Slain volunteer firefighter Tomasz Kaczowka was a Monroe County 911 dispatcher, officials said. (Facebook)
Gunned down volunteer firefighter Mike Chiapperini who was a lieutenant in the Webster Police Department. (Reuters)
Suspected Webster, N.Y., shooter William Spangler (Handout)
A fireball erupts out of a home in Webster. (AP/Jamie Germano)
A fire burns on Lake Road after a suspect shot four firefighters responding to the blaze in Webster. (Reuters)
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A sadistic gunman killed two firefighters and wounded three other first responders in western New York today after setting a blaze to lure victims into shooting range, officials said.
Cops identified the killer as ex-con William Spengler, 62. He traded fire with cops before he eventually blew his brains out, said Webster police chief Gerald Pickering.
Spengler lived with his sister Cheryl Spengler and they despised each other, a former neighbor said. She was “unaccounted for” in the hours after this Christmas Eve tragedy, according to police.
“It does appear it was a trap that was set for … first responders,” Pickering said. “Causative reasons, we don’t have at this time.”
The town’s top cop said Spengler “laid in wait and shot at first responders.”
Spengler shot from a high-ground berm that gave him a clear, deadly angle on the firefighters.
“He took a position of cover to be a sniper to shoot the first responders,” Pickering said.
Cops didn’t immediately reveal Spengler’s weapons, but Pickering said at least one rifle was used.
The fire, near the Lake Ontario shore just east of Rochester, broke out at Spengler’s home at 191 Lake Road at 5:45 a.m., and quickly spread to two more houses and a car, officials said.
Firefighters had to fall back after shots were fired, and flames eventually spread to seven more houses, officials said. Four houses were burned down and four were damaged by the time all flames were brought under control.
Pickering choked back tears as he revealed names of the two fatally wounded victims.
One of the fallen firefighters, 43-year-old Michael Chiapperini, was a volunteer — his day job was a lieutenant in Webster’s police department, officials said.
Chiapperini had just spent time in Suffolk County last month, volunteering on Hurricane Sandy cleanup duty.
Just two weeks ago, Chiapperini was named his department’s “Firefighter of the Year.”
The other tragically killed volunteer firefighter was 19-year-old Tomasz Kaczowka, a Monroe County 911 dispatcher, officials said.
“These people get up in the middle of the night to fight fires,” said Pickering. “They don’t expect to be shot and killed.”
Spengler killed his grandmother, 92-year-old Rose Spengler, in 1980 before his conviction in 1981. He was released on April 20, 1998 and conditions of his parole ended on Aug. 22, 2006.
Rose Spengler was beaten with a hammer, though William Spengler tried to make it look like an accident by placing her body at the bottom of stairs, according to evidence presented by prosecutors.
“We never did find out why [Spengler killed his grandmother],” former neighbor Roger Vercruysse, 64, told The Post.
Spengler served the statutory max and had to be released in 1998, a corrections spokeswoman said.
In his last bid for an earlier parole was denied on Oct. 9, 1997 he struck a belligerent tone with the board, according to hearing transcripts.
Spengler told parole board members at Orleans Correctional Facility that he believed his attendance was mandatory. When he was told he could leave, Spengler responded: “Then it’s not worth the time and effort.”
“Okay, fine. Then so long,” said commissioner Sean McSherry.
The board ruled: “Note is made of the fact you terminated this interview. After a careful review of your record, parole is again denied.”
.“While we continue to note your positive disciplinary programming as an inmate, the extreme serious nature of your crime, the brutal beating of a 92-year-old grandmother with a hammer, continues to militate against discretionary release,” the board concluded.
After prison, Spengler returned to his family home he shared with his mother Arline and sister Cheryl. He lived off disability payments and spent much of the time taking care of the home.
“He never had a job that I ever knew of,” Vercruysse said. “He just took care of his mama.”
Arline Spengler died this past October, leaving Spengler alone with the sister he apparently despised.
“He stayed on one side of the house and she stayed in another,” Vercruysse said. “He told me he never liked his sister. He hated his sister but loved his mama. Maybe when his mama passed away he went nuts.”
Two of Webster’s firefighters who were shot are in guarded condition at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, officials said. They were identified as volunteer firefighters Joseph Hofsetter and Theodore Scardino.
One of them was reportedly shot through the hip and was in surgery this morning. He’s expected to survive.
John Ritter, a police officer from nearby Greece, was wounded by flying shrapnel after responding in his private car, officials said.
Ritter was headed to work when he saw fire trucks and followed along, before his truck was hit twice with gunfire.
The wounded cop backed out of the “kill zone” and stopped other firefighters and motorist from entering harm’s way, Greece police chief Todd Baxter said.
“We don’t know for sure where he [the killer] was when the initial shots were fired,” Pickering said. “First responding police officers did engage a shooter. There was some pursuit on foot.”
Cops want to get into Spengler’s medical history, especially any psychological treatment he might have received. As a convicted felon it would have been illegal for Spengler to possess any weapons.
“Obviously this is an individual that has a lot of problems,” Pickering said. “And I’m sure that there were mental health issues involved. We’re still trying to drill down, at this time, what set him off.”
Spengler’s body and his weapon were recovered a short distance away from where the fire was set, officials said.
“The shooter … was found outside, in [close] proximity of the home,” Pickering added.
Webster officials can’t remember another time when firefighters came under gunfire.
“I’m not aware of anything like this happening in Webster, obviously not a firefighter being fired upon,” fire marshal Rob Boutillier said.
Webster resident Michael Damico woke up at 8 a.m. to see flames down the street and a SWAT team going on a frantic, door-to-door search for a cold-blooded killer.
“The whole strip’s been evacuated!” Damico told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. “We looked out the window and we saw the SWAT team and everyone around.”
Residents near the fire were evacuated on Regional Transit Service buses, even as flames threatened their homes.
“Some people on this bus already watched their houses burn,” added Damico. “They’re not happy.”
Monroe County clerk Cheryl Dinolfo said all government flags were lowered to half-mast.
“The words are truly unspeakable,” Dinolfo told WHAM-AM. “It’s hard to imagine such a tragedy happening here.”
Dinolfo urged parents to speak gently to their kids about this tragedy in Webster and the recent school massacre in Newtown, Conn.
“It’s a raw emotion for these young people to have in their hearts and their heads,” she said.
“We can’t let evil overtake us. We have to get out there and fight and combat evil.”
“When we’re confronted with these horrific events,” she added, “we have to sit back and provide balance [to fearful children].”
Monroe County Sheriff Patrick O’Flynn said he can’t help thinking about Newtown and all the recent mass shootings that have dominated the news in recent days.
“It’s sad to see that that this is becoming more commonplace in communities across the nation,” O’Flynn said.
Gov. Cuomo asked New Yorkers to pray for the firefighters’ families, victimized in this “senseless act of violence.”
“New York’s first responders are true heroes as they time and again selflessly rush toward danger in order to keep our families and communities safe, ” Cuomo said in a prepared statement.
“On behalf of my family and all New Yorkers, I offer my deepest condolences to the families and friends of those killed today and pray for the recovery of the injured.”
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said today, “Following this senseless tragedy, our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who have lost their lives in the line of duty, heroically protecting the communities they serve. The contributions made by the fallen and injured officers in Webster will never be forgotten.”