diariobombeiro

In the pre-dawn hours of Christmas Eve, William Spengler Jr., who in 1980 beat his grandmother to death with a hammer, set fire to his home and car at 191 Lake Road. Spengler then burrowed into what police described as “a hollow,” and lay in wait.
As firefighters arrived, he opened fire, killing a 19-year-old volunteer firefighter and a 20-year veteran of the Webster Police Department, while injuring two other firefighters and an off-duty Greece police officer.
Slain were volunteer firefighters Mike Chiapperini, 43, a Webster Police Department lieutenant and the department’s public information officer, and Tomasz Kaczowka, 19, a Monroe County 911 dispatcher.
Spengler then shot himself. Police found his body on the Lake Ontario beach.

Pickering said the first 911 call is believed to have been made by a neighbor. The caller reported a car and a house on fire.
Police and firefighters were on scene within minutes, and that’s when the first shots were fired. Police say it appears that Spengler had positioned himself in a higher area where he could fire down on first responders.
A Webster Police officer responding to the scene exchanged gunfire with Spengler, and is credited with saving lives by keeping others back.
Pickering said one of the firefighters was able to escape in his private vehicle, while the others remained pinned down for around an hour.