Dispatcher Shot, Killed While Volunteer Firefighting

An off-duty Monroe County (NY) 911 dispatcher who also served as a volunteer firefighter was shot and killed this morning when a gunman set up an ambush by setting several fires. A Webster police lieutenant was also killed as he arrived to battle the fires as a volunteer, and two other volunteer firefighters were wounded by gunfire. Tomasz Kaczowka, 19, had worked as a dispatcher at the Monroe County-Rochester Emergency Communications Department for just over one year, and previously had been in the local Explorer program. Comm center director John Merklinger said he was the center’s youngest member. Besides his job and volunteer fire activities, Kaczowka was  attending Monroe Community College. Also killed was Webster police Lt. Michael Chiapperini, a long-time member of the fire department and former fire chief. His 19 year-old son Nick was working as an EMS dispatcher when the incident occurred, and heard the incident unfold on the radio. All four shooting victims arrived on-scene at about 5:30 a.m. after a 911 caller reported flames from a house and vehicle. Kaczowka was sleeping over at the Webster firehouse so older firefighters with children could have holiday time-off, officials said.  The suspect opened fire on the firefighters with a rifle, apparently from a nearby hillside. The two fires spread to eight homes while SWAT teams evacuated the neighborhood and searched for the gunman. Police said the suspect was released from prison in 1998 on murder charges, but had been living a quiet life since his parole expired in 2006. Find information about Kaczowka’s comm center here, and the West Webster Fire Department here. The obituary for Kaczowka is posted here, and a remembrance of Kaczowka is posted here.

A funeral service was held for Kaczowka on Dec. 31st, attended by hundreds of firefighters, friends and family members.