Sniper ambushes Idaho firefighters; at least 2 people killed
BOISE, Idaho — Firefighters were ambushed by sniper fire while responding to a blaze in a northern Idaho mountain community Sunday, as the shooter killed at least two people and unleashed barrages of gunfire over several hours.
The Kootenai County Sheriff's Office said crews responded to a fire at Canfield Mountain just north of Coeur d'Alene around 1:30 p.m., and gunshots were reported about half an hour later.
Sheriff Bob Norris said officials believe the two people killed were fire personnel. He didn't know whether anyone else was shot.
'We don't know how many suspects are up there, and we don't know how many casualties there are,' Norris told reporters at a 4:30 p.m. news conference. 'We are actively taking sniper fire as we speak.'
People are still coming off the mountain, the sheriff said, so it 'would be safe to assume' that others were still up there.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little said multiple firefighters were attacked.
'This is a heinous direct assault on our brave firefighters,' Little said on the social platform X. 'I ask all Idahoans to pray for them and their families as we wait to learn more.'
Norris said it appeared the sniper was hiding in the rugged terrain and using a high-powered rifle. The sheriff said he instructed his deputies to fire back.
'I'm hoping that somebody has a clear shot and is able to neutralize, because they're not at this point in time showing any evidence of wanting to surrender,' the sheriff said.
An alert by the Kootenai County Emergency Management Office asked people to avoid the area around Canfield Mountain Trailhead and Nettleton Gulch Road, about four miles north of downtown Coeur d'Alene.
The fire was still active, Norris said.
'It's going to keep burning,' he said. 'Can't put any resources on it right now.'
Coeur d'Alene is a city of 55,000 residents near the border with Washington. Canfield Mountain is a popular hiking and biking area on the outskirts of the northern Idaho city, covered with trees and heavy brush and crisscrossed with trails.
Boone and Weber write for the Associated Press and reported from Boise and Los Angeles, respectively. AP journalists Mead Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyo., and Josh Funk in Omaha contributed to this report.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
30 minutes ago
- New York Post
Wess Roley, alleged sniper accused of setting Idaho fire before killing two firefighters, ID'd in eerie photo
The sniper who shot dead two firefighters in an ambush in Idaho was identified by officials Monday as 20-year-old Wess Roley — and an eerie photo shows him aiming a sinister glare into the camera. Roley's body was found near his weapon at the scene of a fire he started Sunday afternoon to lure the unsuspecting smoke-eaters to the scene, a law enforcement official told the Associated Press. He ended up killing two responding firefighters and critically wounding a third, authorities said. It is unclear whether Roley was eventually killed by a cop's bullet or took his own life, Kootenai County Sheriff Robert Norris told reporters at a press conference. 7 Wess Roley was identified as the gunman suspected of starting a fire before fatally shooting two firefighters in Idaho. 7 Police respond to a shooting at Canfield Mountain, Idaho. AP 7 People pay their respects to those killed in a shooting in Idaho. AP The chaos began around 2 p.m. on Canfield Mountain, just north of Coeur d'Alene, when smoke started pouring from the woods and first responders rushed to the scene — only to be met by a hail of gunfire coming from the trees. Firefighters quickly realized they'd been lured into a psychotic trap and desperately called for backup, according to terrifying 911 calls they made from the scene. 'I'm pinned down,' a firefighter said in the frantic call. 'It's clear to me that this fire was set intentionally to draw us in. 7 A procession to honor the firefighters killed in Idaho on Sunday, June 29, 2025. AP 'We need law enforcement up here immediately,' he said. '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.' The fire was left to burn as reinforcements battled to root out the unseen gunman, before the gunfire eventually stopped and Roley's body was tracked down in the trees using cellphone information. 7 Smoke from the fire started before firefighters were ambushed. AP Neither of the two firefighters killed have been identified yet, while a third firefighter was left 'fighting for his life' after he was struck by a bullet. He is now in stable condition. A motivation behind the twisted attack remains unclear, but internet sleuths have identified a chilling possible connection to a decades-old incident involving the Coeur d'Alene Fire Department and neo-Nazis. 7 An armored police vehicle leaves an area where multiple firefighters were attacked when responding to a fire on Canfield Mountain. REUTERS Sunday's incident happened 24 years to the day after a 2001 burning of an Aryan Nations compound in Hayden Lake — just 7 miles north of Coeur d'Alene — during a fire training operation. The cabin and its compound had been sold to the department after the Aryan Nations' national leader, Richard Butler, filed for bankruptcy over a settlement involving the shooting of a Native American woman and her son — and the site was torched by the Coeur d'Alene Fire Department during a training exercise. 7 Smoke is seen rising after a fire was started outside Coeur d'Alene in Idaho. REUTERS Every morning, the NY POSTcast offers a deep dive into the headlines with the Post's signature mix of politics, business, pop culture, true crime and everything in between. Subscribe here! 'I do not think it is a coincidence that on this date in 2001, firefighters in Coeur d'Alene burned down the Aryan Nation founder's compound in a training exercise after he lost the property in a federal bankruptcy sale. The tragic current events are unfolding nearby,' one suspicious sleuth wrote in a post on X on Sunday. So far no connection has been made between Roley and white supremacy movements.
Los Angeles Times
2 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
A man lured Idaho firefighters to a mountain with a fire then shot and killed 2, officials say
BOISE, Idaho — As a wildfire began to sow panic in a small northern Idaho mountain community, a group of firefighters who rushed to put out the blaze instead found themselves in an unexpected shootout. A man who had intentionally set the fire to ambush the crew on Sunday was perched in a sniper position, firing at the firefighters. They took cover behind fire trucks, but two died and a third was wounded during a barrage of gunfire over several hours, authorities said. First responders made urgent calls for help on their radios at Canfield Mountain just north of Coeur d'Alene: 'Everybody's shot up here ... send law enforcement now,' according to one dispatch. Two helicopters converged on the area, 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 the suspect dead in the mountains, his firearm beside him. It is unknown how he died, and authorities have not yet revealed a motive. The suspect has been identified as Wess Roley, a law enforcement official told the Associated Press on Monday. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation. 'We do believe that the suspect started the fire, and we do believe that it was an ambush and it was intentional,' Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris said at a Sunday night news conference. 'These firefighters did not have a chance.' The wounded firefighter was 'fighting for his life' after surgery and was stable, Norris said. 'When you have an environment where you don't know where the bullets are coming from because of the trees and the shrubbery and what have you, it is daunting for police officers, let alone firefighters,' Norris said. Outpouring of support was swift in Coeur d'Alene, a city of 55,000 residents near the border with Washington. Hours after the ambush, 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, Wash., about 35 miles from Coeur d'Alene. Gov. Brad Little on Monday ordered U.S. and Idaho state flags to be lowered to half-staff to honor 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.' The Idaho House Republican Leadership said in a statement: 'We are horrified by the murder of two firefighters in Coeur d'Alene, and shocked by such a vicious attack on our first responders. We are praying for them, the injured, their families and their colleagues.' Though the shelter-in-place order was lifted, the sheriff's office cautioned residents to be prepared because the fire was still burning. The status of the fire was not immediately known Monday morning. Canfield Mountain is a popular hiking and biking area on the outskirts of Coeur d'Alene, covered with trees and heavy brush and crisscrossed with trails that lead into a national forest. 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 realized why he wasn't seeing aircraft: 'Because they're concerned about being shot at,' he said. As deputies set up posts nearby, Deming pointed them to a trail that starts near his backdoor and leads directly to the site of the fire. 'I just don't want to have to wake up in the middle of the night to figure if somebody's out prowling around my place,' he said. Boone and Weber write for the Associated Press. Weber reported from Los Angeles. AP journalists Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington; Mead Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyo.; Josh Funk in Omaha; and Kathy McCormack in Concord, N.H., contributed to this report.
San Francisco Chronicle
3 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
2 Idaho firefighters shot and killed in ambush by a man who intentionally set fire, authorities say
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — As a wildfire began to sow panic in a small northern Idaho mountain community, a group of firefighters who rushed put out the blaze instead found themselves in an unexpected shootout. A man who had intentionally set the fire to ambush the crew on Sunday was perched in a sniper position, firing at the firefighters. They took cover behind firetrucks, but two died and a third was wounded during a barrage of gunfire over several hours, authorities said. First responders made urgent calls for help on their radios at Canfield Mountain just north of Coeur d'Alene: 'Everybody's shot up here ... send law enforcement now,' according to one dispatch. Two helicopters converged on the area, 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 the suspect dead in the mountains, his firearm beside him. It is unknown how he died, and authorities have not yet revealed a motive. The suspect has been identified as Wess Roley, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Monday. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation. 'We do believe that the suspect started the fire, and we do believe that it was an ambush and it was intentional,' Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris said at a Sunday night news conference. 'These firefighters did not have a chance.' The wounded firefighter was 'fighting for his life' after surgery and was in stable condition, Norris said. 'When you have an environment where you don't know where the bullets are coming from because of the trees and the shrubbery and what have you, it is daunting for police officers, let alone firefighters,' Norris said. Outpouring of support was swift in Coeur d'Alene, a city of 55,000 residents near the border with Washington. Hours after the ambush, 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 35 miles (56 kilometers) from Coeur d'Alene. Idaho Gov. Brad Little called the attack 'a heinous direct assault on our brave firefighters.' 'I ask all Idahoans to pray for them and their families as we wait to learn more,' Little said on X. The Idaho House Republican Leadership said in a statement: 'We are horrified by the murder of two firefighters in Coeur d'Alene, and shocked by such a vicious attack on our first responders. We are praying for them, the injured, their families and their colleagues.' Though the shelter-in-place order was lifted, the sheriff's office cautioned residents to be prepared because the fire was still burning. The status of the fire was not immediately known Monday morning. Canfield Mountain is a popular hiking and biking area on the outskirts of Coeur d'Alene, covered with trees and heavy brush and crisscrossed with trails that lead into a national forest. 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 realized why he wasn't seeing aircraft: 'Because they're concerned about being shot at,' he said. As deputies set up posts nearby, Deming pointed them to a trail that starts near his backdoor and leads directly to the site of the fire. 'I just don't want to have to wake up in the middle of the night to figure if somebody's out prowling around my place,' he said. ___
