Sheriff: Gunman started fire near Coeur d’Alene, fatally shot two firefighters

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with the names of the firefighters involved.

On Sunday, a man with a rifle shot and killed two firefighters responding to a wildfire on Canfield Mountain outside Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and severely injured a third, according to local law enforcement. 

Officers used cellphone data to locate the suspect’s body in a wooded area. He was found dead next to a firearm, Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris said. 

“We do believe that the suspect started the fire,” Norris said in a press conference Sunday night. “This was a total ambush. These firefighters did not have a chance.”

Norris said the sniper was firing a high powered rifle from rugged mountain terrain, and he told law enforcement to fire back. 

Coeur d’Alene local Karl Vaage said he sat down for lunch with his family at a restaurant about a ten minute drive from the base of Canfield Mountain. 

“ We could see the smoke and and you were within earshot of the gunshots,” said Vaage.

A procession of emergency vehicles escorted the bodies of the firefighters who were killed from Kootenai Health to Spokane, Washington, on Sunday. Dozens of people gathered to watch, Vaage said. 

Idaho Gov. Brad Little ordered U.S. and state flags to be lowered today in honor of the fallen firefighters. 

“The entire State of Idaho grieves the profound loss of the firefighters killed in the shocking ambush in North Idaho,” Little said in a press release sent Monday morning. 

Firefighters confront danger on a daily basis, but he said, “We have never seen a heinous act of violence like this on our firefighters before.”

The investigation will resume today when law enforcement can get access to the mountain area, Norris said, and they intend to search for more weapons. 

“Every once in a while, bad things just happen here,” said Britni Turkenburg, a local who grew up in Coeur d’Alene and now works as a doctor at Kootenai Health. 

She’s used to seeing fire crews at the hospital, since firefighters often bring in people who have been rescued and need medical treatment, Turkenburg said. 

It was a hard day for the whole town, she said. 

“This was planned, which I think is the part that’s the most unnerving about the whole situation,” Turkenburg said. 

The Associated Press reports the suspect has been identified as Wess Roley. The firefighters who were killed include Coeur d’Alene Fire Department Battalion Chief John Morrison and Kootenai County Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Frank Harwood, according to a press release from the city of Coeur d’Alene.

David Tysdal, an engineer with the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department, sustained multiple gunshot wounds and is still hospitalized, according to the release.