he said.
     The sheriff’s department received a 911 call last Thursday just before 11 p.m. from a woman who said her daughter had been shot. Moments later a second call came in, this one from Bruce who identified himself as a sheriff’s deputy, and said he had just shot his wife.
     According to Brugos, paramedics took Maxwell-Bruce to the nearby school parking lot, where a helicopter could land to fly her to a hospital. She died at 11:48 p.m., before the helicopter could reach her.
     Brugos said investigators don’t know the cause of the argument, and there’s no record of domestic violence or history of calls made to authorities from the home. He did say that the evidence so far, “does not support this being an accident.”
     “If we thought this was an accident, we wouldn’t have booked him on a murder charge,” Brugos said last week.
     Bruce was taken to the Alpine sheriff’s sub-station and then booked into jail.
     Brugos said authorities don’t plan to remove the children from the home. They are in the care of relatives.
     The judge at the arraignment gave Bruce a $2.5 million bail. He is due back in court on Jan. 10. He faces 56 years to life if convicted of all charges, according to prosecutors.

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