E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSVisit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Two firefighters who survived an ambush in upstate New York that killed two of their colleagues said Thursday they were "humbled and a bit overwhelmed" by well wishes in the wake of the tragedy as more details emerged of the deadly attack.
West Webster volunteer firefighters Joseph Hofstetter and Theodore Scardino, who had been in guarded condition, were upgraded to satisfactory condition on Wednesday at Rochester's Strong Memorial Hospital.
As authorities continued their investigation into the assault that William Spengler, 62, carried out on the volunteers responding to a blaze in Webster early Monday, the hospital released a statement from the survivors.
The pair said their "thoughts and prayers" were with the families of their colleagues Michael Chiapperini, 43, and Tomasz Kaczowka, 19, who were shot dead at the scene. They were also "humbled and a bit overwhelmed by the outpouring of well wishes for us and our families," the statement said.
Chiapperini was killed by a single gunshot wound, while Kaczowka died as a result of two gunshot injuries, according to autopsy results released by New York State Police on Thursday afternoon.
Spengler, who was convicted of killing his grandmother in 1980, died of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head, police said in a statement. He shot himself as seven houses burned around him.
'Multiple firemen down'
"We are being shot at," an unidentified voice told a 911 dispatcher in a recording aired Wednesday on NBC's TODAY. "Multiple firemen down. Multiple firemen are shot. I am shot. I think he is using an assault rifle."
Hofstetter and Scardino were shot during the chaos. One was struck by a bullet in the pelvis and the other in the chest and knee, NBCNewYork.com reported.
Police said Spengler left a three-page typewritten note saying he wanted to burn down the neighborhood and "do what I like doing best, killing people."
“He was equipped to go to war, kill innocent people," Webster Police Chief Gerald Pickering told reporters Tuesday.
The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle said Wednesday that the funeral for Chiapperini, who was a 20-year veteran of the Webster Police Department, will be Sunday, while a funeral Mass for Kaczowka, who graduated from high school last year, will be held in Rochester at 10 a.m. ET Monday.
John Ritter, a police officer with the nearby Greece, N.Y., police department, came across the fire while on his way to work early Monday. He stopped, waiting to see if the firefighters would direct him around the scene, when he suddenly heard a large blast and then discovered a hole in his windshield, The Rochester newspaper reported. His vehicle was struck a second time.
“At that point I didn’t know what it was. I didn’t know if it was shrapnel from the fire. I sat there, I checked my body to see if I was injured -- I wasn’t -- and then I heard multiple rounds going off,” he said late Wednesday at a press conference.
He made his way over to where firefighters were trying to put out the blaze and warned them that someone was shooting. He told the newspaper his main goals were to take cover, get out of the “kill zone” and keep people from that area. Though he called his role “peripheral,” police have said he helped to protect others.
“There’s no way to defend an ambush,” said the nearly 24-year veteran of the Greece police force, who did not open fire. “I am driving to work ... I don’t have any tools of my trade with me. I don’t have body armor, I don’t have long range weapons, I don’t have my radio, I don’t have anything, and I am in a situation where someone is actively engaging me.”
Ritter said words couldn’t describe his feelings, which included survivor’s guilt. “I don’t know why I’m still here, other than there was some type of divine intervention that kept that round from penetrating through my car and hitting something else.”
Spengler had lived in the house with his sister and his mother, Arline, who died in October at 91. Arline Spengler's obituary asked that memorial donations be made to the West Webster Fireman's Association.
Watch US News crime videos on NBCNews.com
A former neighbor told The Associated Press that Spengler "loved his mama to death" and that he "couldn't stand" his sister. The neighbor said he thought Spengler "went crazy" after his mother died.
Spengler, the gunman, was convicted of manslaughter in 1981 after the death of his grandmother, Rose Spengler, 92, and was paroled in 1998. He remained under parole supervision until 2006, the Democrat and Chronicle reported. Before Monday's shooting, Webster police hadn't had any run-ins with Spengler since he was paroled, they said.
Police investigating the killings said Tuesday that they had found what appeared to be human remains at the gunman's home. Authorities said they believed those were of Spengler’s 67-year-old sister, Cheryl, who lived with him.
Although Spengler couldn't legally own firearms as a convicted felon, police said he was armed with a Smith & Wesson .38-caliber revolver, a 12-gauge pump shotgun and a Bushmaster .223-caliber rifle, the same kind used in the Newtown, Conn., school massacre in mid-December. Authorities are tracing the history of the weapons and how Spengler obtained them, state police said.
At least 33 people were displaced by the fire, which engulfed at least seven homes and a motor vehicle.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
More content from NBCNews.com:
- Holiday travelers stranded as snow and wild weather heads east
- 'We are being shot at': Ambushed NY firefighters' chilling plea for help
- Twitter users flaunt guns brought by Santa
- Glimpse the new face of job security
- Video: Reports of Pyrex cookware breakage on the rise
Follow US news from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook
Leave a Comment:
Where are all these crazy ass people crawling out of the woodwork from.
I am going to buy a gun and a rifle after all the senseless killing of innocents this month and the month before and the month before ad nauseum. I've had it!! If some gun-toting jackass wants a piece of me and mine they will be met with an armed citizen. Can anyone say death penalty for killers??
Lawyers, ACLU, PC, are the most of the problems with correcting these sick @!$%#s. We need to go back to hard labor, saves tax dollars and keep these sick bastards off the streets. If they won't work then they can stand and watch others but they will be out in the cold and the heat watching.
It works in Arizona it can work nation wide. Time to lower the boom on these animals killing innocent people. Come on, the guy was 19 and this sick bastard killed his innocent grandma with a hammer. How ever many volts it takes to cook this pos, do it!! We don't need them in our society.
This is why criminals need to say in jail....how in the heck was this guy convicted of manslaughter instead of murder? Sounds like he is a murder and should have still been in jail. Also agree with a lot of the previous comments....more gun laws just hurt law abiding citizens and take away our rights because criminals will NOT follow the rules.
I'm so glad to hear that the firefighters were "humbled" by the well wishes they received, I was wondering how they would feel. It's nice to see that reporters know what's meaningful. Now I hope they continue the in-depth coverage because I'm still waiting to hear about what the firefighters eat for dinner on new years eve.
Somehow we need to find a way to have NUT control! Gun bans are the easy thing, mental health problems are very hard.
Firefighters are some of the most selfless people in the world. 71 percent of firefighters in the US are volunteers. They are the only people who run towards danger with only a water hose and a hatchet. Joseph Hofstetter and Theodore Scardino are heroes and will be remembered for their bravery.
Killing unarmed people while hiding in the shadows and then off youreself so you won't have to deal with the consequences is cowardice. William Spengler, you will be remembered as a coward. And for the rest of you who "like killing" as Spengler wrote in his letter, practice on yourself. You selfish pr!cks don't deserve to live.
I'd like to add Michael Chiapperini and Tomasz Kaczowka to the list of heroes in my previous comment.
R.I.P.
LT Mike Chiapperini
Firefighter Tomasz Kaczowka
I locked my hammer in a steel tool chest, tucked the chest in a 1000 lb safe and my wife and I take turns guarding the safe with our AR15s and 30 round magazines. Can't trust those damn hammers.
Why was this nut let out .Just shows you when you pulled the plug ,And stoped executing Nut balls that have murdered people In the past .And to free the mental nut is just stupid on the part of the justice system .I believe in killing this trash and dumping in a hole . And the robbing thief's out there kill there ass also .Only way to stop crime is to make the punishment something to fear.
Hammers are detrimental to grandma's health. We need to raise the tax on hammers to 300% of the hammer's actual cost, publish the names of all hammer owners in the local newspapers, post armed guards at carpentry shops, and regulate hammers according to size and performance. Ban electric hammers, require licensing and registration for sledge hammers, ball peen and claw hammers and strictly limit access to easily concealed tack hammers. Lets do it for the grandmas.
I suppose next you'll want to limit the number of nails I can buy at one time!!!
Individual rights and the needs of society conflict in many ways and times. And, it is clear that no social standards will prevent killing by a deranged mind. The only thing that can be modified is the method. Assault weapons empower crazy people to cause mass death and destruction, and fulfill no need that cannot be met with less powerful and capable weapons.
None of the comments here reflect certainly about what a 5 year old looks like when he or she has been shot 20 times at close range with an assault weapon. The consequences are too horrible to imagine. But this is what you must imagine by when your own machismo, vanity, selfishness, and self delusion drives you to put high powered weapons in the hands of lunatics under the pretext of self defence.
The debate here is not whether to have guns in our society. Guns have been and will continue to be a part of our culture. The issue is whether we should allow the dissemination ofmilitary weapons of mass killing, capable of blowing apart bodies of innocents, because grown men feel afraid, or feel the need to blow apart small animals or targets to make feel good about themselves because these weapons are certainly not for hunting or even small game.
jj
You obviously care nothing about personal freedom.
The 2nd Amendment was put in place to ensure that the populace could have a fighting chance against tyrannical governments. Therefore, to respond in kind to a military state that attempts to subvert the freedoms of the populace, the same kind of weaponry is needed. So, less powerful and less capable weapons cannot fulfill that need. It has nothing to do with the need to blow apart small animals, it has to do with the need to remain free. Clearly you have absolutely no grasp of history and what happens to subject that are disarmed. But I certainly agree with your right to be a sheep amongst wolves. I just wish you would allow me the right to remain free.
Mohammad Atta and friends used box cutters to kill 3000, Timothy McVeigh used diesel oil, fertilizer and a Ryder truck to kill 200+, Julio Gonzalez used a plastic milk gallon taken out of the garbage and $1 worth of gasoline to kill 87, Sandra Ford used a Lincoln Continental to kill 7, Ted Bundy used a lug wrench, handcuffs and his bare hands to kill 30+, Randy Kraft used rx pills and a cooler of beer to kill 60+, John Wayne Gacy used handcuffs, a length of wood and clothes line to kill 30+, Jim Jones used cyanide laced koolaid to kill 900+, Charles Manson used his mind, brainwashed young women and kitchen knives to kill 10+. Where there's a will there's a way.
Bundy was a registered Republican. Kraft, Gacey and Jim Jones were registered Democrats. Democrats are 3x more likely to go batchit and murder in mass. LOL
I am still disgusted with the media. Once again the .223 caliber rifle WAS NOT USED IN CONN!!!!!!! IT WAS IN THE TRUNK OF THE CAR!!!!!!!!!!!! This whole gun control issue is nothing more than another political dog and pony show. I am a believer in the 2nd Amendment and think that current laws should be enforced, not more restrictive ones. Furthermore, again, this is an excuse because they are not even addressing the real issue which is mental health. Since the mental health system crashed about 15 years ago, this has become a more common problem. Gee, think we could actually address the REAL issues?
"This whole gun control issue is nothing more than another political dog and pony show"
Try telling that to the 26 killed in Newtown, CT and the 2 firefighters killed in Webster, NY.
I'll agree that the larger issue is mental health in this country, but I think these victims would have argued that a complete conversation of the issues would have to include gun violence.
I did not hear the 223 was not used? Any links to confirm?
The 223 was in found in the trunk of his mother's car that he drove to the school. All the shooting was done by two 9mm handguns. That is why I say it is a dog and pony show. I would think the parents of the children might think so too. If my son was killed by the handguns and I watched the politicians and the media attack the assault weapons issue, I would be really ticked off that it is not addressing the issue of the guns ACTUALLY used.
@This whole gun control issue is nothing more than another political dog and pony show.
Like David Gregory violating DC gun laws on National TV trying to claim that ILLEGAL magazine he held is the problem.
I was born and raised in CT. We have a "assault weapon" ban now.
WE want REAL answers to OUR pain!
I agree pats2012. Reminds me of watching a slight of hand show. You never look at what the magician is directing your attention to, but look at every thing else. So what is it that this gun ban debate is intended to distract the nation from..........
....
.......
........
Maybe the fiscal cliff?
To those who think having more guns in the area could not have helped, this from the WebsterPost.com:
Several firefighters went beneath the truck to shield themselves as an off-duty police officer who was passing by pulled his vehicle alongside the truck to try to shield them, authorities said.
The first police officer who arrived chased and exchanged shots with Spengler, recounting it later over his police radio.
"I could see the muzzle blasts comin' at me. ... I fired four shots at him. I thought he went down," the officer said.
At another point, he said: "I don't know if I hit him or not. He's by a tree. ... He was movin' eastbound on the berm when I was firing shots." Pickering portrayed him as a hero who saved many lives.
"I'm not sure we'll ever know what was going through his (the shooter’s) mind," Pickering said.
When faced with opposition, I know the very last thing that went through his mind…(click-BANG)
Odumbo says "Gimme all dem damn hammers."
If I had a hammer I'd hammer in the morning, I'd hammer in the evening, all over this land. I'd hammer in Chester, I'd hammer my grandma, burn down the neighborhood and shooooooot the firemen. And they'd let me out to do it all over again. Liberal, progressive idiocy in action.
This should prove to all of you who are screaming, take away guns from everyone and that will solve the problems. This guy was not allowed to have a gun and he had several. If you take away guns from everyone, only criminals will have guns. I say everyone should have a gun that is smart enough to maintain a gun and who are smart enough to handle the gun properly. I say, that this guy should have never been let out of prison, or he should have gotten the needle for his previous Murder.
Well, being that I have been in the military for over 20 years and as I type this I am sitting in a foreign country surrounded by about 140 people between the ages of 19 and 35 that are armed with (real) assault weapons with magazines that hold 30 rounds of ammunition, I will throw my two cents into this argument. I have owned weapons for most of my adult life, have been a member of the NRA, and while I honestly believe that any type of assault weapon ban is useless, I would be willing to throw my support behind a logical discussion on banning certain types of weapons and magazines with a few conditions.
If we are going to bring any type of ban or restriction on the second amendment to the table, we are also going to have to bring the first amendment to the table as well. Just as there are restrictions on yelling fire in a crowded theatre to protect people's safety, there needs to be some restrictions on the press to protect myself and my brothers and sisters in arms as well. You see there is this pesky problem of the people over here that try to kill us whenever the media plasters pictures and videos of individuals breaking laws (such as urinating on the dead bodies of enemy combatants) that involve terrorist or insurgents, heck they even riot over seemingly stupid u-tube videos that make fun of their religion.
Please don't misunderstand my purposes here, I am not trying to take away all of the first amendment rights that we enjoy just the parts that will take away my right to live. If we (as Americans) are unable to come to a deal on that, maybe we could try a barter process?
1.If Americans cannot own semi-automatic weapons, media outlets cannot publish any material that could anger anyone to the point of taking up arms.
2.If there is a national firearm registry then all Americans must mark their homes with a universal symbol that identifies that they possess firearms or not.
3.If any media outlet publishes any material that incites violence they will be charged with the same crime as the ones committing the violent act.
4.If a media outlet publishes gun owner addresses then they must publish their own.
These are just a few suggestions; feel free to add more restrictions as we go along. As mentioned earlier, I am surrounded by young men and women that are cooped up in close quarters, rubbing on each other's nerves and missing family and friends over several holidays. Somehow we have not had one instance of these terrible weapons of mass destruction going off and harming anyone. Oddly enough, with all the modern weaponry around me and given the fact that the only time these people are not armed is when they are in the shower, I worry about improvised explosive devices way more than getting shot by an assault weapon.
While this may just sound like a sarcastic rant to many of you believe me it is not. I would be more than willing to throw my support behind someone or something on the issue of a weapons ban however this support will come with a price. The privilege of being an American should not be free and many of our issues come from individuals that were not taught that that there is a social contract that one must hold to earn that right. The little things in our society that was lost along the way need to be brought back. The Pledge of Allegiance in our schools, having parents try to earn a living and pay their way, setting the example by not giving 10 year old kids a video game that was intended for 18 or up, teaching children that they are not above the rules of our society.
Not everyone has to take up arms and defend our country to earn their right as a citizen, but everyone should have to abide by a social contract and if they do not there should be dire consequences. When we come together as a country and start identifying our core problems that's when we can also talk about modifying the laws and freedoms that this country is founded on, and until that time it is a waste of time.
Thank you for serving! And thank you for putting this so eloquently! I agree with you 100%. I too have been in your position, just last year, so I have an appreciation for your point of view. You have also tapped into the main point I was trying to make. The media has NO accountability. They can portray their views and opinions vice facts and have no responsibility for corrections or consequences.
Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! Mass hammer attack.
Damn hammer just attacked my thumb.
Ban Hammers.LOL
To those who think having more guns in the area could not have helped, this from the WebsterPost.com:
Several firefighters went beneath the truck to shield themselves as an off-duty police officer who was passing by pulled his vehicle alongside the truck to try to shield them, authorities said.
The first police officer who arrived chased and exchanged shots with Spengler, recounting it later over his police radio.
"I could see the muzzle blasts comin' at me. ... I fired four shots at him. I thought he went down," the officer said.
At another point, he said: "I don't know if I hit him or not. He's by a tree. ... He was movin' eastbound on the berm when I was firing shots." Pickering portrayed him as a hero who saved many lives.
"I'm not sure we'll ever know what was going through his (the shooter's) mind," Pickering said.
When faced with opposition, I know the very last thing that went through his mind…(click-BANG)
We must have hammer control. Restrict those vicious hammers. Do it for the thumbs.