US gunman who shot firefighters was convicted murderer
A gunman who lured volunteer firefighters to his home in upstate New York before shooting them dead, was an ex-convict who had killed his grandmother.
Gunman William Spengler Junior (see photo, above) was already in position ready to shoot. when four volunteer firefighters responded to a call about a car fire near his home on the shores of Lake Ontario, according to reports in the New York media.
When they arrived Mr Spengler shot dead two of the volunteer firefighters. Two others were hospitalised and remain in “guarded” condition. A third victim, an off-duty police officer, was hit by stray gunfire as he was driving by the scene, Reuters reported.
According to reports in the New York Times and New York Post, Mr Spengler had previously spent 17 years in prison after pleading guilty to bludgeoning his 92-year-old grandmother to death. He had been in prison until 1998 and was on supervised parole until 2006. Police released his photo today.
Officers were exploring possible links between Mr Spengler, 62, his mother Arline, and the fire department, the Post said. He shared a home with his mother before she died earlier this year.
Fire believed to be a ‘trap’
Mr Spengler was reportedly found with a single, self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head on the nearby Lake Ontario beach on Christmas Eve.
The volunteer firefighters were responding to a call to put out a car fire but it appeared to be a trap. The men found a house and a car ablaze and a sniper who began shooting before they could extinguish the fires.
Police SWAT teams evacuated 33 nearby residents.
The dead volunteer firefighters were identified as Lt. Michael Chiapperini and Tomasz Kaczowka, according to Michelle Hook, the attorney general’s spokeswoman.
Two of the injured firefighters were identified as Joseph Hofsetter and Theodore Scardino, and the off-duty police officer was identified as John Ritter.