Police officers rushed to the scene, and one of the first ones there exchanged fire, “in all likelihood, (saving) many lives,” according to the police chief. The calls from firefighter came in soon after, reporting that four of them had been shot. With ‘raging inferno’ and gunfire, scene described as ‘chaos’įirefighters first arrived at the Webster fire before 6 a.m., said Rob Boutillier, the town’s fire marshal.īy then, Spengler had set up himself somewhere above the scene in a “natural hollow, a position of cover to actually be a sniper,” Pickering explained. “I’m hoping that everyone was able to escape from the inferno,” he said. Pickering said it’s possible more victims could be inside. ET, by then authorities still hadn’t been able to get in any of the homes. Although the fires were under control as of 2:30 p.m. “… They’re down and not good.”įor several hours after that Monday, the threat of gunfire stopped firefighters from battling the blaze and forced police SWAT teams to evacuate 33 people in the neighborhood of small, waterfront homes.Įventually, seven houses were “totally destroyed” by the fire. “I’m pretty sure that we have two DOAs” – the term for dead on arrival – “on the street,” the wounded firefighter said. In chilling audio heard over the scanner, a West Webster Fire Department firefighter reported “multiple firemen shot” – including himself, with wounds to his lower back and lower leg – and “shots still being fired.” Their mother died sometime in the past year, the chief added. He is believed to have lived in the home where the original fire erupted with his sister, who has not yet been accounted for, Pickering said. man who shot dead 2 firefighters killed grandmother in 1980 Spengler was convicted in 1981 of first-degree manslaughter in the death of his grandmother and had been released on supervised parole, Pickering said. As a convicted felon, Spengler was not allowed to legally possess weapons, but he had “several different types of weapons” Monday, the police chief said. Spengler, who laid in wait in armament and then shot the first responders.”Īuthorities do not know how Spengler – who was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound hours after the four firefighters were shot – obtained the weapon or weapons he used or why he opened fire, Pickering told reporters. ![]() “There was a car and a house that were involved in flames, probably set by Mr. “It appears that it was a trap,” Webster Police Chief Gerald Pickering said. ![]() Investigators say that William Spengler, 62, deliberately lured firefighters to the house fire.
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