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Richard Andrew "Pop" Poplawski's ex-girlfriend said he dragged her by the hair and threatened to shoot her.

He slept with a gun under his pillow in a basement room filled with firearms and ammunition, convinced that Jews controlled the media and President Obama was scheming to take away his arsenal, friends and relatives said Saturday.

But those who know the man accused of killing three police officers and shooting a fourth also described Poplawski, 22, of Stanton Heights as quiet, clever and kind to dogs.

He remained in fair condition at UPMC Presbyterian in Oakland, with wounds in his legs suffered in a shootout with police who responded to a domestic violence call at the home he shared with his mother and grandmother.

"He was a violent, abusive man. He dragged me by the hair, pulling me across the floor. I saw him choke his own mother. He was controlling," said Melissa Gladish, 23, of Verona, his former girlfriend who received a protection from abuse order against him in 2005. She said she had no doubt he would kill someone.

"He was never afraid of anyone. Once, he accused me of cheating on him, which I didn't do. He told me he had a gun he kept buried ... and that he would dig it up and get me," she said.

But North Catholic High School classmate Jeff Loeffler, 23, of Ross said Poplawski was "very likable and easy to get along with."

"I want to know what went wrong. The kid was brilliant," Loeffler said.

Gladish met Poplawski when they worked at a King's Restaurant in Fox Chapel eight years ago. With him for 2 1/2 years, she said he had trouble remaining employed. He told her he enlisted in the Marine Corps after the 9/11 terrorist attacks but didn't make it through boot camp.

Despite nearly four years of estrangement, Gladish said Poplawski phoned her in the midst of his standoff with police.

"He said, 'I'm dying. I'm dying. I want you to know that I always loved you. You're still my baby,' " Gladish said. "I tried to calm him down. He said he was shot and that he was dying. He said, 'I'm lying in a pool of blood.' Then I heard a lot of noise, like a scuffle, and the phone went dead."

Poplawski's lifelong friend Edward Perkovic, 22, of Lawrenceville said Poplawski called him between 8:30 and 9 a.m. while Perkovic was working at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.

"I told him, 'Please don't do this,' " said Perkovic, who co-hosted an Internet political radio show with Poplawski.

Perkovic said Poplawski usually was affable and kind, but grew angry recently over fears Obama would outlaw guns. He said Poplawski owned a bullet-proof vest, an AK-47 assault rifle and at least seven other weapons, but obtained the firearms legally.

He said Poplawski feared America was "going to see the end of our times." Poplawski had little interest in clubs or sports in high school, but was a diehard Penguins fan, Perkovic said.

Another Stanton Heights friend, Aaron Bire, 22, said Poplawski "talked about Zionists controlling the media and thought Obama had good press because of his race."

Records show Poplawski lived and worked in West Palm Beach, Fla., in 2006 and briefly in Jeannette before returning to live with his mother, Margaret Poplawski, 41, in Stanton Heights. Margaret Poplawski was found guilty of spitting on her son's former girlfriend Gladish in 2005 and paid a $238.50 fine, according to court filings.

The younger Poplawski was cited three times by Pittsburgh, Etna and Wilkinsburg police over the past six years -- for smoking in school, disorderly conduct and disregarding a traffic device, court records show.

North Side District Judge Robert P. Ravenstahl Jr. -- Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's father -- dismissed the juvenile smoking charge. Records show Poplawski pleaded guilty to the traffic and disorderly conduct charges.

Friends and relatives said Poplawski slept with a gun under his pillow. His great-aunt, Marianne Klimczyk of Natrona Heights, suspected he went to bed wearing body armor in case intruders broke in. Others believed he might have been surprised by the police and didn't realize he was shooting at officers.

"We need to have a balanced view of him," said Stanton Heights neighbor Holly Zielinski, 31. "No person is all good or all bad."

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