A 29-year-old Dundalk man was found fatally shot early yesterday in his idling Dodge truck in an East Baltimore parking lot, police said.

Detectives said that a bystander was passing through the parking lot about 6:15 a.m. when he noticed the truck's engine running and a hole in the driver's window. The witness called police who discovered Brian Ziegler, 29, slumped in the front seat. Ziegler, of the 4000 block of St. Monica Drive, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Ziegler's death pushed the number of homicides in the Eastern District to 58 this year -- a toll that continues to climb above last year's total of 39, police said.

The rising number of homicides in the Eastern District comes despite increased police presence in the area since 2000.

Through June, the district had posted an 84 percent increase in homicides compared with last year. That number has diminished since -- to 70 percent through November and to 50 percent as of Wednesday, according to police statistics.

Anyone with information on this case is asked to call Detective Joe Phelps, 396-2100.