Max Matza
BBC News
Reporting fromSeattle
Police say that a 20-year-old man who launched an alleged sniper attack on firefighters in Idaho, killing two and severely injuring a third person, had hopes of becoming a firefighter himself.
Two firefighters were killed and a third injured after Wess Roley shot at them as they arrived at a blaze at Canfield Mountain, just north of Coeur d’Alene, on Sunday evening, officials say.
Authorities say Roley deliberately lit the fire to lure first responders to the area. They say he wished to be a firefighter himself, but no motive for the attack has yet been found.
After an hours-long standoff, a police Swat team discovered a dead man – identified as Roley – close to where the attack took place.
Roley moved from Arizona to Idaho in 2023 to work for his father’s tree trimming company, his mother said in a social media post. Officials say that at one point, he opened fire from a tree he had climbed.
In an update shared in October 2024, his mother wrote that he was “doing great living in Idaho.”
Police believe Roley used a flint that was found near his body to deliberately start the fire.
“This was a total ambush. These firefighters did not have a chance,” Sheriff Bob Norris told a new conference.
One firefighter who was killed worked for the city’s fire service, while another worked for Kootenai County Fire and Rescue.
A third was “fighting for his life, but is in stable condition”, he said.
Idaho’s governor has ordered flags be flown at half-staff on Monday to honour the firefighters who were killed.
The first report of a fire in the mountainside community was made around 13:21 PST (21:21 BST), which was followed 40 minutes later by reports firefighters were being shot at, Norris said.
The so-called Nettleton Gulch Fire grew to 26 acres after it was first reported and continued to burn on Monday, Norris said. No structures are threatened, and officials hope to have the blaze extinguished by Monday night.
More than 300 law enforcement officers from city, county, state and federal authorities responded to the shooting, including two helicopters with snipers on board.
Norris said authorities believed the suspect used a high-powered rifle to fire rapidly at first responders, with officers initially unsure of the number of perpetrators involved.
A shotgun has been recovered, and several bullets or fragments possibly from a rifle have been found. Officials say more guns may be hidden on the mountain.
After an hours-long barrage of gunfire, the suspect was found by tracing his mobile phone on the popular hiking trail, which officials said was being used by hundreds on that Sunday afternoon.
“It appears that he shot himself,” Norris said in a news conference on Monday.
Norris added that the suspect had no criminal history, and had five “very minor” prior interactions with police since moving to Idaho in 2024. He said that in one case, he was declared to be trespassing at a restaurant by police.
No “manifesto” has been located, the sheriff said. He added that it appears that he recently deleted several social media posts, and that he was a “transient”, living in a car found nearby to the fire.
In order to prevent the suspect from fleeing, officials disabled that vehicle and “pushed it off the mountain” the sheriff said. They have not yet been able to access the vehicle for a more thorough search.
Several fire department vehicles also saw their tires flattened to prevent the suspect from fleeing.
Norris ruled out that the suspect had “any nexus to Islamic Jihad”, which he said had been falsely suggested on social media.
Before the attack began, the suspect had an interaction with fire officials who responded to the bush blaze, the sheriff said. He declined to disclose further details of the encounter, though it appeared to relate to the suspect’s vehicle.
Roley’s grandfather told NBC News on Monday that the suspect had dreamed of becoming a firefighter, and “actually really respected law enforcement”.
“He loved firefighters,” said Dale Roley.
“It didn’t make sense that he was shooting firefighters. Maybe he got rejected or something.”
His grandfather added that he “had been in contact to get a job with a fire department”, and “wanted to be part of a team that he sort of idolised”.
