At least two firefighters were killed and two others were wounded after arriving at the scene of a fire early Monday morning in Webster, N.Y. WHEC-TV's Amanda Ciavarri reports.
By Jason White, NBC News
A gunman ambushed four volunteer firefighters who responded to a blaze early Monday in Webster, N.Y., killing two and seriously injuring two others, along with an off-duty police officer.
The firefighters were shot as they exited their vehicles amid a small cluster of homes along Lake Ontario just before?6 a.m. ET, officials said, victims of what may have been a deadly trap.
"It does appear that it was a trap that was set,"?said Webster Police Chief Gerald Pickering,?his voice breaking at times.??People who get up in the middle of the night to fight fires, they don?t expected to get shot and killed."
Pickering lost a colleague in the incident: Police Lieutenant?Michael Chiapperini, who was also a volunteer firefighter. The other dead firefighter was?Tomasz Kaczowka.
Despite being shot, one of the injured firefighters was able to flee from scene under his own power. But the others remained pinned down on the narrow strip of land between Lake Ontario and Irondequoit Bay until a SWAT team arrived.
After being pursued by police, the apparent shooter was killed by a gunshot wound, Pickering said. It is unclear if the wound was self-inflicted.
The two injured firefighters, Theodore Scardino and?Joseph Hofstetter,?were being treated for "significant injuries," according to Dr. Nicole Stassen, a surgeon at the?University of Rochester Medical Center. She said both were awake and alert, however, and not on ventilators.
The off-duty police officer was hit by shrapnel after his car took bullets to the windshield and engine block, according to the?Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. His condition is unclear at this time.
After the shooting, the fire grew to engulf at four homes and one motor vehicle. Another four homes were damaged.
?These firemen are part of our family. You go into a fire with these guys. To see them go down with something like this is totally unexpected. We are in shock,? Billy Gross, fire commissioner for West Webster, told the Democrat and Chronicle.
Dozens of area residents were evacuated, with police searching them as they left, the newspaper reported.
"Miserable thing to happen this time of year," Mark Johns, a state assemblyman who represents the area, told local NBC station WHEC. Johns said he knew some of the firefighters who were shot.
Michael Damico was among those forced to flee, according to the?Democrat and Chronicle.
?The whole strip?s been evacuated,? Damico said. ?They?re evacuating all of the houses and going through them.?
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a statement after the shooting, offering his "deepest condolences."
?All of our thoughts and prayers go to the families and friends of those who were killed in this senseless act of violence," Cuomo said.??New York's first responders are true heroes as they time and again selflessly rush toward danger in order to keep our families and communities safe.?
NBC's Tom Winter and Rosanna Arlia contributed to this report.
Two firefighters were killed and two others hospitalized after an ambush on Monday, Webster Police Chief Gerald Pickering said. He also said the gunman was dead.
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