2 firemen killed in N.Y. ambush

2 more hurt before gunman dies

A house burns Monday, Dec. 24, 2012 in Webster, New York. A former convict set a house and car ablaze in his lakeside New York state neighborhood to lure firefighters then opened fire on them, killing two and engaging police in a shootout before killing himself while several homes burned. Authorities used an armored vehicle to evacuate the area. (AP Photo/Democrat & Chronicle, Jamie Germano)
A house burns Monday, Dec. 24, 2012 in Webster, New York. A former convict set a house and car ablaze in his lakeside New York state neighborhood to lure firefighters then opened fire on them, killing two and engaging police in a shootout before killing himself while several homes burned. Authorities used an armored vehicle to evacuate the area. (AP Photo/Democrat & Chronicle, Jamie Germano)

— An ex-convict set a car and a house ablaze in his lakeside neighborhood to lure firefighters, then opened fire on them, killing two, engaging in a shootout with police and committing suicide while several homes burned. Authorities used an armored vehicle to evacuate the area.

The gunman fired at the four firefighters when they arrived shortly after 5:30 a.m. at the blaze in Webster, a suburb of Rochester on Lake Ontario, town Police Chief Gerald Pickering said. The first police officer who arrived chased the suspect and exchanged gunfire, authorities said.

Police said the gunman waited outdoors for the firefighters’ arrival, then opened fire probably with a rifle and from atop an earthen berm, Pickering said.

“It does appear it was a trap,” he said.

The gunman, William Spengler, had served more than 17 years in prison for beating his 92-year-oldgrandmother, Rose Spengler, to death with a hammer in 1980 at the house next to where Monday’s attack happened, Pickering said at an afternoon news conference.

Spengler had originally been charged with second degree murder. He pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter. Spengler, 62, was paroled in 1998 and had led a quiet life since, authorities said. Convicted felons are not allowed to possess weapons.

Two firefighters, one of whom was also a town police lieutenant, died at the scene, and two others were hospitalized. John Ritter, an off-duty police officer from Greece, N.Y., who happened to be driving by and stopped to help, suffered shrapnel wounds from the shooting, Pickering added.

Spengler’s motives were unclear, although Pickering said “there were certainly mental-health issues involved.”

Pickering said a Webster police officer exchanged “very brief ” gunfire with Spengler and “in all likelihood saved many lives.”

But, he said, authorities scoured the area for hours trying to locate the gunman before he was found dead about 11 a.m.

“It’s dark. We’ve got this raging inferno with black smoke everywhere,” he said. “We flooded the crime scene with officers.”

The fire continued to burn through the morning, having spread to several homes. Seven houses were destroyed, Pickering said, and police have not been able to get inside to determine if there are any more victims.

Police said Spengler’s 67-year-old sister Cheryl Spengler was unaccounted for. He lived in the house with his sister and mother, Arline, who died in October.

A friend said William Spengler didn’t seem violent but hated his sister. Roger Vercruysse lived next door to Spengler and recalled a man who doted on his mother, whose obituary suggested contributions to the West Webster Fire Department.

“He loved his mama to death,” said Vercruysse, who last saw his friend about six months ago. “I think after his mama passed, he went crazy.”

Vercruysse also said Spengler “couldn’t stand his sister” and “stayed on one side of the house and she stayed on the other.”

The West Webster Fire District received a report of a car and house on fire Monday on Lake Road, on a narrow peninsula where Irondequoit Bay meets Lake Ontario, Monroe County Sheriff Patrick O’Flynn said.

Two of the firefighters arrived on a fire engine and two in their own vehicles, Pickering said. After Spengler fired, one of the woundedmen managed to flee, but the other three couldn’t because of the gunfire.

A police armored vehicle was used to recover two of the men, and eventually it evacuated 33 people from nearby homes, the police chief said. The gunfire initially kept firefighters from battling the blazes.

“These people get up in the middle of the night to go put out fires; they don’t expect to be shot and killed,” Pickering said.

The dead men were identified as Police Lt. Michael Chiapperini, 43, the Webster Police Department’s public information officer; and Tomasz Kaczowka, also a 911 dispatcher, whose age was not released.

Pickering described Chiapperini as a “lifetime firefighter” with nearly 20 years with the department, and called Kaczowka a “tremendous young man.”

Kaczowka’s brother, reached at the family home Monday night, said he didn’t want to talk.

The two wounded firefighters, Joseph Hofstetter and Theodore Scardino, were in guarded condition in the intensive-care unit at Strong Memorial Hospital, authorities said. Both were awake and alert and are expected to recover.

At West Webster Fire Station 1, there were at least 20 bouquets on a bench in front Monday evening.

Grieving firefighters declined to talk to reporters. At an impromptu memorial vigil Monday evening, about 100 people stood in the cold night air, some holding candles. A Fire Department spokesman made a brief appearance, thanked them all and told them to go home and appreciate their families.

The shooting and fireswere in a neighborhood of seasonal and year-round homes set close together across the road from the lakeshore. The area is popular with recreational boaters but is normally quiet this time of year.

“We have very few calls for service in that location,” Pickering said. “Webster is a tremendous community. We are a safe community, and to have a tragedy befall us like this is just horrendous.”

O’Flynn lamented the violence, which comes on the heels of other shootings including the massacre of 20 students and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

“It’s sad to see that this is becoming more commonplace in communities across the nation,” O’Flynn said.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state police and Office of Emergency Management were working with local authorities.

“Volunteer firefighters and police officers were injured and two were taken from us as they once again answered the call of duty,” Cuomo said in a statement. “We as the community of New York mourn their loss as now two more families must spend the holidays without their loved ones.”

Webster, a middle-class suburb, now is the scene of violence linked to house fires for two Decembers in a row.

On Dec. 7 last year, authorities say, a 15-year-old boy doused his home with gasoline and set it ablaze, killing his father and two brothers, 16 and 12. His mother and 13-year-old sister escaped with injuries. He is being prosecuted as an adult.

Information for this article was contributed by John Kekis, Chris Carola, George Walsh and Mary Esch of The Associated Press and by Matt Flegenheimer, J. David Goodman and Wendy Ruderman of The New York Times.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 12/25/2012

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