Firefighters who survived deadly NY ambush 'humbled' by well wishes as more details emerge Two firefighters who survived an ambush in upstate New York that killed two of their colleagues said Thursday they were "humbled and a bit overwhelmed" by well wishes in the wake of the tragedy as more details emerged of the deadly attack. As authorities continued their investigation into the assault that William Spengler, 62, carried out on the volunteers responding to a blaze in Webster early Monday, the hospital released a statement from the survivors. They were also "humbled and a bit overwhelmed by the outpouring of well wishes for us and our families," the statement said. Chiapperini was killed by a single gunshot wound, while Kaczowka died as a result of two gunshot injuries, according to autopsy results released by New York State Police on Thursday afternoon. Spengler, who was convicted of killing his grandmother in 1980, died of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head, police said in a statement. He shot himself as seven houses burned around him. Police said Spengler left a three-page typewritten note saying he wanted to burn down the neighborhood and "do what I like doing best, killing people." John Ritter, a police officer with the nearby Greece, N.Y., police department, came across the fire while on his way to work early Monday. He stopped, waiting to see if the firefighters would direct him around the scene, when he suddenly heard a large blast and then discovered a hole in his windshield, The Rochester newspaper reported. His vehicle was struck a second time. At that point I didn't know what it was. I didn't know if it was shrapnel from the fire. I sat there, I checked my body to see if I was injured -- I wasn't -- and then I heard multiple rounds going off," he said late Wednesday at a press conference. He made his way over to where firefighters were trying to put out the blaze and warned them that someone was shooting. He told the newspaper his main goals were to take cover, get out of the "kill zone" and keep people from that area. Though he called his role "peripheral," police have said he helped to protect others. "There's no way to defend an ambush," said the nearly 24-year veteran of the Greece police force, who did not open fire. I am driving to work ... I don't have any tools of my trade with me. I don't have body armor, I don't have long range weapons, I don't have my radio, I don't have anything, and I am in a situation where someone is actively engaging me. Ritter said words couldn't describe his feelings, which included survivor's guilt. I don't know why I'm still here, other than there was some type of divine intervention that kept that round from penetrating through my car and hitting something else. Spengler, the gunman, was convicted of manslaughter in 1981 after the death of his grandmother, Rose Spengler, 92, and was paroled in 1998. Authorities said they believed those were of Spengler's 67-year-old sister, Cheryl, who lived with him. Although Spengler couldn't legally own firearms as a convicted felon, police said he was armed with a Smith & Wesson .38-caliber revolver, a 12-gauge pump shotgun and a Bushmaster .223-caliber rifle, the same kind used in the Newtown, Conn., school massacre in mid-December. Authorities are tracing the history of the weapons and how Spengler obtained them, state police said.