Man fatally shot uncle in chest with muzzleloader in Mount Pleasant Township home, police say

A Westmoreland County man was charged with homicide after police said he shot and killed his uncle on Saturday. 

According to the criminal complaint, Joshua Lowry told investigators that he shot his uncle in the chest with a muzzleloader because he believed his uncle, who was holding a wooden oar, was trying to kill him. However, police said investigators didn't see any evidence that any fight or struggle had taken place before the shooting.

Pennsylvania State Police said troopers were called to the home on Low Street in Mount Pleasant Township shortly before noon on Saturday. When police got there, they said they found Bruce Kasiewicz unresponsive in a bedroom. He was wearing blue latex gloves, and a small wooden oar was lying on the floor next to him, troopers said. 

During an interview, police said Lowry told troopers that he woke up to the sound of his uncle hitting his bedroom window. He said he let Kasiewicz in, then went back to his bedroom to get dressed. Lowry told police that Kasiewicz said he was going to shut off the utilities before a previously agreed-upon eviction date.

Lowry said while he was in his bedroom, he saw Kasiewicz standing in the doorway wearing gloves and holding a wooden oar, and believing his uncle was going to kill him, Lowry grabbed his muzzleloader and fired, police said. 

Investigators said Lowry didn't show any injuries consistent with a fight, and "the physical evidence preliminarily examined did not support Lowry's statements as to the chain of events that led to him shooting the victim," police wrote in the criminal complaint. Troopers said Lowry also didn't try to provide first aid to Kasiewicz. 

Lowry had apparently lived at the home for three to four years, but state police said that he had not paid rent to his uncle in almost a year, so his uncle was planning to evict him next month.

"The way it was described to me was a landlord-tenant issue that the two of them had been dealing with for a little while and for whatever reason, Mr. Lowry decided to discharge a firearm," said Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Steve Limani. "And the way it was described, the original argument was about utilities possibly being turned off."

Former roommate Brooke Nelson said she lived at the house on Low Street with Lowry for several months two years ago. She said she was in shock when she heard about the shooting.

"He was one of the happiest men I have ever met," Nelson said of Lowry. "Anything I needed, I could go to Josh, and he'd do it. I could literally walk into his room and wake him out of his sleep, and he'd be like, 'yes, what do you need?' And then I would tell him, and he would roll over and go right back to sleep. And then he would get up, he would leave for work, he'd come home and then go to bed. I mean, he was never angry."

Lowry has been charged with criminal homicide and has been denied bail, the Westmoreland County District Attorney's Office said.