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EL CAMPO – A man took his own life after trying to murder his estranged wife early Tuesday morning, police said.

Kallen Matthew Bubela, 26, shot himself in the head with the same 9 mm gun he had tried to kill his wife with moments earlier, according to a news release from the El Campo Police Department.

The wife, Alisa Renee Bubela, 25, was wounded and taken by LifeFlight helicopter to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston where she was listed in critical condition late Tuesday afternoon.

Marital problems between the separated couple are believed to be the motive behind the shooting, said investigating officer El Campo Police Lt. T.R. Stanphill. The couple was married in June 2001 when they were both 19. It is believed they had two children, the oldest 6, but that has not been confirmed, Stanphill said.

At about five minutes before 1 a.m. the husband, who had apparently followed the wife to where she was living with her brother and sister, confronted her in the driveway at 800 Hayden St. He shot her in the head and fled, according to the news release.

The wife’s brother, Robert Pavon, began to chase the husband who shot at him and the gun jammed or misfired. The two struggled, but the husband broke free and continued to run. Pavon went back to the house to administer first aid to his sister.

At a home on North Wharton Street, about two blocks from the initial shooting, the husband stopped and put the gun to his head. A witness reported that after two jams or misfires, the gun fired, according to the news release.

Wharton County Justice of the Peace Tim Drapela pronounced the husband dead at the scene of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. He ordered an autopsy.

Sonny Long is a reporter for the Victoria Advocate. He can be reached at 361-580-6585, by e-mail at slong@vicad.com, or comment on this story at VictoriaAdvocate.com.