Two Idaho firefighters shot dead: What happened, who is suspect Wess Roley?
US authorities have lifted a shelter order after a team of officers found the body of the suspected shooter.
Two firefighters were killed by gunfire, and one was wounded, while responding to a brush fire in Coeur d’Alene, a lakeside town in the northwestern US state of Idaho.
The local sheriff’s office reported that a shelter-in-place order was lifted on Sunday night after a tactical team found the body of a man with a firearm nearby. The dead man is believed to be the suspect.
According to a law enforcement official who spoke to the Associated Press on Monday, the suspect was identified as Wess Roley.
It also emerged that Roley shot firefighters battling a blaze after they asked him to move his vehicle, according to a sheriff.
What happened in Idaho, and when?
Officials said crews responded to a fire at Canfield Mountain in the United States city at about 1:22pm (19:22 GMT), and gunshots were reported about a half hour later at 2pm (21:00 GMT).
Kootenai County Sheriff Robert Norris said the shooter used high-powered sporting rifles to open rapid fire on first responders.
Two firefighters were killed and, according to authorities, a third one came out of surgery and is in a stable condition but “fighting for his life”.
Norris told reporters on Sunday that authorities believe the suspect intentionally started the fire as “an ambush”.
“We do believe he started it, and it was totally intentional what he did,” the sheriff added.
However, officials have not spelled out any possible motives for why the suspect might have wanted to ambush the firefighters.
According to reports, more than 300 law enforcement officers and FBI agents responded to the emergency, while police snipers searched the area from helicopters.
Video footage from the area showed smoke rising from forested hillsides, with multiple ambulances and emergency vehicles seen arriving at a local hospital.
Multiple heroic firefighters were attacked today while responding to a fire in North Idaho. 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. Teresa and I are heartbroken.
As this…
— Brad Little (@GovernorLittle) June 29, 2025
Where exactly did it happen?
The Canfield Mountain area is on the eastern outskirts of Coeur d’Alene. It is a popular 10-hectare (24‑acre) natural space featuring hiking and mountain‑biking trails.
Coeur d’Alene, a city of about 55,000 people, is located roughly 420km (260 miles) east of Seattle.
The mountain is densely covered with trees and thick brush, and its network of trails extends into a national forest.
Who was the shooter?
Officials said the suspect, later identified as Wess Roley, 20, was found dead at the scene.
Based on preliminary evidence, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office believed he was the only one involved in the attack. Initially, authorities had suspected there might be as many as four people involved.
Authorities located Roley after they detected mobile phone activity in the area and traced the signal.
According to a report by CNN, Roley came from a family of arborists and was training to be a fireman.
“He was doing tree work and he wanted to be a fireman in the forest,” Dale Roley, his grandfather, told CNN. “As far as I know, he was actually pursuing it,” he added.
Roley moved to Idaho last year and was living independently while working for a tree company, his grandfather told local reporters.
Update: pic.twitter.com/S60CnpFsyX
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) June 30, 2025
What do we know about the victims?
Kootenai County officials said they would not release the names of the two firefighters who died.
“Their families will need support,” Sheriff Norris said.
“This is a heinous direct assault on our brave firefighters,” Idaho Governor Brad Little wrote on Facebook.
Officials said the bodies would be transported in a procession to nearby Spokane, Washington, accompanied by a convoy of official vehicles. One of the firefighters was working with the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department; the other served with Kootenai County Fire and Rescue.
Is the area now safe? Was the fire controlled?
The shelter-in-place notice was lifted at 03:50 GMT on Monday.
The wildfire on Canfield Mountain scorched approximately 81 hectares (20 acres), Norris said on Sunday. But no structures were lost in the fire, authorities confirmed.
At 03:00 GMT, authorities confirmed that the fire was still burning.