Post date: Dec 26, 2012 11:41:36 PM
Police officer describes scene as he responds to an ambush that left two volunteer firefighters dead.
WEBSTER, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 26, 2012) (NBC) - A police officer who responded to the Christmas Eve fire that turned into an ambush that killed two volunteer firefighters and wounded two others described his reaction after his windshield was hit.
"I don't have a sense of anything other than a round or something impacts my windshield and then I hear multiple popping sounds after that in addition to the ones I heard before and at that point I determined someone is shooting. So, I backed up to try to get cover and try not to take anymore rounds obviously, because someone is actively shooting at someone or some thing, and then I hear multiple rounds going off again," Officer John Ritter of the nearby Greece, New York Police Department told reporters on Wednesday (December 26).The gunman, William Spengler, 62, opened fire on volunteer firefighters who responded to a house fire he deliberately set early on Monday (December 24) morning in Webster,New York, a suburb of Rochester, authorities said.
Spengler shot and killed himself in an ensuing gunfight with police. He had spent 17 years in prison for beating his 92-year-old grandmother to death with a hammer in 1981, authorities said.
Police said Spengler set the fire, laying a trap for the firefighters, and began shooting when they arrived.
Ritter said he suffered only minor injuries and was still trying absorb what happened.
"Words can't describe that, I can't. To this point I can't even describe what emotions I'm feeling. It's very difficult," he said.
Investigators had found human remains in Spengler's burned-out house, where he lived with his sister, Cheryl Spengler, 67, Pickering said. The remains are assumed to be the sister's and a medical examiner will determine the cause of death.