Suspected shooter identified in ambush shootings of Idaho firefighters
The suspected shooter, 20-year-old Wes Roley, was found dead after allegedly starting a brush fire to lure firefighters in.
A firefighter was fighting for his life Monday while authorities in Idaho were trying to determine why a sniper ignited a blaze before ambushing and fatally shooting two responding firefighters.
The suspected sniper was found dead following a shootout with police, Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris said. The wounded firefighter was in stable condition late Sunday, Norris added.
The suspected gunman was identified as Wess Roley, 20, Norris confirmed at a news conference Monday afternoon.
Norris said law enforcement received a 911 call Sunday afternoon about a brush fire and were notified a short time later that firefighters were taking gunfire. Officers locked down nearby neighborhoods and hunted for the shooter in hilly terrain covered with thick brush while smoke billowed from the growing fire. Officers exchanged gunfire with the shooter, Norris said.
It appears the suspect took his own life, Norris said. Investigators found a flint fire starter on Roley and believe he used the device to start the blaze.
Investigators also found a shotgun on the suspect, but are still investigating the scene for other materials.
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The discovery of the shooter’s body on Canfield Mountain, a popular hiking destination outside the city of Coeur d’Alene, culminated six hours of chaos that saw about 300 local, state, and federal officers flock to the area.
“This was a total ambush,” Norris said at a briefing late Sunday. “These firefighters did not have a chance.”
The suspect came from an “arborist family,” Norris said, and appeared to fire at the firefighters from a tree he climbed. At one point, the suspect had expressed interest in becoming a firefighter, Norris added.
“We don’t know if there’s a nexus between that desire and what happened,” Norris said.
One of the slain firefighters worked at Kootenai County Fire and Rescue, and the other worked for the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department. The wounded firefighter also works for the Coeur d’Alene department.
The fire has grown to 26 acres in size, Norris said. He said he expected authorities would have a containment line around the fire by the end of the day.
Kootenai County Sheriff Norris confirmed the name of the suspected shooter and shared details about him at a news conference Monday.
Roley appeared to be living out of his car and had at least five prior interactions with local law enforcement that were “very, very minor in nature,” Norris said: “He cooperated on each one.”
The run-ins with police mostly had to do with trespassing, Norris said. At one point, he appeared to be living out of a restaurant, Norris said, and police had to ask him to leave. Law enforcement also performed at least one welfare check on the suspect.
He appeared to be living out of his car at the time of the shooting, said Norris, adding that it was full of materials. Investigators have not yet inventoried what was in the car.
Law enforcement responding to the initial attack pushed it down an embankment “so he couldn’t come around and get in that vehicle and flee,” Norris said.
Authorities have not found a manifesto and are still searching for a motive as well as what drew him to Coeur d’Alene.
“We know he was a transient here, we know he lived here for the better part of 2024, but in terms of how he got here, why he chose this place, we don’t know,” Norris told reporters. “Maybe we’ll find more once we do an inventory of the vehicle.”
Officials have identified the sniper who was found dead after starting a fire and fatally shooting two responding firefighters as 20-year-old Wess Roley, a law enforcement officer confirmed to USA TODAY.
Records show Roley most recently lived in Phoenix, Arizona, but appears to have family in Idaho about an hour’s drive from the location of the Sunday shooting.
The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office has not released a possible motive in the shooting.
The attack on firefighters came as a shock to one of the suspect’s family member. “He loved firefighters,” the suspect’s grandfather Dale Roley told NBC News. “It didn’t make sense that he was shooting firefighters. Maybe he got rejected or something.”
Dale Roley could not be immediately reached for comment by USA TODAY. The suspect briefly lived at his grandfather’s home in Oklahoma before moving to Idaho, according to NBC.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little ordered flags in the state to fly at half-staff to honor the firefighters killed and injured in the ambush.
The flags will stay lowered until the day after the firefighters’ memorial service, which has yet to be determined, according to the governor’s order.
“The entire State of Idaho grieves the profound loss of the firefighters killed in the shocking ambush in North Idaho,” Little said in a statement. “This indescribable loss is felt deeply by all those in the firefighting community and beyond.”
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A call to dispatch from a firefighter, who says there are “two battalion chiefs down,” reflected the unfolding terror.
“Right now there’s an active shooter zone, … everybody’s shot up here,” the voice says in the dispatch recording obtained idahonews.com and other outlets. “We need law enforcement up here immediately.”
He adds that “we could possibly get the two wounded out. I am pinned down behind Battalion One’s rig. It is clear to me that this fire was set intentionally to draw us in.”
The shooting was a shock to residents of Coeur d’Alene, including Linda Tiger, 80, who told the BBC she has lived in the city for nearly three decades.
“This has never happened here,” Tiger said.
Brian Hadley told the New York Times he was training for a mountain bike race near Canfield Mountain when he learned about the fire. Hadley told the outlet he heard three gunshots as he rode back down the mountain. “It’s heartbreaking,” he said.
Bruce Deming helped direct law enforcement to a trail near his property that leads to the area where the fire was set, the Associated Press reported.
“I just don’t want to have to wake up in the middle of the night to figure if somebody’s out prowling around my place,” he said.
Authorities found the shooter’s body and a nearby firearm using cellphone location data, Norris said. It’s unclear how the suspect died, but Norris said law enforcement responding to the shooting had exchanged gunfire with him.
Little said he and his wife, Terese, were “heartbroken.”
“Multiple heroic firefighters were attacked today while responding to a fire in North Idaho,” Little said in a social media post. “This is a heinous, direct assault on our brave firefighters. I ask all Idahoans to pray for them and their families as we wait to learn more.”
The shooter’s body was discovered on Canfield Mountain, a forested area that is a popular destination for hikers and mountain bikers. Canfield Mountain Natural Area is a 24-acre open space park that has trails rated intermediate in difficulty and a few advanced areas, according to the city of Coeur d’Alene.
There are more than 25 miles of trails in the area, according to a Forest Service fact sheet.
“Some trails are steep and have ruts, rocks, roots or other obstacles,” the Forest Service said. “Others have loose rock or steep drop-offs along the edge.”
Idaho Department of Lands fire crews were unable to access the fire, named the Nettleton Gulch Fire, until it was deemed safe, about six hours after it ignited, the department said in a statement late Sunday. Crews estimated that it grew to about 15-20 acres “with numerous snags and steep terrain.”
Resources, including aircraft, heavy equipment, water tenders, engines, and hand crews were being brought in, the statement said.
At 1:21 p.m. local time, emergency dispatchers received a phone call reporting a fire on the east side of Canfield Mountain, Norris said. The caller did not reveal his name and is not believed to be the gunman.
Firefighters arrived at the scene, and at 2 p.m., firefighters broadcast that there were shots fired.
Hundreds of law enforcement agents responded to the scene of the shooting. Officers exchanged gunfire with the suspect, Norris said.
Investigators used cellphone location data and discovered a signal on Canfield Mountain that had not moved since 3:16 p.m. Authorities honed in on the location and discovered the man who they believe to be the suspect.
Just after 7:40 p.m., the Kootenai Sheriff’s Office announced that a man had been found dead and lifted the shelter-in-place order.
The attack on the firefighters happened outside Coeur d’Alene, a northwest Idaho city about 250 miles east of Seattle and 30 miles east of Spokane, Washington. U.S. Census data estimates say it has a population of over 57,000.
It is located in Kootenai County, an area north of the Coeur d’Alene Native American Reservation. Kootenai borders Washington state and has a population of over 188,000, according to the latest Census estimates.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
