A band of volunteers combed the grounds of a Westminster trucking company yesterday in search of evidence, as investigators tried to determine who fatally shot a driver there.
But police said yesterday that they had no suspects in the slaying of Scott Edward Shipley, who was found mortally wounded about 5 a.m. Friday at Gross Trucking in the 400 block of Lucabaugh Mill Road.
An autopsy showed that Shipley, who would have been 29 next week, died from several gunshot wounds to his upper torso, Maj. Greg Shipley, a state police spokesman and no relation to the victim, said yesterday. He would not say how many times the victim had been shot.
The spokesman said about a dozen investigators were conducting follow-up interviews and otherwise working the case under the supervision of the state police homicide unit, adding, "The investigation is very active."
The Western Maryland crime-scene search team, a group of trained volunteers, was at the trucking company yesterday looking for clues in the 1-acre site around the parking area. Members of the team were on their hands and knees, Major Shipley said.
He would not say whether shell casings or other evidence had been found. Police have not found a weapon, he said.
The spokesman said that anyone with information on the crime should call the state police Westminster barracks.
As police continued their investigation, members of the victim's family struggled to understand why Shipley was killed.
"Nobody can believe this," said the Shipley's father, Raymond E. Shipley of Westminster. "It doesn't make sense."
Shipley was to have begun work yesterday driving trucks for his father at Shipley Transport in Sykesville, his father said.
Scott Shipley married Melissa Baumgardner in December and the couple was expecting a child in February. He had two stepsons, Sirus and Dakota Miller, ages 11 and 8, and lived in the 1900 block of Blacks Schoolhouse Road in Silver Run.
"He was a good child, never a problem," said his mother, Brenda Koontz Shipley. He is also survived by two brothers, Steven Shipley and Travis Shipley, and grandparents Herbert and Ruth Shipley, all of Westminster.
Scott Shipley played trumpet occasionally with the Westminster Municipal Band. He also was an avid NASCAR fan, and a member of Westminster Moose Lodge No. 1381, Littlestown Eagles Aerie No. 2226, and Deer Park United Methodist Church in Smallwood. Funeral services are scheduled for today at Fletcher Funeral Home, 254 E. Main St., Westminster.
Scott Shipley was a 1992 graduate of Westminster High School and the Carroll County vocational-technical program, where he received state and national awards as a diesel mechanic. Before going to work for Gross Trucking in April, he had worked five or six years for Alban Engine Power Systems in Elkridge as a diesel mechanic, Raymond Shipley said.
The family said memorial contributions for his children could be made to the Scott E. Shipley Trust Fund, in care of New Windsor State Bank, 444 WMC Drive, Westminster 21158.
At Gross Trucking yesterday, employees were on edge, wondering whether any of the truckers who might have angered someone on the road could have been the intended target of the violence.
"A lot of the drivers . . . wonder whether it was meant for them," said a mechanic who would give his name only as Jason, saying he was fearful. "I wish they would find the person."
This year in Carroll County, suspects have been charged in three homicides; a fourth homicide victim was killed in a murder-suicide, said Lt. Terry L. Katz, Westminster barracks commander.
The county recorded no homicides last year. In 2000, the killing of a pizza shop employee in Westminster remains unsolved.