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2 NY firefighters thankful for surviving shooter’s ambush

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Two firefighters who survived an ambush say they’re thankful for the support they’ve received after a gunman set his house ablaze and killed two other first responders.

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.

The hospital released a statement from them saying they were “humbled and a bit overwhelmed by the outpouring of well wishes for us and our families.”

The firefighters said their “thoughts and prayers” were with the families of colleagues Michael Chiapperini and Tomasz Kaczowka, killed by William Spengler Jr., a convicted felon barred from having guns. Funerals are set for the next few days for Chiapperini and Kaczowka.

Authorities said Spengler set a car on fire and touched off an “inferno” in his Webster home on a strip of land along the Lake Ontario shore, took up a sniper’s position and opened fire on the first firefighters to arrive at about 5:30 a.m. on Christmas Eve.

Spengler, 62, traded rifle fire with a Webster police officer who had accompanied the firefighters and then killed himself with a gunshot to the head.

The feds, meanwhile, have traced the buyer and seller of the illegally owned weapons used by Spengler, it was reported yesterday.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it has turned the information over to New York State Police, but couldn’t release details because the investigation is ongoing, The Associated Press said.

Spengler, 62, wasn’t able to legally purchase the .223 Bushmaster AR-15 assault rifle used in the slayings because he served 17 years for killing his grandmother.

A burnt body, presumed to be Spengler’s 67-year-old sister, Cheryl, was found in the home.

Spengler left behind a typed, three-page letter in which he said, “I still have to see how much of the neighborhood I can burn down and do what I like doing best: killing people.”

Neighbors described Spengler as a creepy loner who was sick of being rejected during his attempts at small talk.

“He was shunned by a lot of people down there and maybe he was a little sick of it,” Jim Smith said.

“He would come over and try to make small talk. When you were outside, you really couldn’t get away from him. He’d always want to come over.

“As soon as you’d pull in there, he’d just come out. I kind of thought he was lonely and wanted to talk to somebody.”

Spengler spent 17 years in prison for beating his paternal grandmother to death with a hammer in 1980. He had been released from parole on the manslaughter conviction in 2006, and authorities said they had had no encounters with him since.

Police Chief Gerald Pickering said investigators believe Spengler used the rifle to attack the firefighters because of the distance involved. He said police may never know Spengler’s motive.

Chiapperini, who also was a police lieutenant, was driving a pumper with Scardino on board when bullets blasted the windshield. He and Kaczowka died at the scene. Hofstetter was hit in the pelvis, and Scardino was hit in the shoulder and knee.

A passing off-duty officer from the town of Greece was treated for shrapnel wounds from gunfire that hit his car.

Hearses carrying the coffins of Chiapperini and Kaczowka were escorted to West Webster Fire Station 1, where they were met by emergency vehicles with their lights flashing in salute.

Calling hours for the two men will be at Webster Schroeder High School on Friday and Saturday. A funeral for Chiapperini is scheduled for Sunday at the school, with burial in West Webster Cemetery.

A funeral Mass for Kaczowka, who worked as a Monroe County emergency dispatcher, will be held Monday in Rochester at St. Stanislaus Church, with burial at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.