Chilling image shows Idaho firefighter ambush suspect in war paint before deadly attack

Fox News

4 hours ago

Authorities on Monday released a social media picture of the suspect in the Idaho firefighter shooting and identified the firefighters who were killed and injured in the ambush.
The suspect, 20-year-old Wess Roley, was seen in a picture posted to his Instagram story wearing black face paint and camouflage clothing with a bandolier on his waist, authorities shared at a news conference.
Roley, who was found dead near the scene of the shooting hours after the attack that killed two firefighters and injured another, is believed to have killed himself, according to Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris.
The firefighter victims in the attack were identified at the news conference. Frank Harwood and John Morrison were killed, while Dave Tisdale is hospitalized in stable condition.
The suspect is believed to have deliberately set a brush fire on Canfield Mountain, near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, on Sunday to lure in first responders arriving to put out the blaze. The suspect was found to be in possession of a Flint starter that Norris said Monday was believed to be used to ignite the fire.
Fire crews responded to the blaze at around 1:30 p.m., and gunshots were reported about a half-hour later.
In audio from the scene, a firefighter said there was an "emergency situation" and an "active shooter at a fire."
"We need law enforcement up here immediately," the firefighter told a dispatcher, adding that there were "two battalion chiefs down."
"We have another Coeur d'Alene firefighter down ... we've got two unresponsive battalion chiefs down, multiple gunshot wounds, two Coeur d'Alene are down ... I'm pinned down," the caller continued.
The caller also said that the fire "was set intentionally to draw us in."
"It's clear to me that this fire was set intentionally to draw us in," the caller said.
Law enforcement launched a manhunt, tracking the suspect through the terrain. Using cellphone data, a tactical team located Roley's body and a firearm several hours later in a wooded area near the origin point of the fire.
Idaho Governor Brad Little condemned the incident as "a heinous, direct assault on our brave firefighters" and pledged full state support for the investigation.
"They answered the call to protect others and paid the ultimate price," Little said.
The motive behind Roley's actions remains unclear, and Norris said Monday that no manifesto has been found. Federal authorities, including the FBI, are assisting in the investigation.
"We have information that he at one time wanted to be a firefighter," Norris said. "So we don't know if there's a nexus to that desire. And what happened yesterday. But, there is information that we've received that he at one time wanted to be a firefighter."
Norris said there had been five law enforcement interactions with Roley, which he said were very minor in nature, such as trespassing incidents.
Roley had an interaction with firefighters before shooting about where his car was parked, the sheriff said.
It appeared that the suspect was living in his vehicle, Norris noted.
"We know that he was a transient here," the sheriff said. "We knew that he lived here for the better part of 2024. But as far as when he got here, why he was here, why he chose this place. I don't know. He has relatives in the Priest River area, but I don't know why he chose that. We don't find any nexus to anything else. Maybe we'll find more once we do an inventory of the vehicle. But as of right now, we don't know."