Suspect identified in deadly ambush of Idaho firefighters

MARGARET ALBAUGH/THE NEW YORK TIMES

A police roadblock in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, on Sunday, where firefighters were reportedly attacked when responding to a fire in the Canfield Mountain area. At least two people were killed in Idaho on Sunday afternoon after firefighters were ambushed in a sniper attack as they responded to a fire call in a rugged mountain area, the authorities said.

The man suspected of shooting firefighters Sunday as they responded to a brush fire in Idaho has been identified, a law enforcement official said today.

The suspect, who was found dead at the scene, was identified as Wess Roley, 20, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, the official said.

Two firefighters were killed, and a third was seriously wounded in the attack, which took place on a mountain with popular hiking trails outside Coeur d’Alene, according to the authorities. They said the fire appeared to have been set intentionally to lure the firefighters to the scene.

Law enforcement officers exchanged fire with the shooter while the wildfire burned. Later, using cellphone signal data, officials found the body of the suspect on the mountain with a firearm nearby, Sheriff Robert Norris of Kootenai County said at a news conference Sunday night. The authorities said they believed the suspect had acted alone.

Roley’s grandfather, Dale Roley, said in an interview today that Wess had expressed interest in becoming a forest firefighter. The suspect, who turned 20 in May, moved to Idaho last year and was living in his own apartment and working for a tree company, his grandfather said.

“He was just trying to figure his life out,” Dale Roley said. “He seemed to be a little bit optimistic.”

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Roley said that he was usually in frequent touch with his grandson, but that they had last spoken about a month ago because the younger man had lost his cellphone.

“It’s going to be hard to take if it was actually him,” Roley said. “We’re just hoping it wasn’t.”

Firefighters were dispatched after authorities received a phone call about a fire on Canfield Mountain, on the northeastern edge of Coeur d’Alene, at about 1:21 p.m., Norris said Sunday. It was not immediately clear who had made the call; authorities said they did not think it was the suspect.

About 40 minutes later, firefighters said that they were being shot at, the sheriff said.

As the shooting unfolded, firefighters pleaded for help, according to a feed posted on Broadcastify, a website that provides public access to emergency radio communications. One firefighter reported that they were hiding behind a firefighting rig.

More than 300 law enforcement officers from numerous agencies responded, Norris said. The FBI confirmed that its agents were there and helping local authorities.

As evening fell, authorities found the suspect’s body, and moved it off the mountain because the fire was spreading rapidly, the sheriff said.

The authorities have not released the names of the victims. One of the firefighters who died worked for the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department, and the other was from Kootenai County Fire and Rescue, Norris said Sunday. The injured firefighter, from Kootenai County, was in stable condition after surgery, the sheriff added.

The rugged terrain of Canfield Mountain is popular with hikers, mountain bikers and motorcyclists. Recent dry conditions have increased the wildfire danger in the region.

Graham Christensen, a past president of the Lake City Trail Alliance, said the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department regularly performed brush clearing and fire suppression there, and said he did not know of any naturally caused wildfire that had occurred there in the past two decades.

Christensen said the attack came as a shock because the area had always felt so safe. “Everybody feels comfortable up there,” he said.

On Sunday, Brian Hadley had been riding up the dirt roads around Canfield Mountain to train for a mountain-biking race when a neighbor called him to share the news about the fire. Hadley turned back, and as he rode down the mountain he heard three gunshots in quick succession. When he reached the parking lot at the base of the mountain, law enforcement officers ordered him out of the area.

“It’s heartbreaking,” he said of the shooting.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

© 2025 The New York Times Company

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