What to know from the press conference:
- The fallen firefighters are Coeur d鈥橝lene Battalion Chief John Morrison and Kootenai County Fire & Rescue Battalion Chief Frank Harwood.
- Coeur d鈥橝lene Engineer Dave Tysdal is in critical condition after undergoing two successful surgeries.
- The departments are providing support to the families and mental health resources to their personnel.
- The fire has burned approximately 26 acres.
By Manuel Valdes and Lindsey Wasson
Associated Press
COEUR D鈥橝LENE, Idaho 鈥� A man who started a wildfire and then and wounded another in northern Idaho was a 20-year-old transient who attacked the first responders after they asked him to move his vehicle, a sheriff said Monday.
Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris offered new details about the Sunday confrontation at Canfield Mountain, just north of Coeur d鈥橝lene, a popular recreation area. He said Wess Roley was living out of his vehicle, had once aspired to be a firefighter and had only a handful of minor contacts with area police.
鈥淲e have not been able to find a manifesto,鈥� the sheriff said, adding a motive was still unknown.
Norris said families of the victims are 鈥渋n shock 鈥� absolutely. They鈥檙e in shock and they鈥檙e still processing it.鈥�
2 veteran firefighters are killed and a third is in critical condition
Battalion Chief Frank Harwood, 42, who had been with the city fire department for 17 years, was killed, Kootenai County Fire and Rescue Chief Christopher Way said during a news conference Monday. Harwood was married and had two children, and he also was a veteran of the Army National Guard.
Coeur d鈥橝lene Fire Department Battalion Chief John Morrison, 52, was also killed after working with the department for 28 years.
Fire Engineer David Tysdal, 47, sustained gunshot wounds and was in critical condition. Authorities said he had two successful surgeries.
After the shooting, local law enforcement agencies have offered to go on every call that the fire department goes on, according to Way.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know that we鈥檙e ever going to be able to guarantee people鈥檚 peace of mind, at least for a while after an incident like this,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut we are taking every measure we can to ensure safety.鈥�
Roley had set a fire using flint, and the firefighters who rushed to the scene instead found themselves . They took cover behind fire trucks.
鈥淭here was an interaction with the firefighters,鈥� Norris said. 鈥淚t has something to do with his vehicle being parked where it was.鈥�
Roley had ties to California and Arizona before moving to Idaho
Roley later killed himself, the sheriff said.
He had ties to California and Arizona and was living in Idaho 鈥渇or the better part of 2024,鈥� Norris said. 鈥淏ut as far as when he got here, why he was here, why he chose this place 鈥� I don鈥檛 know.鈥�
Two helicopters converged on the area 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.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know what to really think about it,鈥� Franks said. 鈥淚 just called the cops and had them talk to him.鈥�
The landlord also called Franks one morning because neighbors reported that Roley鈥檚 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 鈥渟tarted acting a little weird鈥� and at one point shaved his long hair off completely.
鈥淲e just kind of noticed him starting to decline or kind of go downhill,鈥� he said.
Dale Roley, who lives about an hour away from Coeur d鈥橝lene, told KXLY-TV that his grandson was an avid hiker who worked for a tree company and was interested in forestry.
A swift outpouring of support
Outpouring of support for the victims was swift in Coeur d鈥橝lene, 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鈥� bodies were taken to the medical examiner鈥檚 office in Spokane, Washington, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) from Coeur d鈥橝lene.
Gov. Brad Little ordered U.S. and Idaho state flags to be lowered to half-staff to honor the firefighters until the day after their memorial service.
鈥淎ll 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,鈥� he said in a statement. 鈥淭his is not Idaho. This indescribable loss is felt deeply by all those in the firefighting community and beyond.鈥�
Though the shelter-in-place order was lifted, the sheriff鈥檚 office cautioned residents to be prepared because the fire was still burning. The Idaho Department of Lands said it had burned about 26 acres (10.5 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 realized why he wasn鈥檛 seeing aircraft: 鈥淏ecause they鈥檙e concerned about being shot at,鈥� he said.
