A 20-year-old man’s life appeared to have begun to unravel in the months before authorities say he fatally shot two firefighters and severely wounded a third as they responded to a wildfire near Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
Wess Roley was living out of his vehicle and his former roommate T.J. Franks Jr. said he shaved off his long hair and started to “kind of go downhill.” The two lived together for about six months in Sandpoint, Idaho, until Roley moved out in January, Franks said Monday.
Roley, who authorities say took his own life after Sunday’s shootings, is suspected of killing two battalion chiefs whose firefighting careers in Idaho spanned nearly half a century combined. The deaths of Frank Harwood, 42, with Kootenai County Fire and Rescue, and John Morrison, 52, with the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department, have left their colleagues reeling, resulting in their departments adding law enforcement to every call, no matter how routine.
“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,” Kootenai County Fire and Rescue Chief Christopher Way said. “But we are taking every measure we can to ensure safety of our responders.”
Roley had set a fire using flint at Canfield Mountain, a popular recreation area, according to authorities. The firefighters who rushed to the scene found themselves under fire and took cover behind fire trucks.
“There was an interaction with the firefighters,” Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris said. “It has something to do with his vehicle being parked where it was.”
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 Roley’s body in the mountains, his firearm beside him. He had killed himself, the sheriff said.
Roley had once aspired to be a firefighter and had only a handful of minor contacts with area police, Norris said. A motive was still unknown, he said.
He had ties to California and Arizona and was living in Idaho “for the better part of 2024,” although it was unclear why he was there, Norris said.
When Roley was living with Franks, his apartment cameras caught Roley throwing gang signs at them, which worried Franks to the point that he called police.
Idaho officials say at least two people have been killed after a sniper ambushed firefighters responding to a brush fire in Coeur d’Alene. Investigators say a deceased man was located on Canfield Mountain and that a firearm was found nearby.
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.
Hours after Sunday’s 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 56 kilometres from Coeur d’Alene.
Gov. Brad Little ordered U.S. 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.
Harwood, one of the victims of the shooting, had been with the county fire department for 17 years, 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.
Morrison, who was also killed, started his career with the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department in 1996 and had also worked as a paramedic.
Coeur d’Alene Fire Department fire engineer David Tysdal, 47, sustained gunshot wounds and was in critical condition. Authorities said he had two successful surgeries.
“We still are in shock and are struggling to understand why someone would target unarmed, selfless public servants,” said Coeur d’Alene Mayor Woody McEvers.
By Monday afternoon, the fire was “reasonably contained,” and responders had “stopped significant forward progress,” Way said. The Idaho Department of Lands said it had burned about 10.5 hectares.
