Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Gunman kills 3 in N.Y., is shot

Police seek a motive in the shootings, which claimed two officers.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published March 16, 2007

NEW YORK - A gunman wearing a fake beard and carrying 100 rounds of ammunition fatally shot a pizzeria employee and two unarmed volunteer police officers in Greenwich Village before other officers shot him to death, the mayor said Thursday.

Authorities were investigating why David Garvin, 32, went into a pizzeria around 9 p.m. Wednesday, asked for a menu and then shot an employee 15 times in the back before fleeing, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

A neighborhood resident, Tina Lourenco, said she saw the gunman and recognized him as a former employee of the pizzeria.

Two auxiliary police officers, Nicholas Todd Pekearo and Eugene Marshalik, responded to the shooting and approached Garvin, who crossed the street and fired at them.

New York has 4,500 auxiliary officers, civilian volunteers who wear uniforms, are unarmed and help patrol streets.

The two wrestled with Garvin over a black shoulder bag that police said was packed with about 100 rounds of ammunition and a .380-caliber Russian handgun.

Both auxiliary officers continued after Garvin even after he started firing, witness Alan McDonald said.

"They tried to use cars as cover ... but there were rapid shots. I was paralyzed," he said. "It was like something you see on TV."

As Garvin began to run again, about six plainclothes officers intercepted him between Sullivan and MacDougal streets and told him to drop his 9mm handgun, police said.

The gunman refused and opened fire as terrified pedestrians ran into restaurants, shops and doorways for cover. When it was over, Garvin lay dead in the street.

Authorities recovered the 9mm semiautomatic pistol Garvin fired, plus a .380-caliber semiautomatic handgun in a bag with the ammunition, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said. Garvin shot at least 23 rounds.

"He appeared to be ready to take even more lives," Kelly said.

Andy Paul, a singer whose band was about to perform, said people had flocked to the area's outdoor cafes to enjoy one of the first warm evenings of springlike weather when the gunshots began.

"He was running this way, putting a new clip in," Paul said. "He turned around, firing at the cops."

"I hit the ground," he said. "I wasn't paying attention to anything. I just didn't want to get shot."

Police identified the employee as Alfredo Romaro, 35.

Pekearo, 28, was a writer with a book scheduled to be published soon, the mayor said. Marshalik, 19, a student at nearby New York University, had immigrated from Russia, Bloomberg said.

"Tonight was a horrible night for the New York Police Department and for our city," Bloomberg said. "Two men who volunteered their time to make our city the safest big city in America lost their lives helping to keep it exactly that way."

City officials said the two auxiliary officers would get full police honors at their funerals.

The shooting scene is near NYU's downtown campus, close to Washington Square Park.

Information from the New York Daily News was used in this report.

[Last modified March 16, 2007, 01:41:08]