Two Volunteer NYPD Officers Shot, Killed (AP March 15th 07) Two others dead in shooting.

Two Volunteer NYPD Officers Shot, Killed

Two others dead in shootings

Posted: March 15th, 2007 09:04 AM EDT

Courtesy of WABC-TV

Volunteer Officers Nicholas Todd Pekearo and Eugene Marshalik

AP Photo/Charles Edouard Jottras

NYPD officers look at the body of the gunman who shot and killed two volunteer officers and two others, March 14.

By COLLEEN LONG
Associated Press Writer

A gunman rampaged through a strip of restaurants and bars in a trendy Manhattan neighborhood, killing a pizzeria employee and two unarmed volunteer police officers before other officers shot him to death, the mayor said.

Gunman David Gavin had a fake beard, two guns and 100 rounds of ammunition, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said early Thursday.

"Tonight was a horrible night for the New York Police Department and for our city," he 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 shooting began around 9 p.m. Wednesday, the mayor said. Gavin, 32, went into a Greenwich Village pizzeria, asked for a menu and then shot an employee 15 times in the back before fleeing, Bloomberg said. Police identified the employee as Alfredo Romaro, 35.

Nicholas Todd Pekearo and Eugene Marshalik, two of the city's nearly 4,500 volunteer police officers, responded to the shooting and approached Gavin, who crossed the street and fired at them. Volunteer officers are civilians who wear uniforms, are unarmed and help patrol streets.

Gavin then exchanged gunfire with regular officers, the mayor said. Several uniformed officers suffered minor injuries.

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

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

A worker in a nearby restaurant, Nikola Simic, said he saw police officers swarm toward the middle of the street where the volunteer officers were slain.

"Then we heard a shooting that was like a good five minutes," Simic said.

Police said they did not know what prompted Gavin to begin shooting.

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. The mayor said Marshalik hoped eventually to join the police force.

Marshalik and Pekearo were the first New York City volunteer police officers to die in the line of duty since 1993, according to the mayor. Only five other volunteer officers have died in the line of duty in the city's history.

The street where the shooting occurred is located near NYU's downtown campus, close to Washington Square Park and near several famous bars and restaurants, including Cafe Wha?, where Bob Dylan used to perform.

Associated Press writers Samantha Gross and Jennifer Peltz contributed to this report.

---

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

BS Ranch Perspective:

 

March 15th was a terrible day in Law Enforcement History, the Texas Troopers lost a good Officer to a traffic collision and this amazing shoot out at a business in New York. With all the shooting that was going on it was amazing that there was only four lives lost. New York Police did a great job, considering the situation and how it started. The two Officers that were on scene first was the two Axillary Officers or in California they are known as Reserve Officers. It is a natural Progression Volunteer job, that gives you the perspective to see if Law Enforcement is something that you want to do for the rest of your life. Because unlike any other career, Law Enforcement is a life style and not just a career or a job.

 

Even though my prayers go out to the families of the Auxiliary Officers and their families, the lives that they touched in a positive way by their volunteering that they did for the city that they loved so much to do what they did that they gave the ultimate sacrifice to. God Bless and God Speed my fellow Officers.

 

BS Ranch