Ambush:

The Webster Tragedy

When firefighters responded to an early morning car fire in a community outside of Rochester, New York, they had no idea that it was a trap. An ex-con allegedly shot and killed his sister, and then set a car and house on fire – his plan? An ambush. Former Webster Police Chief Gerald Pickering describes the events from the moment the call was received, including the quick actions by a police officer that likely saved lives. Chief Pickering remembers the heroic firefighters who were killed and injured in a senseless Christmas Eve tragedy that shocked the nation.

The Scene

Firefighters from the West Webster Fire Department were dispatched to a car fire on Lake Road just outside of Rochester, New York at about 5:30 AM on December 24, 2012. The Town of Webster lies to the east of Rochester, a cozy community in Monroe County boasting the scenic waterfronts of Lake Ontario and Irondequoit Bay.

When the first police officer arrived on Lake Road, he pulled his patrol unit past the fire so the fire trucks would have access. The burning car was dangerously close to a home so time was critical. The fire department in West Webster is a volunteer department, so firefighters would be alerted and then respond to the firehouse to bring trucks and equipment, while others might respond from their homes directly to the scene. Shortly after the police officer had arrived on scene, West Webster pumper 125 was arriving.  Chief Gerald “Jerry” Pickering said, “The officer began to hear popping noises which he thought were exploding tires or the struts on the trunk lid, and then he started to see firemen go down. He initially believed they were getting struck by shrapnel from the car exploding…”

The pumper was driven by Michael J. Chiapperini, a volunteer firefighter for the West Webster Fire Department (WWFD) who was also a full-time lieutenant with the Webster Police Department. Also on board the pumper with Chiapperini was Firefighter Joe Hofstetter. Another WWFD firefighter, Tomasz M. Kaczowka, responded with the EMS vehicle, and Firefighter Ted Scardino had arrived on scene in his personal car.

Firefighters Under Fire

Chiapperini realized they were being fired upon and the firefighters bailed out on the opposite side of the car fire, apparently believing that the pumper would shield them from the bullets. But the shooter had positioned himself across the street from the fire, hiding within a mass of rocks and boulders and when the firefighters bailed out, they were in a direct line of fire.

A firefighter radioed to the dispatch center that they were in trouble: “We are being shot at, multiple firemen down, multiple firemen shot, I am shot. I think we need an assault rifle. We have multiple firemen down. Working fire.”

Pickering stated that the lone police officer on the scene, Officer Mark Reed, immediately retrieved the patrol rifle from his cruiser and began to fire at muzzle flashes in the early morning darkness. Moments before, Reed had also been standing directly in the line of fire, but was not shot at by the gunman. That changed, however, when the gunman realized he was being shot at by the police officer. Pickering said, “The officer heard rounds whizzing past him as he was firing at the gunman.”

Firefighters Down

Firefighter/EMT Tomasz M. Kaczowka was in the road donning his gear, apparently unable to hear the gunshots. He was shot twice and killed instantly. Firefighters Ted Scardino and Joe Hofstetter were also shot and seriously wounded. Scardino had crawled underneath the pumper in between the rear dual axles, believing it to be a position of safety and cover. Firefighter Hofstetter had been shot in the leg and back and was bleeding. He made his way to the fire truck and made a call over the radio to the dispatcher: “Any idea on status?” The dispatcher, knowing that police were saturating the area but were unable to confirm where the sniper was, provided the best advice and comfort he could in the moment, “…we have multiple police agencies in the area. We’re waiting for the scene to be secured before we can come into you. Just hang tight.” Hofstetter replied. “Alright, be advised, I’m struck in the lower leg, knee area, and the lower left back.” The agonized dispatcher replied, “10-4 brother, hang tight.”

Chaos

At some point, Firefighter Hofstetter, who had dragged himself up into the fire truck, decides he needs to get out of the line of fire. “He’s got critical injuries, so he drops the truck into gear… and drives. He can’t see where he is going. He drives it like 1/10^th of a mile and goes off and hits a concrete culvert.” What Firefighter Hofstetter did not know at the time, was that Firefighter Scardino was underneath the fire truck, still taking refuge between the dual axles.

The fire was now spreading to other structures, but responders could not be sure where the gunman was hiding, so they could not allow any additional firefighters to attack the fire or even approach the area. Scardino laid on the roadway close to the fire scene awaiting rescue which would not come for almost an hour. “The guy that had been shot, he’s got wires arcing over him, he’s got 7 houses burning, he’s getting burned from the fires, but he doesn’t want to move because he’s afraid he’s going to get shot again, and he’s bleeding out”, said Pickering.

Pickering continued, “It was a chaotic scene. We had an active shooter – but this one was unusual because he was outside and we didn’t know exactly where he was. We had two firemen shot and killed, two critically injured, and other fire units were still responding to the scene.” He continued, “There was an off-duty Town of Greece police officer who came upon the scene and took fire from the shooter in his private vehicle. He backed up and shut down the road to prevent additional firefighters from responding.”

Sunrise Revelations

Pickering said that when the sun rose that morning, they were finally able to get a fix on the gunman, apparently dead in his sniper’s nest. He was observed by marine patrols from the shore and his location confirmed by a helicopter. Armored vehicles and a SWAT team rescued the injured and recovered the deceased victims. Since firefighters were unable to attack the fire, five homes burned to the ground, and 2 other homes were damaged.

Firefighter Chiapperini Charges the Sniper

Chief Pickering said that there were 70-80 bullet holes in the fire truck, many through the windshield. Pickering said that one of the surviving firefighters told investigators about the heroic actions of Mike Chiapperini. “Lt. Chiapperini thought that they were being shot at from where the car was burning. They didn’t realize the gunman was on the north side of where they were. So, he let the other firemen know, ‘we’re taking fire, we’re being shot at’. And he put the truck in park, jumped over the doghouse (cab of fire truck) in the front, told the other firemen to bail out, and they actually bailed out right into the line of the fire of the bad guy. We believe, we don’t know this to be sure, but we think that Lt. Chiapperini, realized, and saw Spengler, and ran directly at him, he was shot, took one fatal shot to the head, probably within 15 feet of the gunman. So, we think that perhaps Chiapperini saw him, decided he was going to tackle him and try to take him down, because he (Chiapperini) was unarmed.”

First Responding Officer Contained Shooter

Pickering said that Officer Mark Reed arrived on the scene within 2-3 minutes of the call. He noted that it was Reed who, within the first 10 minutes on the scene, likely changed the course of the assault and probably saved further people from being killed, the sniper possibly not considering that he would be distracted from his intended targets by police counter-fire.

The Gunman

The gunman was later identified as William Spengler, age 62, who lived at the Lake Road address where the fire was started, with his sister. Chief Pickering said, “Spengler had started the house on fire as well as the car – it burned fast because he poured accelerants on it.”  He had been previously convicted of manslaughter in the first degree for the killing of his 92-year-old grandmother in 1980 when he bludgeoned her with a hammer. According to New York State Department of Corrections reports, he was released in 1998. Pickering said that the shooter was well known in the neighborhood, and didn’t hide the fact that he had killed his grandmother.

A Possible Motive; Sister Recovered

Chief Pickering noted that the shooter had several hundred rounds for his assault rifle, a shotgun, and a .38 caliber handgun, saying, “He had really prepared himself for a lengthy fight.” He added, “Spengler left a note at the scene that said he intended to burn the neighborhood down and kill as many firemen as he could. He had lived in his grandmother’s home with his mother. In her waning years she often required the assistance of the ambulance, which is attached to the WWFD. She asked in her will that any donations be made to the fire department. We’ll never really know, but we think that he had a grievance against the fire department that the money was sent to the fire department instead of him.” Pickering said that besides state prison, the Lake Road residence was the only home Spengler had ever lived in, and he co-owned it with his sister after their mother’s death just a couple months before his murderous rampage. Pickering said, “She (Spengler’s sister) wanted to sell the property and split it because she was fearful of him – she slept with a .38 caliber handgun under her pillow. Her remains were found in the home with a .38 caliber hole in her skull. Our assumption is that he killed her, set the house and car on fire, summoned the fire department to the scene, to ambush the responding firemen.”

Epilogue

Pickering remembered that there was a massive response from a number of agencies on the federal, state and local level. He also noted that this incident brought the community closer together than ever before. Chief Pickering retired from the West Webster Police Department on January 3, 2015. He currently serves as the Deputy Director for Public Safety at the University of Rochester.

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This special Behind the Badge episode of APB Cold Case is presented in memory of Firefighters Michael J. Chiapperini and Tomasz M. Kaczowka, and as a tribute to their courageous service.

Listen to the audio podcast here or on your favorite podcast platform; the podcast includes riveting excerpts of dramatic emergency radio traffic. You can find more episodes and show notes at apbcoldcase.com

Every day in every community, dedicated first responders and dispatchers stand ready to serve the public. This tragedy shines a light on the service and sacrifice made by those professionals and their loved ones. Firefighters Mike Chiapperini and Tomasz Kaczowka embodied those traits – they served with honor and distinction, and that is their legacy to all others who continue to serve.

Editor’s note: While we would not ordinarily acknowledge the name of the shooter, the story necessitated his identification due to the relationships and history with other family members. The names to be remembered in this story are those of the courageous and heroic first responders: Firefighter/Lt. Michael Chiapperini, Firefighter/EMT Thomasz Kaczowka, Firefighter Theodore Scardino, Firefighter Joseph Hofstetter, and Police Officer Mark Reed, along with all others who responded to the scene and the 911 dispatchers of Monroe County.

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