Suspected Sniper Who Shot Idaho Firefighters Wanted to Pursue Firefighting Career

Law enforcement has named the deceased lone suspect in an ambush-style shooting that left two firefighters dead and a third critically injured on Sunday in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, as 20-year-old Wess Roley. While the authorities have yet to indicate a motive for the slayings, Roley’s grandfather, Dale Roley, told CNN that the young man had wanted to transition from a job with the family’s tree service business to a career in wildland firefighting.

“He wanted to be a fireman — he was doing tree work and he wanted to be a fireman in the forest,” Dale Roley said. “As far as I know, he was actually pursuing it.”

Kootenai County Sheriff Robert Norris said that firefighters were responding to a 911 call about a brush fire on Canfield Mountain when a gunman opened fire on them. “This was a total ambush,” Norris told the press. “These firefighters didn’t have a chance.” In a news conference on Monday afternoon, he said his department had not recovered a manifesto or established possible intent. Roley did not have a criminal record, Norris said, but police in the area had interacted with him several times for trespassing calls, as it appeared he may have been living in his car and sometimes parked on private property. Roley was always cooperative during these “very minor” incidents, Norris said, and did not merit any mental health interventions.

In an image Norris shared from Roley’s since-deleted Instagram account, Roley can be seen in camouflage and dark makeup with what appears to be firearm ammunition, with the picture set to the song “Hunter” by Björk. It’s not clear who wiped the account or when, he said.

Authorities believe that the shooter intentionally set the fire to lure the crew to a nature park on the mountain known for its hiking and biking trails. Norris said that firefighters spoke with the suspect about where he had parked his vehicle shortly before he began shooting, and that he was at one point firing from up in a tree. The sheriff noted that the suspect had used a “high-powered” rifle and was “well-prepared” to carry out the assault from the spot, where he eventually exchanged gunfire with law enforcement responding to the firefighters’ call for support. SWAT officers later found the suspect dead, with a weapon nearby, and removed his body from the mountain as the fire continued to rage nearby. They also found a flint starter authorities believe he used to set the fire. The attack delayed any further efforts to contain the blaze, called the Nettleton Gulch Fire, and as of Monday it had spread to 26 acres.

The fire likewise complicated the multiagency manhunt for the shooter, with the FBI mobilizing “technical teams and tactical assets,” according to a post on X from Dan Bongino, deputy director of the bureau. The suspect’s body was located through cellphone data. Dale Roley said that his grandson owned a shotgun and a long rifle. On Monday, Norris said that a shotgun was found at the scene, but did not describe a second weapon. He also said that it appeared Roley had died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

“The entire State of Idaho grieves the profound loss of the firefighters killed in the shocking ambush,” Idaho Gov. Brad Little said in a statement. He ordered the state’s flags to fly at half-mast to honor the two lives lost. In their own statement, the mayor and city council of Coeur d’Alene said, “We know our community has always shown respect, support, and care for our public safety personnel. We share that sentiment, as we deal with profound sorrow.”

Roley’s parents divorced in 2015, when he was 10 years old, with his mother obtaining a restraining order against his father, alleging incidents of domestic violence. “He threatened to sit outside my house with a sniper rifle or burn my house down,” she wrote in her filing. Initially, the protective order also prevented him from seeing his son, but that was later amended to allow visitation rights.

Roley’s mother posted on social media about taking a Hawaiian vacation with him last year, and in May shared photos of him on an Instagram account to celebrate his 20th birthday. “I am so proud of the young man you have become!!” she wrote in the caption. More recent photos on a Facebook profile show her and her current husband on a trip to Washington, D.C., where they posed around landmarks, both wearing “Make America Great Again” hats. Neither she nor Roley’s father responded to requests for comment.

“It wasn’t like he was a loner,” Dale Roley, the suspect’s grandfather told CNN. “We had no reason to suspect that he would be involved in something like this.”

Update June 30, 6:30 p.m. ET: This story now includes details Kootenai County Sheriff Robert Norris gave during a press conference.