New York gunman wrote note before shooting
Felon says in letter that killing people is what he does best, 10 days after Newtown massacre
Before William Spengler opened fire on firefighters who had arrived to put out a fire at his home in the upstate New York town of Webster, killing two and seriously wounding two others, he typed a couple of pages announcing his plans.
"I still have to get ready to see how much of the neighbourhood I can burn down and do what I do best: killing people," Spengler wrote, police said.
The previous morning, Spengler shattered the holiday calm with an assault that officials found uncharacteristic of the 14 years he had spent out of prison since killing his grandmother with a hammer in 1980.
Monday's fire destroyed seven homes and damaged two more in Webster, a suburb of Rochester. Officials also said they found remains at Spengler's house that they suspect were those of his sister, Cheryl, 67.
Police think Spengler, 52, used a Bushmaster .223-calibre rifle with a flash suppressor in his rampage. They recovered the weapon along with a Smith and Wesson .38-calibre revolver and a Mossberg pump-action 12-gauge shotgun.
Officials were not sure how Spengler, a felon who was not allowed to own guns, had obtained his weapons, but said he was armed to the teeth.