William Spengler

Background

William H. Spengler, Jr. was identified as the gunman in the Webster, New York shooting on 24 December 2012. He was 62 years old. Police believed he deliberately set a fire before shooting firefighters.

Spengler had previously spent 17 years in prison for murdering his 92-year-old grandmother with a hammer in 1980, and he was released in 1998 after pleading guilty to manslaughter.

Spengler lived with his sister, Cheryl, who was 67 years old. A severely burned body found inside Spengler’s house was believed to be Cheryl. The shooting was suspected to have followed an argument between Spengler and Cheryl. Investigators also began focusing on how Spengler obtained the guns because, as a convicted felon, he was barred from buying, owning or possessing a firearm.

Spengler’s mother, Arline, was described as someone to whom he was said to be close. Arline died two months before the shooting. Roger Vercruysse, a friend of Spengler’s, said Spengler “could not stand” his sister Cheryl. Vercruysse said Spengler “hated” his sister and that they had a difficult relationship. Vercruysse also said: “He loved his mama to death” and that Spengler “couldn’t stand his sister” and “stayed on one side of the house and she stayed on the other.”

The offence

On 24 December 2012, firefighters responding to a fire in Webster, New York, were fired upon.

Police said Spengler set his house on 191 Lake Road and the family car on fire in the early morning hours of Christmas Eve, then armed himself with three guns: a Smith & Wesson .38-caliber revolver, a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun, and a .223-caliber Bushmaster semiautomatic rifle. When firefighters arrived shortly after 5:30 a.m., he ambushed them from his porch.

Two firefighters were killed, and two others were injured. Spengler exchanged shots with police, who arrived with an armored truck to remove the firefighters and 33 nearby civilians. Police said Spengler was then chased on foot and died when he shot himself in the head. His body was discovered nearly six hours later.

Because of the shooting, fire crews were unable to resume fighting the blaze until 11:30 a.m. By then, six other houses had burned to the ground, and two others had been rendered uninhabitable.

A police chief said the incident appeared to have been “a trap that was set for our first responders.”

A severely burned body found inside Spengler’s house was believed to be Spengler’s 67-year-old sister Cheryl.

Spengler wrote a two-to-three-page typewritten letter that was found at the scene. The letter reflected Spengler’s intent to ambush first responders but offered no motive for the shooting. In the letter, he wrote:

"I still have to get ready to see how much of the neighborhood I can burn down, and do what I like doing best, killing people."

Investigation

Investigators began focusing on how Spengler obtained the guns because, as a convicted felon, he was barred from buying, owning or possessing a firearm.

Before the day was out, agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms discovered that the Bushmaster and the shotgun had been purchased in June 2010 at Gander Mountain in Henrietta, another Rochester suburb. The owner of record was Dawn Nguyen, a neighbor of Spengler’s who had recently moved to the suburb of Greece.

In an interview with agents that night, Nguyen admitted buying the guns but claimed they had then been stolen. Investigators said that the next day Nguyen texted a Monroe County sheriff’s deputy and admitted buying the guns for Spengler in an illegal straw purchase.

On 28 December, William Hochul, the United States Attorney for the Western District of New York, announced that Nguyen had been arrested and charged with knowingly making a false statement in connection with the purchase of a firearm from a Federal Firearms Licensee. The announcement said she also faced state charges of filing a false business record—the form she filled out stating that she was the owner of the guns.

Arrest

Dawn Nguyen was arrested and charged with knowingly making a false statement in connection with the purchase of a firearm from a Federal Firearms Licensee. She also faced state charges of filing a false business record stating that she was the owner of the guns.

Timeline

• 24 December 2012 — Spengler set fire to his house on 191 Lake Road and the family car, armed himself with three guns, ambushed firefighters shortly after 5:30 a.m., killed two firefighters, wounded two others, exchanged shots with police, and then shot himself in the head; his body was discovered nearly six hours later.
• 11:30 a.m. (24 December 2012) — Fire crews resumed fighting the blaze; by then six other houses had burned to the ground and two others had been rendered uninhabitable.
• 28 December 2012 — William Hochul announced Dawn Nguyen’s arrest and the federal and state firearm-related charges.
• June 2010 — The Bushmaster and the shotgun were purchased at Gander Mountain in Henrietta.

Trial

Spengler had pleaded guilty to manslaughter in relation to his prior conviction for murdering his 92-year-old grandmother with a hammer in 1980.

Sentencing

Spengler served 17 years in prison and was released in 1998.

Outcome

Spengler died when he shot himself in the head on 24 December 2012.

Victims

Two firefighters were killed:

• Lieutenant Michael Chiapperini, 43, the public information officer for the Webster Police Department.
• Tomasz Kaczowka, 19, who worked as a 911 dispatcher.

Two firefighters were wounded:

• Joseph Hofstetter, shot in the pelvis, with the bullet then lodged in his spine.
• Theodore Scardino, shot in the chest and knee.

Both injured firefighters were hospitalized at Strong Memorial Hospital for serious injuries and were declared to be in stable condition.

In addition, officer John Ritter was slightly injured when a bullet hit the windshield of his car.

A severely burned body found inside Spengler’s house was believed to be Spengler’s sister, Cheryl, 67 years old, with whom he was living.

Other details

Webster fire department personnel were unable to resume fighting the blaze until 11:30 a.m. because of the shooting.

Police said a police armored vehicle was used to recover two of the men and eventually it evacuated 33 people from nearby homes.

During the incident, a scanner recording included the following exchange:

"We are being shot at. Multiple firemen down. "Multiple firemen are shot. I am shot. I think he is using an assault rifle. We have multiple firemen down. Working fire."

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued a statement that included:

"All of our thoughts and prayers go to the families and friends of those who were killed in this senseless act of violence."

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman issued a statement that included:

"The contributions made by the fallen and injured officers in Webster will never be forgotten."

Police Chief Gerald Pickering said:

“It does appear that it was a trap that was set for our first responders. “The neighbourhood is popular with recreational boaters but is normally quiet this time of year. “People who get up in the middle of the night to fight fires, they don’t expect to get shot and killed. “We are a safe community, a tragedy like this is just horrendous.”

Monroe County Sheriff Patrick O’Flynn said the West Webster Fire District learned of the fire early Monday after a report of a car and house on fire on Lake Road, on a narrow peninsula where Irondequoit Bay meets Lake Ontario.

Maggie Brooks, leader of the local administration in Monroe County, said:

'We have first responders and we have families who are in pain and crisis today and we need to, as a community, keep them in our thoughts and prayers,' Mrs Brooks said, adding that it was a 'very, very difficult day.'

Assemblyman Mark Johns said:

'People who volunteer to come down and help others, to be shot at, wounded, killed. It's terrible.'