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- http://murderpedia.org/male.S/s/spengler-william.htm
Parolee Search - NYS Division of Parole
161.11.133.89/ParoleeLookup/details.asp?nysid=04611581M?
DIN: 81C0645. Name: william h spengler. Date of birth: 9/26/1950. Race / ethnicity: white. Release to parole supervision: 4/22/1998. Parole status: discharged
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Parolee information:
NYSID: 04611581M
DIN: 81C0645
Name: william h spengler
Date of birth: 9/26/1950
Race / ethnicity: white
Release to parole supervision: 4/22/1998
Parole status: discharged
Effective date: 8/22/2006
Offense information (most recent):
Crime of conviction Felony class County of commitment
MANSLAUGHTER 1ST (REV 09/78) b monroe
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/assets/pdf/A21985601224.PDF
2012 Webster, New York shooting
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2012 Webster, New York shooting
Location 191 Lake Road
Webster, New York, U.S.
Coordinates 43°14'13?N 77°31'22?WCoordinates: 43°14'13?N 77°31'22?W
Date December 24, 2012
c. 5:30 a.m.-c. 11:00 a.m. (EST)
Attack type murder-suicide, arson, shootout
Weapon(s) Bushmaster .223 semiautomatic rifle[1]
Deaths 4 (including the perpetrator)
Injured (non-fatal) 3
Suspected perpetrator William H. Spengler, Jr.[2]
In the early morning of December 24, 2012, firefighters responding to a fire in Webster, New York, a suburb of Rochester were fired upon by 62-year-old William H. Spengler, who was believed to have deliberately set the fire. Two firefighters were killed.
Contents
1 Shooting
2 Victims
3 Perpetrator
4 Reaction
5 See also
6 References
Shooting
According to police, Spengler set his house on 191 Lake Road and the family car on fire in the early morning hours of Christmas Eve, and then armed himself with three guns: a Smith & Wesson .38-caliber revolver, a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun, and a .223-caliber Bushmaster semiautomatic rifle.[3][4] When firefighters arrived shortly after 5:30 am, he ambushed them from his porch. Two firefighters were killed, and two others were injured.[5]
Spengler exchanged shots with police, who arrived with an armored truck to remove the firefighters and 33 nearby civilians.[4] Police say Spengler was then chased on foot, and died when he shot himself in the head. His body was discovered nearly six hours later.[6][7][8] Due to 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.[9]
A severely burned body found inside Spengler's house is believed to be Spengler's 67-year-old sister Cheryl, with whom he was living.[5] The shooting was suspected to have followed an argument between Spengler and Cheryl.[4] A two-to-three-page typewritten letter written by Spengler was found at the scene. It reflected Spengler's intent to ambush first responders, but offered no motive for the shooting.[3] In it 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."[10]
Victims
The two firefighters killed in the shooting were 43-year-old Lieutenant Michael Chiapperini, the public information officer for the Webster Police Department, and 19-year-old Tomasz Kaczowka, who also worked as a 911 dispatcher. The two wounded firefighters were Joseph Hofstetter, who was shot in the pelvis (with the bullet then lodged in his spine), and Theodore Scardino, who was shot in the chest and knee. Both were hospitalized at Strong Memorial Hospital for serious injuries, and were declared to be in stable condition.[5] In addition to the two wounded firefighters, officer John Ritter was slightly injured when a bullet hit the windshield of his car.[4]
Perpetrator
Police identified the gunman as 62-year-old local resident William H. Spengler, Jr.[7] Spengler previously spent 17 years in prison for murdering his 92-year-old grandmother with a hammer in 1980.[6][8][11] He had not attracted the attention of police since then. William Spengler "could not stand" his sister Cheryl, according to a friend, Roger Vercruysse. Spengler's mother Arline, to whom he was said to have been close, died two months earlier.[6]
Investigators immediately began focusing on how Spengler obtained the gun, since 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, 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. However, according to investigators, the next day Nguyen texted a Monroe County sheriff's deputy and admitted buying the guns for Spengler in an illegal straw purchase. On December 28, 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. She also faces state charges of filing a false business record?the form she filled out stating that she was the owner of the guns.[12][13]
Reaction
In a statement, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said, "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 also said, "The contributions made by the fallen and injured officers in Webster will never be forgotten."[4]
Firefighter ambush gunman had previously killed his gran in hammer horror attack
25 Dec 2012 16:11
The 67-year-old lured two firefighters to their death by starting a house fire and then gunning them down
Killer: William H. Spengler Jr Killer: William H. Spengler Jr
AP
A gunman who shot dead two firefighters after luring them to a blaze has previously been in prison for killing his grandmother with a hammer.
Crazed shooter William Spengler, 62, spent 17 years in jail after killing the 92-year-old in 1980 in a horrific attack.
He murdered his grandmother at the house next door to where he shot five firemen yesterday - killing two and seriously wounding two others.
His sister Cheryl, 67, who lived with him in Webster, New York State, has not yet been accounted for, according to police.
One friend today claimed Spengler ?hated? his sister and ?could not stand her?.
Investigators are still trying to work a motive for the killings.
Spengler was paroled in 1998 for the hammer murder and had led an apparently quiet life since.
His victims were named as Police Lt. Michael Chiapperini, 43, the Webster Police Department?s public information officer, and 19-year-old Tomasz Kaczowka, also an emergency dispatcher.
Colleagues described Chiapperini as a ?lifetime firefighter? with nearly 20 years with the department, and called Kaczowka a ?tremendous young man?.
Two other firefighters who were also shot and wounded - Joseph Hofstetter and Theodore Scardino - are thought to be stable in hospital.
Hofstetter was hit once in the pelvis, and the bullet lodged in his spine, authorities said, while Scardino was hit in the chest and knee.
Spengler traded shots with police officers who arrived with an armored truck they used to remove the injured, as well as people living nearby.
He was chased on foot from his perch, then killed himself before he could be subdued, cops said.
Spengler?s mother, Arline, died in October.
Police vehicles are seen at the scene of the shooting and fire on Lake Road Crime scene: Police vehicles attend the fire
Seth Binnix/MPNnow.com/Messenger Post Media
In her obituary, donations are understood to have been directed to the ?West Webster Firemen?s Association (Ambulance Fund).??
A police source said: ?We are aware of it and are trying to figure out a connection.?
Roger Vercruysse, who lived next door to Spengler, said he doted on his mother and ?hated? his sister.
He said: ?He loved his mama to death? adding he: ?couldn?t stand his sister? and ?stayed on one side of the house and she stayed on the other.?
The incident, which comes as debate rages in the United States about gun control following the Newtown school massacre earlier this month, happened shortly before 6:00 am in a small lakefront residential community.
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.?
The firefighters were shot as they approached the scene of the blaze - a car and a house engulfed in a fire that they now believe was set intentionally by Spengler.
Mr Pickering said: ?Four of the firefighters were shot. Two are deceased, two were transported to area hospitals.?
A fifth off-duty police officer who responded was also shot and wounded.
One of the injured firefighters - all volunteers - was able to escape and call for help.
The injured man was heard on a police scanner shouting: ?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.?
A security cordon was put up around the scene and residents were evacuated.
Seven homes were destroyed in the blaze, as the shooting thwarted initial efforts to douse the flames.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said state police and the Office of Emergency Management were working with local law enforcement to respond to the scene.
He also offered his condolences to the families of the victims of the ?horrific shooting? and ?senseless act of violence.?
Mr Cuomo said: ?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.
?We as the community of New York mourn their loss as now two more families must spend the holidays without their loved ones.?
The incident in Webster came 10 days after a shooting rampage at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut that saw a disturbed young man gun down 20 children, aged six and seven, and six adults.
The shooter, Adam Lanza, had killed his mother at their home before heading to the school, where he eventually took his own life.
The Newtown shooting has revived debate in the United States on the country?s gun laws, which are far more lax than in most other developed nations.
President Barack Obama said he would support a new bill to ban assault rifles, and has put Vice President Joe Biden in charge of a panel looking at a wide range of other measures, from school security to mental health.
Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein has pledged to introduce a bill in January that would ban at least 100 military-style semi-automatic assault weapons, and would curb the transfer, importation and possession of such arms.
But the nation?s most powerful gun lobby, the National Rifle Association, strongly opposes any new restraints in gun sales, with the group?s executive vice president Wayne LaPierre calling Feinstein?s proposal ?phony.?
The United States has suffered an explosion of gun violence over the last three decades, including 62 mass shooting incidents since 1982.
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1950 - 2012 (62 years)