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Tributes Paid To Shot New York Firefighters

Tributes Paid To Shot New York Firefighters

Hundreds of emergency workers have paid tribute to the two upstate New York firefighters who were fatally shot on Christmas Eve in Webster.

Firefighters and other first responders from across the northeast US and Canada lined up with thousands of mourners on Friday and Saturday to pay their respects to Michael Chiapperini and Tomasz Kaczowka.

Police say the 43- and 19-year-olds were gunned down by William Spengler who had set a massive fire to lure firefighters with the express intention of killing them.

Two firefighters who also responded and were wounded by 62-year-old Spengler attended a wake at a local high school.

Joseph Hofstetter and Theodore Scardino arrived in an ambulance.

They later returned to hospital, where they are listed as being in a satisfactory condition.

A funeral service for Mr Chiapperini was planned for Sunday, and a mass for Mr Kaczowka was due to be held on Monday.

Police said 62-year-old William Spengler, who served 17 years in prison for manslaughter, set his house on fire before dawn on Monday, then took a a revolver, a shotgun and a semiautomatic rifle and sprayed bullets at the first responders. He then killed himself as seven houses burned on a sliver of land along Lake Ontario. Spengler, who had served 17 years in prison for manslaughter, set his house on fire before dawn on Monday last week, then used a handgun, a shotgun and a semi-automatic rifle to spray bullets at the first responders.

He then killed himself as seven houses burned alongside Lake Ontario.

A 24-year-old neighbour Dawn Nguyen is charged with buying the guns on Spengler's behalf.