‘Everybody's shot up here': Suspected gunman in US firefighter ambush killings named

The Age

a day ago

Firefighters received the first call of a fire about 1.21pm on Sunday (5.21am Monday AEST) and came under fire in an ambush-style attack almost immediately upon arriving at the scene, Norris said.
They did not know where the gunfire was coming from and made urgent calls for help on their radios: 'Everybody's shot up here ... send law enforcement now,' according to one dispatch.
The Washington Post on Monday published audio of the firefighters frantically radioing in that someone was shooting at them.
After the shooting, local law enforcement agencies had offered to go on every call that the fire department goes on, Way said.
'I don't know that we're ever going to be able to guarantee people's peace of mind, at least for a while after an incident like this,' he said. 'But we are taking every measure we can to ensure safety.'
Roley had set a fire using flint and the firefighters who rushed to the scene instead found themselves under fire. They took cover behind fire trucks.
'There was an interaction with the firefighters,' Norris said. 'It has something to do with his vehicle being parked where it was.'
Roley had ties to California and Arizona and was living in Idaho 'for the better part of 2024,' Norris said. 'But as far as when he got here, why he was here, why he chose this place – I don't know.'
Two helicopters converged on the area on Sunday, armed with snipers ready to take out the suspect if needed, while the FBI used his cellphone data to track him and the sheriff ordered residents to shelter in place.
They eventually found Roley dead in the mountains, his firearm beside him.
Roley lived with T.J. Franks jr for about six months in Sandpoint, Idaho, while working for a tree service, Franks said on Monday. Franks had cameras in his apartment that caught Roley throwing gang signs at them one day, which worried Franks to the point that he called police.
'I didn't know what to really think about it,' Franks said. 'I just called the cops and had them talk to him.'
The landlord also called Franks one morning because neighbours reported that Roley's vehicle had been left running for about 12 hours. Franks said Roley was asleep in his room and said he forgot about the vehicle.
Franks said Roley 'started acting a little weird' and at one point shaved his long hair off completely. 'We just kind of noticed him starting to decline or kind of go downhill,' he said.
Dale Roley, who lives about an hour away from Coeur d'Alene, told KXLY-TV that his grandson was an avid hiker who worked for a tree company and was interested in forestry.
Outpouring of support for the victims was swift in Coeur d'Alene, a city of 55,000 residents near the border with Washington.
Hours after the shooting, people gathered along Interstate 90 holding American flags to pay their respects as the two fallen firefighters' bodies were taken to the medical examiner's office in Spokane, Washington, about 50 kilometres from Coeur d'Alene.
Governor Brad Little ordered US and Idaho state flags to be lowered to half-staff to honour the firefighters until the day after their memorial service.
'All our public safety officers, especially our firefighters, bravely confront danger on a daily basis but we have never seen a heinous act of violence like this on our firefighters before,' he said in a statement.
'This is not Idaho. This indescribable loss is felt deeply by all those in the firefighting community and beyond.'
Though the shelter-in-place order was lifted, the sheriff's office cautioned residents to be prepared because the fire was still burning. The Idaho Department of Lands said it had burned more than 10 hectares.
Fire is always a concern for the region, said Bruce Deming, whose property abuts the trail system. When he noticed smoke on the ridge Sunday afternoon, he wondered why no firefighting helicopters were responding.
When a friend texted to tell him about the shooting, he realised why he wasn't seeing aircraft: 'Because they're concerned about being shot at,' he said.