Gun search continues

Police are asking people who hike, bike or walk the trails and roads in Keystone State Park in Derry Township to look for a .22-caliber semi-automatic handgun manufactured by Phoenix Arms which may have been used to kill Dr. Andrew Bagby, 28, of Latrobe.

Bagby's body was found Nov. 6 in the parking lot of the park's boat launching area near Keystone Lake. The park is located about five miles from Latrobe.

Using divers, state police searched a portion of the lake. Police also used metal detectors to search nearby woods for the gun which, according to a police affidavit, was given to Bagby by a former medical school classmate. Bagby's apartment and vehicle also were searched.

State police released a photo of the gun as they continue to question hospital officials, colleagues and friends of the California native, who had started a three-year residency in family medicine in July.

Even with the public's help, the task of finding the weapon will be difficult because of the size of the park.

Keystone encompasses 1,200 acres with a 78-acre lake. There also are six miles of hiking trails and two miles of bike trails, according to the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

There is a camping area that includes 11 cabins and 100 tent and trailer sites within the state park.

Phoenix Arms was based in Ontario, Calif., and was known for making inexpensive handguns. It was a large supplier of "junk guns" and Saturday Night Specials, according to the Center for Policy Violence, which studies violent crime in the United States.

Last February, the California Attorney General ordered the firm to stop manufacturing and selling the .22-caliber weapon because it did not meet California safety standards. The gun was inexpensive, selling for $80 retail.

Phoenix Arms has since gone out of business, records show.

Bagby was shot five times in the head, face, chest and buttocks, according to the autopsy report. He also suffered a blow to the head that contributed to his death, the autopsy concluded.

The gun, according to state police, was given to Bagby by Dr. Shirley J. Turner of Council Bluffs, Iowa, his medical school classmate at Memorial University of Newfoundland.

After they graduated, they both worked as surgical residents in Syracuse, N.Y. She reportedly visited Bagby the weekend before his death.

Turner was employed in Sac City, Iowa, until late July when she went to work in Council Bluffs for another health care system.

Turner could not be reached for comment. A receptionist at the clinic where she works said Turner was not at work Tuesday and didn't know when she would return.

During a search of Bagby's hospital-owned apartment, investigators removed 26 envelopes containing photographs found in an upstairs bedroom, an envelope containing negatives, three rolls of film, and three, 16-ounce containers of Boddington's beer that was found in the basement, according to an inventory list filed by the state police with District Justice Michael Mahady of Unity Township.

While the police investigation continues, the hospital is planning a memorial service for Bagby this evening.

The private service will be conducted by the Greater Latrobe Ministerial Association for the hospital's faculty, staff and interns in the residency program, said Robin Stahl Jennings, a spokeswoman for the hospital.

Staff Writer Dwayne Pickels contributed to this story.

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