Gunman who ambushed firefighters left note saying he wanted to 'kill people' Officials provide the latest details on the ambush that killed two firefighters while responding to a blaze in Webster, New York. By Andrew Mach and Jason White, NBC News Updated at 12:30 p.m. ET: Police in Webster, N.Y., say the man who ambushed firefighters with a blaze of gunfire, killing two, in upstate New York, left a three-page typewritten note saying he wanted to burn down the neighborhood and "do what I like doing best, killing people." William Spengler, 62, opened fire on the volunteers as they responded to a blaze just before 6 a.m. ET Monday in a small cluster of homes along Lake Ontario in Webster, N.Y., police said. Two firefighters, Police Lieutenant Michael Chiapperini and Tomasz Kaczowka, were shot dead during the incident. Two firefighters, Police Lieutenant Michael Chiapperini and Tomasz Kaczowka, were shot dead during the incident, and Spengler killed himself as seven houses burned around him Monday. Two other firefighters, Joseph Hofstetter and Theodore Scardino, were recovering Tuesday at a hospital in Rochester, N.Y. An off-duty police officer also was hit by gunfire as he drove past the scene. There was no immediate information on his condition available on Tuesday. Webster Police Chief Gerald Pickering said at a press briefing Tuesday that Spengler armed himself with three weapons and set his house afire to lure first responders into a death trap. "It does appear that it was a trap that was set," Pickering said, his voice breaking at times. People who get up in the middle of the night to fight fires, they don't expect to get shot and killed. Spengler's note did not appear to offer a motive for attacking the firefighters, Pickering said. He was convicted of manslaughter in 1981 after the death of his grandmother, Rose Spengler, 92, and was paroled in 1998. He remained under parole supervision until 2006, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported. Monroe County Sheriff's office William Spengler, 62, is seen in this undated booking photo. Spengler lived in the house with his sister and mother, Arline, who died in October at the age of 91. Arline Spengler's obituary asked that memorial donations be made to the West Webster Fireman's Association. A former neighbor told The Associated Press that Spengler "loved his mama to death" and that he "couldn't stand" his sister. The neighbor said he thinks Spengler "went crazy" after his mother died. Although Spengler could not legally own firearms as a convicted felon, investigators told NBC 10 News in Rochester that he was equipped with four whiskey bottles of gasoline, a pistol and an AR-15 type rifle with 30-shot magazine capability. One of the four magazines had been used.