Man, 20, identified as Idaho shooting suspect in firefighter ambush

The man suspected of ambushing and killing two firefighters and gravely wounding a third in Northern Idaho at one time expressed interest in being a firefighter, officials say.

The suspect, who was found dead near the site of the attack on Canfield Mountain, was Wess Roley, 20, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, Kootenai County Sheriff Robert Norris said.

Roley appeared to be living out of his car and had minor run-ins with local law enforcement, including trespassing and welfare checks, but no apparent criminal history, Norris said.

Many other questions surrounding the suspect, including a possible motive and how he obtained his weapon, were unanswered on Monday (local time) as investigators pored over the still active crime scene.

Norris said officials had not found a manifesto.

They were also looking into whether Roley had applied to work at or visited any local firehouses and whether there was a link between his interest in firefighting and the shooting.

Roley was born in California and appears to have also lived in Arizona and Idaho, Norris said. He described Roley as a transient who had lived in Coeur d’Alene for most of 2024, though Norris said he was unsure when Roley arrived in the area and whether he had ties to the community.

“Why he chose this place, I don’t know,” Norris said.

Firefighting crews with the Coeur D’Alene Fire Department and the Kootenai County Fire and Rescue team reported coming under gunfire about 2pm on Sunday, roughly 40 minutes after an emergency call alerted them to a vegetation fire on Canfield’s popular hiking trails.

Investigators believe the suspect acted alone, using a flint stone to intentionally set the fire to lure the first responders. Roley contacted the firefighters when they came on scene and had an exchange with them about the placement of his car, Norris said.

Norris said Roley appears to be from an “arborist family” that climbed trees, a skill officials believe he used to position himself to fire on the first responders. His family was “still processing” the allegations, Norris said.

Roley was found dead later on Sunday with what appeared to be a shotgun and an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Officials had used cellphone data to home in on his location.

Efforts to contain the 10.5 hectare fire were ongoing on Monday. No structures had been destroyed.

The two deceased firefighters, who fire officials have said they will identify later on Monday, were with the Coeur D’Alene Fire Department and Kootenai County Fire and Rescue team.

A miles-long procession of fire and law enforcement vehicles took the firefighters’ bodies from a hospital in Kootenai County to nearby Spokane, Washington, on Sunday evening.

Hundreds of residents gathered on overpasses to honour the two firefighters, with some waving flags as others stood in silence, the Coeur d’Alene Press reported.

Kim Bellware covers national and breaking news for The Washington Post. Daniel Wu is a reporter on The Washington Post’s General Assignment desk.