COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho – Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris confirmed Monday afternoon that the person who shot three firefighters in Coeur d’Alene over the weekend is 20-year-old Wess Roley.
While law enforcement officers did exchange gunfire with Roley, the sheriff said Monday afternoon that they believe Roley shot himself at the crime scene.
Investigators say Roley shot firefighters who were responding to a brush fire on Canfield Mountain Sunday afternoon.
One firefighter from Coeur d’Alene Fire was killed, along with a firefighter from Kootenai Fire and Rescue. Another firefighter from Coeur d’Alene Fire was shot, but survived and is recovering at the hospital.
Investigators say local law enforcement has had five interactions with Roley in North Idaho, all of them have been “very, very minor.”
“We don’t show any criminal history for Roley,” Sheriff Norris said.
Roley has lived in California, Idaho and Arizona.
At the news conference Monday, the sheriff gave reporters a picture from Roley’s Instagram account that had been recently removed.
It shows Roley dressed in camoflague with his face painted and partially masked.
Investigators have not yet searched Roley’s vehicle, but say investigators believe he may have been living in the vehicle. They haven’t found anything that Norris would describe as a manifesto that would explain his motives for the shooting.
Investigators found Roley’s body in the wildfire area near the shooting scene. They removed his body Sunday evening in order to fight the fire, which is still burning as of Monday afternoon.
The sheriff’s office says they found a flint starter with Roley’s body and they believe that’s what he used to start the fire.
Norris said Roley talked to firefighters before the shooting “and there was a discussion” but the sheriff said they’re not aware of his motive for the shooting.
The sheriff said that discussion had something to do with where Roley’s vehicle was parked.
Investigators say they know Roley used a shotgun with rifled slugs; they’re still processing the scene and have not yet found any other weapons.
The sheriff said Roley grew up in an arborist family and is comfortable in the trees. He said that one report indicated Roley may have been firing at first responders from a perch in a tree when they arrived.
The fire departments are holding a news conference Monday afternoon to release the names of the firefighters.
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