Former Camden Parking Authority director Anthony Scarduzio committed suicide with a shotgun blast to the head, Gloucester County's prosecutor said Friday at a news conference.

Prosecutor Andrew Yurick also revealed new details about Scarduzio's murder attempt on a former friend who filed a whistle-blower suit alleging wrongdoing in the authority. Yurick also said some questions remain.

Yurick said said investigators don't know how Scarduzio obtained the .32-caliber gun used to shoot Joseph Bowen. He said the weapon was an older-model handgun that uses a " very unusual" cartridge.

"We're looking to see where he (Scarduzio) got the gun," Yurick said. "We don't know."

The prosecutor also said a box of bullets purchased by Scarduzio was found in the Williamstown home of Anthony " Butch" D'Alessandro - the house that Scarduzio broke into before killing himself.

Bullets were missing from the box and may have been used by Scarduzio when he attempted to murder Bowen on July 9 behind a Washington Township ice cream parlor, Yurick said.

Yurick wouldn't say how the box got into the home or how many bullets were missing.

Scarduzio, 47, was the target of a criminal investigation. Bowen, 50, a former authority employee, had filed a whistle- blower lawsuit against Scarduzio.

The prosecutor's suicide ruling came more than two weeks after the county medical examiner had reached the same conclusion.

Yurick described how Bowen narrowly escaped death during his fight with Scarduzio.

Early in the morning on July 9, Bowen was riding on a small tractor behind Aaron's ice cream parlor, a property that he owns on Hurffville-Cross Keys Road.

According to Yurick, Scarduzio confronted him, saying: " Why did you do this to me?"

Bowen replied: "You did this to yourself."

Scarduzio fired six shots, hitting Bowen four times.

Bowen hit Scarduzio with the tractor, breaking his pelvis.

With both men badly wounded, they rolled on the ground, wrestling for the gun.

Scarduzio won the battle and planted himself atop Bowen.

He held the pistol inches from Bowen's face.

He pulled the trigger.

"The gun did not discharge," Yurick said.

It was empty. Bowen survived.

Frustrated, Scarduzio beat Bowen with a plank and then he drove himself to D'Alesandro's home, Yurick said.

No one was home when Scarduzio broke in through the back door.

He grabbed a loaded shotgun out of an unlocked case by the front door, Yurick said.

Steadying the barrel with his left hand, he pulled the trigger with his right.

The blast hit the right side of his head.

"He died instantaneously," Yurick said.

At the house Friday, D'Alessandro said he's getting tired of answering questions about the suicide.

"I didn't give Tony no bullets. I didn't give him my gun," said D'Alessandro, 72, as he swept the pavement near his in- ground pool.

D'Alessandro said he was furious that investigators have been asking questions about why Scarduzio came to his house, and why the bullets were found there.

"Why he came in the back door - I don't know!" D' Alessandro said, shaking a broom. "With my hand on a Bible, I couldn't answer that."

He was asked why bullets Scarduzio purchased were found in his home.

"Hey, I get a lot of shells. Why didn't they go downstairs and get a whole bag of shells that people gave my son and gave me?"

Yurick said D'Alessandro is not under investigation.

"I'm not pointing to Mr. D'Alessandro in any way. I want to make that clear," the prosecutor said.

Yurick also said the pistol used to shoot Bowen, typical of many that entered the country between World War I and World War II, may not be registered.

Ed Tarpy, owner of Ed's Gun Shop in Deptford, said the pistol was an odd choice of murder weapon.

"It's not the kind of gun I would use if I wanted to take somebody out," Tarpy said.

Scarduzio's family did not respond to requests for comment Friday.

In an interview Thursday, however, Jack Scarduzio said he is not convinced his brother killed himself.

"My brother didn't have the guts to take a fish off a hook," Jack Scarduzio said.

Bowen did not respond to interview requests.

Patricia Pierce of Willig, Williams & Davidson, the law firm representing Bowen, said she has advised him against making any statements to the news media for now.

Staff writers Alan Guenther, Tim Zatzariny and Kim Maialetti contributed to this report.