Mount Pleasant Man Accused Of Killing Uncle

WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pa. — A man is facing a homicide charge, accused of shooting and killing his uncle, whom he claimed “came at him” with a wooden child’s oar.  The shooting happened before 11:45 a.m. Saturday on Low Street in Mount Pleasant, Westmoreland County, according to a criminal complaint. The document says Joshua Lowry, 45, called police to tell them he shot his uncle.  The uncle, who Pennsylvania State Police identified as Bruce Kasiewicz, was found shot in the chest and deceased in Lowry’s bedroom with blue latex gloves on his hands and a small wooden oar on the floor near his body.  In an interview with police, the complaint states Lowry told police that he woke up to Kasiewicz knocking on his bedroom window to wake him up.  Lowry then let Kasiewicz into the home and went back into the bedroom to get dressed. That’s when he says Kasiewicz put on the gloves and grabbed the wooden child’s oar, then stood in his doorway.  Lowry claimed he thought Kasiewicz “was there to kill him,” so he grabbed his muzzleloader and fired once, hitting Kasiewicz in the chest.  The complaint states that when investigators looked through the home, they found no physical evidence of a physical altercation or attempted physical altercation before the shooting. Lowry also lacked any injuries consistent with an altercation.  Investigators also state in the complaint that the “physical evidence preliminarily examined did not support Lowry’s statements as to the chain of events that led to him shooting the victim.”  Lowry is being held at the Westmoreland County Jail and was denied bail. He is set to appear in court again on July 1.