Greenwich Village Gunfight Leaves Four Dead

New York, NY — Police are investigating why a former marine opened fire on a pizzeria Wednesday night, fatally shooting a bartender, and then killing two unarmed auxiliary police officers who chased him through a busy stretch of bars and restaurants in the heart of Greenwich Village.

The gunman himself was shot to death about 9:30 p.m. by regular police officers who quickly responded to the scene, the authorities said.

The two dead volunteer officers were identified as Nicholas T. Pekearo, 28, of Manhattan, and Yevgeniy Marshalik, 19, of Nassau County, on Long Island. Mr. Pekearo was said by the authorities to be a would-be writer; Mr. Marshalik a student at New York University. The two were members of the city’s auxiliary police force, which is made up of unpaid volunteers who wear uniforms virtually indistinguishable from those of New York City Police officers but who are unarmed.

The bartender who was killed was identified as Alfredo Romero Morales, who was said to be 33.

At a news conference, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly identified the shooter as David Garvin. They said he had a bag with a fake beard, two guns and 100 rounds of ammunition. Police officials later said he was a former marine.

“Tonight was a horrible night for the New York Police Department and for our city,” Mr. 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.”

The police said Mr. Garvin, wearing a fake beard, entered De Marco’s Pizzeria on Macdougal and West Houston Streets, and was given a menu by Mr. Romero. When Mr. Romero turned away, the authorities said, the gunman shot him 15 times in the back.

Then Mr. Garvin ran outside, and the two auxiliary officers followed him toward Sullivan Street, where he suddenly turned and shot them, the authorities said.

When police officers shot and killed Mr. Garvin, they found the 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistol he fired at the pizzeria, plus a .380-caliber semiautomatic handgun in a bag with about 100 rounds of ammunition, Commissioner Kelly said. He had shot at least 23 rounds.

“He appeared to be ready to take even more lives,” the police commissioner said.

Mayor Bloomberg was asked at the news conference what might have prompted the attack.

“It’s just inexplicable,” he said.

A neighborhood resident, Tina Lourenco, told reporters that she had seen the gunman and recognized him as a former employee of the pizzeria.

But Dominick De Marco Jr., whose sister, Margaret Mieles, is a part owner of the pizza parlor, said Mr. Garvin was probably not a former employee, but instead a former customer.

He said an employee told his sister that Mr. Gavin came in every few weeks for a bowl of spaghetti. Mr. DeMarco said Mr. Garvin might have known someone who used to work at the pizzeria.

Ms. Mieles said Mr. Romero had returned to work just a week ago after caring for his companion, who recently suffered a miscarriage.

Ms. Mieles said she last spoke to Mr. Romero on Wednesday, when he called her from the restaurant.

Ms. Mieles and her brothers plan to shut down the bar and restaurant part of the business on April 1, and only keep the pizzeria open.

Part of the heartbreak of Mr. Romero’s death, she said, was that she had considered letting him go months ago because the bar and restaurant were faltering. Ms. Mieles said she is haunted by the thought that is if she had let Mr. Romero go, he might still be alive.

But she and the pizzeria’s other owners decided to keep Mr. Romero on, she said, partly because he was a hard worker and largely because he was widely liked.

She said she was mystified about why the shooter targeted him.

“I don’t understand. Why Alfredo? ” she asked. “It doesn’t make sense. And it never, ever will.”

Anthony Ruffino, who helped run the restaurant, said Mr. Garvin routinely came to the restaurant for a bowl of spaghetti, but that nothing in his behavior seemed odd.

“He’d come in for the pastas, say have a nice day, leave a tip and go,” Mr. Ruffino said.

Still, Mr. Ruffino said, Mr. Garvin was friends with a cook who had been fired in late October or early November. The employee left without incident, he said.

“He didn’t seem to have issues with anything,” Mr. Ruffino said.

Mr. Ruffino said Mr. Garvin had come in several times after the firing, but never seemed angry or vengeful.

Witnesses to last night’s shooting described a wild scene in which as many as 30 shots were fired, creating pandemonium as patrons spilled out from Village watering holes like the Lion’s Den and the Back Fence on a breezy springlike night. In one case, a comedy act in a basement club on Bleecker Street was briefly interrupted — although the show in fact went on.

“I was in the middle of my set and I heard a series of pops and someone came running downstairs and said, ‘A person is being shot outside,’ “ said Hassan Madry, 28, who was performing on stage at the Village Lantern. “I tried to calm everybody down. I told some of my jokes. You know, you got to go on with it.”

Mr. Romero’s companion, Martha Pioquinto, said he had worked at the pizzeria for about two years. He is from Puebla, Mexico, and lived in a small apartment in Sunnyside, Queens, with Ms. Pioquinto.

This morning, she told reporters in Spanish that Mr. Romero was not a violent man, and she said she did not know anyone who would have wanted to hurt him.

He worked six days a week, making about $400 to $450 a week, including tips. They had planned on moving next year back to Mexico, she said.

The police told her Wednesday night that he was dead, but she still held out hope that he was really alive, and only injured. Then she heard his name on the news at about 5 a.m.

“That’s when I realized it was him,” said Ms. Pioquinto, 34. “I was hoping it was all wrong. But when I heard his name on the news, that’s when I realized it was him.”

Maya Marshaliks, the mother of one of the auxiliary officers, said their family left Russia 13 years ago, to escape the violence of the war in Chechnya. Yevgeniy Marshalik, known as Eugene, was 6 when the family arrived in Brooklyn as refugees.

He later attended Stuyvesant High School, where he earned high marks and joined the debating team, and then went to New York University.

Mr. Marshalik recently announced his intentions to go to law school in order to become a prosecutor, Ms. Marshalik said.

“He wanted to enforce the law, he really wanted to stop crime,” she said.

Mr. Marshalik joined the auxiliary police about 18 months ago, his mother said, but did not tell her for four or five months, because he knew she would worry. He tried to assuage his mother’s concerns, she said, telling her over and over, “Don’t worry, don’t worry, the last time they shot an auxiliary, it was a long time ago.”

Hilary Elkins, 28, who lives on Sullivan and Bleecker Streets, said she saw a man in civilian clothes running south on Sullivan about 9:30 p.m. with a gun in his hand. Five police officers were giving chase, she said, then suddenly opened fire on the man.

“There was fire coming from everywhere,” Ms. Elkins said. “There was a cop who was shooting and then took cover behind a pole.”

Stephen Smitty, 48, a bar bouncer from Staten Island, was standing outside the Back Fence talking with a friend when the gunfire erupted.

“I was chit-chatting and all of a sudden it sounded like fireworks,” Mr. Smitty said. “I saw a cop on his knees with no hat on and soon people started talking about a dead cop.”

About 4,800 unarmed auxiliary officers work on a volunteer basis with the New York Police Department. They wear a blue uniform much like those of regular officers but instead of a silver badge wear a seven-pointed star that resembles a sheriff’s shield. The last time an auxiliary officer was killed in the line of duty was 14 years ago.