A community is reeling after an ex-con gunned down two firefighters early Monday after luring them to his neighbourhood by setting a car and a house ablaze.
When the emergency crew arrived shortly after 5:30 a.m. at the blaze in Webster, a suburb of Rochester. William Spengler opened fire on the men, killing two of four firemen, before committing suicide. An off-duty officer who was passing by was also injured.
Firefighters arrived on scene at 5:30 a.m., unaware they were walking into an ambush.
Spengler opened fire, killing Tomasz Kaczowka, 19, and Lt. Michael Chiapperini, 43. He injured two other firefighters and an off-duty police officer before he committed suicide.
Authorities used an armoured vehicle to help residents flee dozens of homes on the shore of Lake Ontario a day before Christmas.
Police restricted access to the neighbourhood, and officials said it was unclear whether there were other bodies in the seven houses left to burn. The gunfire initially kept firefighters from battling the blazes.
The fire appeared from a distance as a pulsating ball of flame glowing against the early morning sky, flames licking into treetops and reflecting on the water, with huge bursts of smoke billowing away in a brisk wind.
Spengler’s sister, who lived with him, is unaccounted for. His motive is still unknown.
Meanwhile, the tiny New York community at the centre of the tragedy was left struggling to deal with the loss of two men who volunteered their time to protect the neighbourhood.
When they weren’t fighting fires, Chiapperini was the Webster Police Department’s public information officer, and Kaczowka worked as a 911 dispatcher.
Webster police Chief Gerald Pickering described Chiapperini as a “lifetime firefighter” with nearly 20 years in the department, and he called Kaczowka a “tremendous young man.”
Chiapperini had visited Long Island seven weeks ago to help with relief efforts after Superstorm Sandy devastated the region, and his department named him “Firefighter of the Year” just two weeks ago, CNN reported.
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.
Hofstetter, a full-timer with the Rochester Fire Department, was hit once in the pelvis, and the bullet lodged in his spine, authorities said. Scardino was hit in the chest and knee.
Two of the firefighters arrived on a fire engine and two in their own vehicles, Pickering said. Spengler lay in wait 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.
After Spengler fired, one of the wounded men fled, but the other three couldn’t because of flying gunfire.
The first police officer who arrived chased the gunman and exchanged shots. He “in all likelihood saved many lives,” Pickering said.
The shooting and fires were in a neighbourhood 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.”
“It’s Christmas Eve,” former Rochester mayor and Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy, told the Democrat and Chronicle at a news conference Monday afternoon. “This is a day people are coming together to celebrate holidays. And this tragedy is just unthinkable and unspeakable.”
“These firemen are part of our family,” Commissioner Billy Gross told the Democrat and Chronicle. “You go into a fire with these guys. To see them go down with something like this is totally unexpected. We are in shock.”
“Each one of the firefighters is comforting each other,” fire district Commissioner Pat Morris reportedly said.
Emergency radio communications capture someone saying he “could see the muzzle flash coming at me” as Spengler carried out his ambush. The audio posted on the website RadioReference.com has someone reporting “firefighters are down” and saying “got to be rifle or shotgun — high powered … semi or fully auto.”
An audio file of radio calls from the shooting was also posted to YouTube and includes the conversation between one of the firefighters who were shot and an emergency dispatcher.
Philly Fire News posted the almost nine-minute-long file “to show the true bravery of the firefighter who was shot and pinned down due to the gun fire.”
“We are being shot at, multiple firemen down. Multiple firemen shot. I am shot. I think it was an assault rifle,” says one of the firefighters, who identified himself as “125.”
The firefighter was reportedly shot in the lower back and leg and pinned down by his firetruck after the gunman opened fire.
When the emergency crew arrived shortly after 5:30 a.m. at the blaze in Webster, a suburb of Rochester. William Spengler opened fire on the men, killing two of four firemen, before committing suicide. An off-duty officer who was passing by was also injured.
Firefighters arrived on scene at 5:30 a.m., unaware they were walking into an ambush.
Spengler opened fire, killing Tomasz Kaczowka, 19, and Lt. Michael Chiapperini, 43. He injured two other firefighters and an off-duty police officer before he committed suicide.
Authorities used an armoured vehicle to help residents flee dozens of homes on the shore of Lake Ontario a day before Christmas.
Police restricted access to the neighbourhood, and officials said it was unclear whether there were other bodies in the seven houses left to burn. The gunfire initially kept firefighters from battling the blazes.
The fire appeared from a distance as a pulsating ball of flame glowing against the early morning sky, flames licking into treetops and reflecting on the water, with huge bursts of smoke billowing away in a brisk wind.
Spengler’s sister, who lived with him, is unaccounted for. His motive is still unknown.
Max Schulte / Democrat & Chronicle / The Associated PressHomes burn on Lake Road on Monday 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.
When they weren’t fighting fires, Chiapperini was the Webster Police Department’s public information officer, and Kaczowka worked as a 911 dispatcher.
Webster police Chief Gerald Pickering described Chiapperini as a “lifetime firefighter” with nearly 20 years in the department, and he called Kaczowka a “tremendous young man.”
Chiapperini had visited Long Island seven weeks ago to help with relief efforts after Superstorm Sandy devastated the region, and his department named him “Firefighter of the Year” just two weeks ago, CNN reported.
Kaczowka’s brother, reached at the family home Monday night, said he didn’t want to talk.
FacebookLt. Michael Chiapperini, 43, the Webster Police Department's public information officer with his son, Nick, who is also a volunteer firefighter.
Hofstetter, a full-timer with the Rochester Fire Department, was hit once in the pelvis, and the bullet lodged in his spine, authorities said. Scardino was hit in the chest and knee.
Two of the firefighters arrived on a fire engine and two in their own vehicles, Pickering said. Spengler lay in wait 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.
After Spengler fired, one of the wounded men fled, but the other three couldn’t because of flying gunfire.
The first police officer who arrived chased the gunman and exchanged shots. He “in all likelihood saved many lives,” Pickering said.
The shooting and fires were in a neighbourhood 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.
FacebookTomasz Kaczowka, 19, a 911 dispatcher and volunteer firefighter.
“It’s Christmas Eve,” former Rochester mayor and Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy, told the Democrat and Chronicle at a news conference Monday afternoon. “This is a day people are coming together to celebrate holidays. And this tragedy is just unthinkable and unspeakable.”
“These firemen are part of our family,” Commissioner Billy Gross told the Democrat and Chronicle. “You go into a fire with these guys. To see them go down with something like this is totally unexpected. We are in shock.”
“Each one of the firefighters is comforting each other,” fire district Commissioner Pat Morris reportedly said.
Emergency radio communications capture someone saying he “could see the muzzle flash coming at me” as Spengler carried out his ambush. The audio posted on the website RadioReference.com has someone reporting “firefighters are down” and saying “got to be rifle or shotgun — high powered … semi or fully auto.”
An audio file of radio calls from the shooting was also posted to YouTube and includes the conversation between one of the firefighters who were shot and an emergency dispatcher.
Philly Fire News posted the almost nine-minute-long file “to show the true bravery of the firefighter who was shot and pinned down due to the gun fire.”
“We are being shot at, multiple firemen down. Multiple firemen shot. I am shot. I think it was an assault rifle,” says one of the firefighters, who identified himself as “125.”
The firefighter was reportedly shot in the lower back and leg and pinned down by his firetruck after the gunman opened fire.
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