N.Y. gunman had served time in grandmother's death

1:40 p.m. UPDATE

Police in New York state say a man who ambushed firefighters had served 17 years for manslaughter in the death of his grandmother.

Webster Police Chief Gerald Pickering says 62-year-old William Spengler was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot in the head.

Police say he set fire to a car and house to lure firefighters to his house on the shore of Lake Ontario early Monday.

When firefighters arrived, he opened fire, probably with a rifle. Two firefighters died at the scene and two others were hospitalized. A fifth first responder was injured.

Police don’t know a motive yet.


EARLIER

A western New York police chief said Monday that a gunman who entrapped and shot four volunteer firefighters outside a blazing home is dead.

Pickering said two of the firefighters were killed and two others hospitalized after the ambush on a spit of land on Lake Ontario just northeast of Rochester.

He also said the gunman is dead and an off-duty police officer who was driving by has injuries from shrapnel. One of the slain firefighters is also a town police lieutenant.

The shooting Monday morning happened in a quiet neighborhood of seasonal and year-round homes.

Police say four homes in all were destroyed and four damaged by the spreading flames.

Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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