Police: Gunman had been tossed from eatery

Garvin had been a bartender at another Manhattan spot until last month, when he was fired, said Brian Barrow, manager of the Raccoon Lodge.

"It just wasn't working out as a bartender," he said. "There was no animosity."

Barrow said Garvin was "very soft-spoken. You'd never guess that he would turn around and kill three people but it seems that's usually the way it is."

FREE VIDEO Deadly shootout March 15: A gunman fatally shoots a pizzeria employee and two unarmed volunteer police officers in New York City. MSNBC.com's Dara Brown reports. msnbc.com

Police also found a resume on Garvin's computer that listed jobs as a newspaper reporter, stringer and layout editor for The Wall Street Journal and The Mohave Valley Daily News of Bullhead City, Ariz.

Garvin was an information graphics coordinator for the Journal from 2000 to 2005, said Dow Jones spokesman Robert Christie.

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 emigrated from Russia, Bloomberg said.

The younger man joined the auxiliary force after deciding he wanted to become a prosecutor.

"He would say he really enjoyed it," said Tatyana Kochergina said at her cousin's suburban home. "He got along with everybody on the squad. Sometimes he would ride along with the NYPD. He felt like it was where he wanted to be."

Vest gave little protection
Pekearo was wearing a bulletproof vest, but only one shot hit the vest; bullets punctured his skin six times.

Someone taped a sign to a neighborhood lamppost, along with pink silk flowers. It read: "Rest in peace, our beloved auxiliaries."

City officials said the two auxiliary officers, the first to die in the line of duty since 1993, would get full police honors at their funerals. Only five other auxiliary officers have died on the job in the city's history.

Kelly said the city's nearly 4,500 auxiliary officers are not required to respond to emergency calls, but often serve as the "eyes and ears" of the police force.

"Day in and day out, they sacrifice their free time and energy for the people of our city," Kelly said.

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