On Christmas Eve 2012 in Webster, New York, 43-year-old Michael Chiapperini was killed while responding as a volunteer firefighter to a reported house and car fire on Lake Road. Chiapperini was a lieutenant with the Webster Police Department and a volunteer with the West Webster Fire Department; he left behind a wife and three children and had served in law enforcement for nearly two decades.

As firefighters arrived and exited their truck they were ambushed by gunfire from 62-year-old William Spengler, who had set the fire as a deliberate trap. Tomasz Kaczowka, 19, was also killed and two other firefighters were wounded. Spengler, a convicted felon armed with multiple firearms, exchanged gunfire with police and then fatally shot himself. Investigators found a typewritten note in which he said he intended to burn down the neighborhood and that he enjoyed killing people; officers also discovered the remains of his 67-year-old sister, Cheryl Spengler, inside his burned home.

Authorities later charged neighbor Dawn Nguyen with having purchased the firearms for Spengler; she was convicted and sentenced for that role. Does anyone have memories of Chiapperini’s service or information about that night that could help others understand what happened?