N.Y. shooting similar to 2009 Las Vegas incident

The ambush of four firefighters responding to a pre-dawn house fire outside Rochester, N.Y., on Monday was eerily similar to an incident in Southern Nevada in September 2009.

The difference: Unlike Monday's "trap," as Webster, N.Y., police Chief Gerald Pickering described the tragedy, which resulted in two of his city's firefighters being killed by a gunman who later committed suicide, no first-responders in the local incident were slain.

One Las Vegas police officer was shot in the back and arm before the suspect, 36-year-old Bryan Benjamin Hanasz, was shot and killed.

It was about noon on Sept. 2, 2009, when the Las Vegas Fire Department was called to a home at 1230 Comstock Drive, near Washington Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard.

When firefighters arrived, Hanasz fired four rounds from a shotgun into two firetrucks.

Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said at the time that he thought the two trucks were each struck twice by shotgun pellets. Both trucks had passenger-side windows blown out. Firefighters in the passenger seats narrowly missed being shot, he said.

"If it would have been a rifle, we'd probably have some dead firefighters today," Szymanski said.

The crews fled the scene as police from multiple agencies responded to the home.

Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie said officers who arrived at the scene were greeted by gunfire. During the shootout, Sgt. Frank Soto suffered minor injuries.

After the shooting, firefighters returned to extinguish the fire under the protection of SWAT units. Three cats were rescued from the home, owned by Hanasz's mother. She was at work as a dealer at The Mirage.

The fire was ruled as arson and caused approximately $200,000 in damage, Syzmanski said.

Gillespie praised firefighters and his officers for working together in a difficult situation.

"This afternoon is an example of the dangers public safety (personnel) face on a daily basis," he said. "This is another example of the fine teamwork we do."

No official explanation was given for Hanasz's actions.

Neighbor Phyllis Topacio said at the time that Hanasz was not getting along with his mother.

When Topacio spoke with Hanasz's mother shortly before the incident, she told Topacio that her son hated the world, hated her and hated himself.

State and court records showed Hanasz served time in prison for a robbery charge that he pleaded guilty to in 1993. He also was charged with two kidnapping counts involving victims older than age 65, but those charges were dropped.

After his release, Hanasz had trouble keeping a steady job and also broke up with his girlfriend.