Man started Idaho blaze and then fatally shot 2 firefighters in ambush, officials say

By NPR News June 30, 2025

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Editor’s note: The Associated Press reports the suspect has been identified as Wess Roley.

By Russell Lewis, Eric Whitney and Kevin Drew, NPR

Local authorities said an armed man started a fire on a mountain in northern Idaho and then began shooting at responding firefighters, killing two and injuring a third.

Additionally, authorities in Kootenai County, Idaho, said the body of the man recovered on the mountain is believed to be the only suspect responsible for the fatal shootings. A weapon was found near the body, said Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris.

Norris also made clear that he and other authorities believe the shootings were intentional.

“We do believe the suspect started the fire, it was an ambush and it was totally intentional,” Norris said. “This was a total ambush. These firefighters did not have a chance.

Norris added: “Based on the preliminary investigation, we believe that is the only shooter on the mountain at that time. There is no threat to the community at this time.”

Earlier Sunday, local authorities had lifted a shelter-in-place order.

Speaking at a late Sunday evening news conference, Norris said a cell phone signal led authorities to discovering the dead body.

Authorities went through a timeline of the deadly events on Sunday:

— At 1:21 p.m. local time, first reports of a wildfire on Canfield Mountain

— A 2 p.m., firefighters first reported coming under gunfire

— At around 3:15 p.m., authorities picked up an active cell phone signal on the mountain.

— Norris said the body of the person believed to be the shooting suspect was found about an hour and a half later.

Norris and other authorities gave no information about the dead body pending identification, or any possible motive for the shootings. Norris did not say if the dead person had fatally shot himself.

“We believe that there was only 1 shooter, based on weapons found, type of injuries incurred from that weapon,” Norris said.

The sheriff also said investigators don’t believe the shooting suspect is the person who made the 911 call to report the fire.

Norris said investigators believe the suspect ran and shot during the attack on the firefighters. At the news conference, local authorities also said firefighters are not trained to respond to ambush situations.

Norris added: “This is a situation where a lot of people in this room haven’t processed this.”

Earlier Sunday, Idaho Gov. Brad Little said firefighters were “attacked while responding to a fire in North Idaho.” In a post on X, the governor said, “This is a heinous direct assault on our brave firefighters.”

Norris said the investigation will resume Monday morning. More weapons may be found from the investigation, he said.

The sheriff acknowledged that the crime scene is compromised because of the fire, but they prioritized removing the dead body for further investigation. “We had to do what we had to do to preserve the body.”

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