POLICE IN New York state say the man who lured firefighters to their deaths in a blaze of gunfire left a note saying he wanted to burn down the neighbourhood and “do what I like doing best, killing people.”
Webster Police Chief Gerald Pickering said the man’s sister had not yet been found but a body had been located in the ruins of the home they shared.
He said 62-year-old ex-convict William Spengler armed himself with three weapons and set his house on fire to lure first responders into a death trap.
Two firefighters were shot dead and two others are being treated in hospital.
Spengler killed himself as seven houses burned around him on Monday.
Police said Spengler shot at the arriving firefighters, probably with a rifle from a raised spot.
“It does appear it was a trap,” Mr Pickering said.
“These people get up in the middle of the night to go put out fires. They don’t expect to be shot and killed.”
Spengler had served more than 17 years in prison for beating his 92-year-old grandmother to death in 1980, Mr Pickering said.
Spengler was paroled in 1998 and had led a quiet life since, authorities said. He lived with his 67-year-old sister, Cheryl Spengler, and mother, Arline, who died in October.
A friend said William Spengler didn’t seem violent but “couldn’t stand” the sister who lived with him. Roger Vercruysse said William Spengler “loved his mama to death”.
He said he thinks Spengler “went crazy” after she died in October.
Two firefighters died at the scene, and two were taken to hospital. A fifth man who was passing by was also injured.
Two of the firefighters arrived on a fire engine and two in their own vehicles, Mr Pickering said. After the gunman fired, one of the wounded men managed to flee, but the other three cwere pinned down.
A police armoured vehicle was used to recover two of the men, and eventually it evacuated 33 people from nearby homes, the police chief said.
The first police officer who arrived chased Spengler and exchanged gunfire with him, authorities said.
The officer “in all likelihood saved many lives”, Mr Pickering said.
The dead men were identified as Police Lieutenant Michael Chiapperini (43), the Webster Police Department’s public information officer; and 19-year-old Tomasz Kaczowka, also an emergency dispatcher.