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The Standard
07-07-2025
- The Standard
At least two killed in sniper ambush on firefighters in US state of Idaho
Law enforcement officers gather at Cherry Hill Park after multiple firefighters were attacked when responding to a fire in the Canfield Mountain area outside Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, U.S. June 29, 2025. (Reuters)
Daily Mail
02-07-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE The twisted past of Idaho shooter Wess Roley, a rent-dodging Holocaust denier expelled from high school for terrorizing classmates
The Coeur D'Alene gunman who shot two firefighters dead last weekend complained about having 'problems' with authority and was booted from school in the 10th grade for making violent threats. Wess Roley, 20, launched a deadly attack on first responders on Sunday after deliberately setting a bush fire at Idaho beauty spot Canfield Mountain to lure them in. Now can reveal that the baby-faced shooter had a troubled past that included bullying gender-fluid kids at his Arizona high school, making disturbing neo-Nazi comments and posting Holocaust-denying TikTok videos. And after moving to Idaho in summer 2024 after a year living with his grandfather Dale, 66, in Vinita, Oklahoma, his life spun further out of control – with a former roommate telling that he made threatening gang signs, had no friends and cheated him out of a month's rent when he was told to move out. Roley had also fallen out with his father Jason, 39 – a heavily tattooed motorcycle enthusiast whose Facebook page carries several pictures of him in Hell's Angel gear – who lives in remote Priest River, Idaho, with his second wife Sara, 35, and their two young children. 'When he first moved in with me, he was just real quiet,' TJ Franks, 28, told in an interview at his modest apartment home in Sandpoint, Idaho, 60 miles north of Coeur d'Alene. 'He didn't really do a whole lot. He just kind of kept to himself and worked. But then, towards the end of his stay here, we started noticing changes in his behavior. 'He shaved all his hair off. He was keeping really late hours at night.' His former roommate, TJ Franks, 28, told that Roley's behavior had grown increasingly bizarre before he finally asked him to move out in January. While Roley complied, he left without paying the last month's rent The two had shared an apartment in this building in Sandpoint, Idaho, but their relationship began to deteriorate after Roley used Franks' nail clippers without permission, constantly hogged the TV and played video games into the early morning hours Other difficult behavior included using Franks's personal items such as his clippers without permission, monopolizing the TV and playing video games deep into the small hours. Franks added: 'He left his vehicle running out here for like, 12 or 13 hours, so the landlord called me and wanted me to check on him, and I knocked on his door. 'He was just sleeping, but he jumped up and said he had no idea that it was running – there was a lot of weird stuff like that.' According to Franks, Roley – who was living out of his van when he died – didn't appear to have any friends at all and frequently complained about wanting a girlfriend. But he did nothing to get one, instead spending most of his time off taking lonely rambles along the 3.5-mile Mickinnick Trail – telling Franks he felt most at home in the forest. The pattern is similar to one observed his former classmates in Arizona, with one North Phoenix Prep School graduate telling that that he would bully other students – including cruelly nicknaming one girl 'Horse Teeth' – and had few friends of his own. More disturbing were his neo-Nazi outbursts and penchant for doodling swastikas and other Nazi symbols in his school notebook. 'He was weird,' recalled the student. 'At one point, in 10th grade he got a girlfriend who was Jewish. One classmate at the prep school recalled a time in 10th grade when Roley got a Jewish girlfriend and the couple proceeded to spread Nazi propaganda Roley's disturbing behavior from scalated to a deadly breaking point on Sunday when he set a bushfire to lure first responders before ambushing them – fatally shooting two firefighters and wounding a third 'They both were spreading neo-Nazi propaganda. Wess's notebook was notorious for having doodles of swastikas and satanic symbols in it. Later in November 2021, the then-10th grader Roley was expelled after threatening both the school and his classmates. His tattooed, dyed-hair girlfriend also left the school and was never heard from again by classmates. The student also added: 'Looking back on how Wess was in school, while I am shocked that someone I went to school with did this horrible act, I am not entirely surprised by it.' Asked about Roley's neo-Nazi past, Franks insisted he had never said anything 'racial' in front of him but did say he had shown a consistent disdain for authority. 'He did say that he has a problem not with authorities but authority,' Franks told 'He has a problem with authority, but he was not a political person. You know, I would talk to him about something that I saw on the news. 'When I did, he would just kind of laugh and he would say, "it's all bull crap anyway".' Ultimately, Roley's behavior became too much for Franks to tolerate, and he asked him to move out, which he did at the end of January this year. 'That's the last I ever talked to him,' Franks said. 'Me and him were getting into it over the things that were happening towards the end of his stay here because it was just not good, so we didn't really stay in contact. 'On the last day, he said bye and that he was going down to Coeur d'Alene for a job. I did try contacting him to get his last rent payment and the house key, but he wouldn't pay it.' Roley lived at this house with his parents in Phoenix, Arizona, before relocating to Oklahoma to stay with his grandfather, Dale, 66. He eventually moved to Idaho, where he lived in Sandpoint, a 30 minute drive from Roley's apartment in Sandpoint Dave Tysdal, 47, was the third firefighter hit and is currently in hospital in critical condition After that, police say he lived a transient lifestyle and was the subject of several welfare and trespass calls but did nothing unduly troubling until the Sunday shootout that claimed the lives of Kootenai County Battalion Chief Frank Harwood, 42, and Coeur d'Alene Fire Department Battalion Chief John Morrison, 52. Coeur d'Alene Fire Department Fire Engineer David Tysdal, 47, was also badly hurt in what cops described as 'a total ambush' but is expected to survive. Neither of Roley's parents could be contacted for comment but late Monday night, dad Jason posted a tribute to the dead firefighters and changed his Facebook profile photo to a badge that read: 'In loving memories of our fallen heroes.'
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Yahoo
Probe into Idaho firefighter ambush suspect digging into childhood, gun familiarity
As the investigation into the deadly firefighter ambush in Idaho over the weekend continues, police are still trying to piece together why suspect Wess Roley allegedly instigated the attack, a source familiar told ABC News. Law enforcement officials identified Roley as the suspected gunman after he was found dead on Canfield Mountain with a shotgun nearby. Two firefighters were killed -- Frank Harwood, 42, a battalion chief with the Kootenai County Fire & Rescue Department and John Morrison, 52, battalion chief of the Coeur d'Alene Fire Department -- and another firefighter, Dave Tysdal, of the Coeur d'Alene Fire Department, was injured while responding to the brush fire, which officials believe Roley purposely started before the ambush. MORE: Suspect in deadly Idaho ambush previously wanted to be a firefighter: Sheriff Part of the investigation into Roley's background is focusing on his childhood in Arizona, where he lived with his mother and stepfather, the sources said. Authorities have spoken with some of Roley's immediate family, though it's unclear what they've said, the source added. Police in Idaho have publicly stated that they believe Roley acted alone and that they don't believe the attack on firefighters had any connection to terrorism. The source familiar with the investigation, however, said that authorities learned Roley grew up with a family that had firearms and felt comfortable handling them. The source said Roley's stepfather lawfully possessed many firearms. Photos posted to the Facebook and Instagram accounts of Roley's mother and stepfather, reviewed by ABC News, reflect that familiarity with firearms. Nearly half of Arizona residents own firearms, according to Everytown Research and Policy. MORE: Grandfather of suspect in deadly Idaho firefighter ambush speaks out In an interview with ABC News on Tuesday, a former classmate of Roley's said that while the alleged sniper was always "really different," he still has "a hard time trying to correlate the same Wess that I grew up with to the Wess that did what he did." "I don't know why he did it, and it's -- it's shocking to me," said the former classmate Dieter, who didn't want his last name used publicly. "It's something that villains do, plain and simple." Dieter described Wess Roley as someone who was unusually outspoken in the strident ways he would defend his views. Dieter claimed Roley was someone who talked about Nazism, who was "very pro-gun," who spoke of wanting to join the military, who would often make drawings of bombs and military vehicles and who allegedly got in trouble once for drawing swastikas in a textbook. Roley would also say "awful things" related to the border crisis, Dieter said. Dieter said he and his friends would brush off all the comments as "Wess just being Wess," trying to say outlandish things to be "edgy" and stand out. Dieter said Roley never spoke much about his family or his background, except he allegedly often claimed to have been born in Germany and to be more German and "more patriotic" than others. MORE: Bryan Kohberger agrees to plead guilty to all counts in Idaho college murders case: Letter from prosecutors According to Dieter, he and Wess were "never close," but they were part of the same friend group -- going to school together in the Phoenix area beginning in late elementary school and continuing until sophomore year of high school, when Dieter moved to Colorado. During their freshman year of high school, however, Dieter claimed Roley "definitely was becoming more kind of unhinged in what he would say... and what he thought was right." Roley's family's attorney, Justin P. Whittenton, shared a statement on behalf of the family on Monday, saying they "intend to fully cooperate with authorities in seeking answers." "At this time, we, the family of Wess Roley would like to offer our most heartfelt condolences to the families of those whose lives were taken and to the community of Coeur d'Alene at large," the family said in the statement. "There are no words that can suffice for this tragedy and the infinite losses suffered by those affected by this shooting. We do not understand why this happened or how this came about," the family added. ABC News has reached out to Roley's mother and stepfather for further comment, but did not immediately hear back.
The Guardian
01-07-2025
- The Guardian
Idaho community reeling after suspect in shooting of firefighters identified
Authorities have identified the suspect in the shooting death of two firefighters in Idaho as 20 year-old Wess Roley, who was later found dead at the scene. He is believe to have shot the firefighters who were battling a blaze he started after they asked him to move his vehicle, killing two of them and wounding a third. Fire crews, meanwhile, remained at the scene battling to contain flames still scorching Canfield Mountain
The Independent
01-07-2025
- The Independent
Photos at Canfield Mountain, Idaho, where firefighters came under deadly attack
Smoke continued to fill the air at Canfield Mountain after a shooter killed firefighters responding to a wildfire in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. The town held a procession in honor of the two crew members who died. This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
