Authorities have charged a 24-year-old woman in connection with the guns used in the Christmas Eve ambush that killed two volunteer firefighters responding to a house fire in Webster. U.S. Attorney William Hochul, at a news conference in Rochester late Friday afternoon, said 24-year-old Dawn Nguyen of Greece, N.Y. faces federal charges for providing false information while purchasing an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and 12-gauge shotgun for William Spengler, a former convict. Nguyen is a former neighbor of Spengler.
"Dawn Nguyen told the seller of these guns, Gander Mountain located in Henrietta, New York, that she was to be the true owner and buyer of the guns instead of William Spengler. It is absolutely against federal law to provide any materially false information relating to the acquisition of firearms," Hochul said.
Nguyen was arrested at her home Friday afternoon. Spengler, 62, had the guns with him Monday when he set his house on fire and shot at firefighters trying to battle the blaze. Spengler killed two Webster firefighters and then himself in what authorities describe as a trap and ambush. Three others were also wounded in the rampage.
Spengler spent 17 years in prison for using a hammer to beat his grandmother to death. As a convicted felon, he was not allowed to purchase or possess firearms.
