Police: Lower Burrell man admits to gunning down owner of Irish pub

A Lower Burrell man allegedly drove himself to the city’s police station Thursday morning and admitted to gunning down the owner of a popular neighborhood bar.

Nathan Salem, 45, is charged with homicide and third-degree murder in the death of David Magill, the well-known owner of Mogie’s Irish Pub on Leechburg Road.

A Lower Burrell patrolman was monitoring traffic outside the adjacent Bon Air Elementary School when he heard gunshots nearby, according to the criminal complaint. The school is about 300 yards from the bar, which is at the intersection of Leechburg Road and Wildlife Lodge Road.

The officer found Mr. Magill with a gunshot wound to the torso. He was taken to Allegheny Valley Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The patrolman heard the shots about 9:08 a.m., according to the complaint. Two minutes later, Mr. Salem allegedly walked into the lobby of Lower Burrell’s municipal building about a mile away. He put his hands up and “advised that he had committed a shooting,” according to the criminal complaint.

Police said Mr. Salem shouted, “I shot him,” as he was taken into custody. He also alerted officers to two guns in his silver Ford Ranger, one of which had “expanding rounds” that could penetrate a ballistics vest.

He also asked officers if “Mogie” was dead, according to the complaint.

Outside the bar, investigators found several bullet strikes in the driver’s side of Mr. Magill’s 2018 Chevy truck, and at least one bullet appeared to have hit a window of the bar, police said. Employees told investigators another bullet looks to be lodged in an inner wall.

Shell casings from a 9mm handgun were found on Wildlife Lodge Road, which runs adjacent to the pub.

The shooting stunned the small city, where Mr. Magill was considered a community pillar.

“The city of Lower Burrell is grieving today with the tragic loss of not only one of our city’s business owners, but our good friend, David Magill,” officials wrote on the city’s Facebook page. “Mogie was a friend to all of us here at the city … and an avid supporter of our Lower Burrell Police Department.”

Mr. Magill was particularly passionate about supporting local police departments, especially their fallen officers. He hosted annual fundraisers at his bar for the Officer Brian Shaw Foundation, named for the New Kensington police officer and Lower Burrell native who was killed in the line of duty in 2017.

“He appreciated the sacrifice and dedication of all those who made our communities safe,” state Rep. Jill Cooper, R-Westmoreland, said in a statement. “To him, ‘Back the Blue’ was much more than a catchphrase for the back of a T-shirt. Today is certainly a dark day.”