4 Firefighters in New York shot by gunman

[OliverKlohzoff]

That is awful; pray for the families of the dead...if he used a "semi-automatic" weapon then I think he could be another Manchurian candidate being used for political purposes.

Agreed. This is going to keep happening until "they" have the public screaming to take away the guns. I suspect we will see plenty more of this up until the AWB vote in Congress.

 

[TCummings]

Agreed. This is going to keep happening until "they" have the public screaming to take away the guns. I suspect we will see plenty more of this up until the AWB vote in Congress.

This is exactly what some friends and I have been talking about, it seems that more and more reports are on AW's

 

[OKC03Cobra]

Pull the first responders out of the AO and call in an AC 130 gunship.

 

[Glocktogo]

Look, this nutjob killed his mother with a HAMMER! They let him out of prison anyway. He violated federal gun laws by possessing firearms after a felony conviction. Hmm, does that make it seem like gun laws are effective against predators? We're not talking mental health records here, he was a convicted murderer!

Whoever let this SOB out of prison is partly responsible for this shooting. Nuff said!

 

[shooterdave]

As a LEO and a volunteer fireman, this just makes me sick. I'm not sure what angers me more, that the guy was let out of prison after comitting such a violent murder, or what happened today. I'd love to be in the room with the first ********* that tries to spin THIS as another example of why gun control is long overdue. I'd probably lose my right to possess a firearm, myself...

 

[Oklahomabassin]

As a LEO and a volunteer fireman, this just makes me sick. I'm not sure what angers me more, that the guy was let out of prison after comitting such a violent murder, or what happened today. I'd love to be in the room with the first ********* that tries to spin THIS as another example of why gun control is long overdue. I'd probably lose my right to possess a firearm, myself...

I agree. I will join ya!

 

[sleeperx4]

Look, this nutjob killed his mother with a HAMMER! They let him out of prison anyway. He violated federal gun laws by possessing firearms after a felony conviction. Hmm, does that make it seem like gun laws are effective against predators? We're not talking mental health records here, he was a convicted murderer!

Whoever let this SOB out of prison is partly responsible for this shooting. Nuff said!

Well said sir.

 

[kennedy]

Everyone will blame the gun for this horrible act. The true weapon in this crime is the poor poor pitiful him worthless rehabilitation/parole crap put in place for these demons. There is no rehabilitating pure evil.

 

[OliverKlohzoff]

This guy obviously had issues. I would like to know if he was on any psychiatric drugs.

 

[Okie4570]

Here's some more info on this nutjob, felons, assult weapons, firearm laws that exist that aren't fool proof..............http://news.yahoo.com/gunman-killed-firemen-bushmaster-left-note-173229149--abc-news-topstories.html

A convicted killer, who shot dead two firefighters with a Bushmaster assault rifle after leading them into an ambush when they responded to a house fire he set in Western New York, left behind a typewritten note saying he wanted to "do what I like doing best, killing people," police said.



Spengler, who served 18 years in prison for beating his 92-year-old grandmother to death with a hammer in 1981, hid Monday morning in a small ditch beside a tree overlooking the sleepy lakeside street in Webster, N.Y., where he lived with his sister, police said today in a news conference.

Police said they found remains in the house, believed to be that of the sister, Cheryl Spengler, 67.

As firefighters arrived on the scene after a 5:30 a.m. 911 call on the morning of Christmas Eve, Spengler opened fire on them with the Bushmaster, the same semi-automatic, military-style weapon used in the Dec. 14 rampage killing of 20 children in Newtown, Conn.

"This was a clear ambush on first responders… Spengler had armed himself heavily and taken area of cover," said Gerald Pickering, the chief of the Webster Police Department.

Armed with a Smith & Wesson .38 caliber revolver, a Mossman 12-gauge shotgun, and the Bushmaster, Spengler killed two firefighters, and injured two more as well as an off-duty police officer at the scene.

As a convicted felon, Spengler could not legally own a firearm and police are investigating how he obtained the weapons.

One firefighter tried to take cover in his fire engine and was killed with a gunshot through the windshield, Pickering said.

Responding police engaged in a gunfight with Spengler, who ultimately died, likely by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

As police engaged the gunman, more houses along Lake Ontario were engulfed, ultimately razing seven of them. Some 33 people in adjoining homes were displaced by the fire.

SWAT teams were forced to evacuate residents using armored vehicles.

Police identified the two slain firefighter as Lt. Michael Chiapperini, a 20-year veteran of the Webster Police Department and "lifetime firefighter," according to Pickering, and Tomasz Kaczowka, who also worked as a 911 dispatcher.

Two other firefighters were wounded and remain the intensive care unit at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, N.Y.

Joseph Hofsetter was shot once. He sustained an injury to his pelvis and has "a long road to recovery," said Dr. Nicole A. Stassen, a trauma physician.

The second firefighter, Theodore Scardino, was shot twice and received injuries to his left shoulder and left lung, as well as a knee
William Spengler, 62, set his home and a car on fire early Monday morning with the intention of setting a trap to kill firefighters and to see "how much of the neighborhood I can burn down," according to the note he wrote and which police found at the scene. The note did not give a reason for his actions.