News & Current Events
Chilling Social Media Post By Idaho Sniper Suspect Hours Before Deadly Ambush
Before the attack, 20-year-old Wess Roley, who is suspected of killing two firefighters, sent a threatening final warning on social media.
According to authorities, Wess Roley shot firefighters Frank Harwood and John Morrison as they arrived to put out a fire on Canfield Mountain, just north of Coeur d’Alene, on Sunday, killing them and seriously wounding Dave Tysdal, as reported by BBC News.
Authorities call the act a “intentional ambush” and suspect Roley started the fire on purpose to draw emergency personnel to the scene.
Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris told reporters: “This was a total ambush. These firefighters did not have a chance.”
After an hours-long manhunt in which over 300 law enforcement officers, including two helicopters carrying snipers, swarmed the area, Roley was subsequently discovered dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
To stop him from escaping, authorities sabotaged and pushed his vehicle—in which he was living—off the hillside.
After being requested to relocate his car, which had been parked where the fire was blazing, Roley, who was homeless and living in his car, reportedly opened fire, according to the authorities.
“There was an interaction with the firefighters,” Norris explained. “It has something to do with his vehicle being parked where it was.”
Investigators believe he may have climbed a tree to carry out the attack and purposefully started the fire with a flint discovered next to his body. Fragments, rifled slugs, and a shotgun were found at the scene, along with perhaps other concealed firearms.
Distressing audio captured the chaos as first responders realized they were under attack: “Everybody’s shot up here,” cried one firefighter on Broadcastify. “Send law enforcement now.” Another voice added, “It is clear to me that this fire was set intentionally to draw us in.”
Authorities attempted to completely put out the 26-acre Nettleton Gulch Fire by Monday night, but it posed no threat to any buildings.
Before the shooting, Roley had posted camouflaged photos of himself on social media, along with a chilling lyric from a Bjork song: “I’m going hunting.”
According to The Sun, police claimed not to have found a manifesto.
Roley’s grandfather, Dale, expressed shock over his grandson’s actions, telling NBC News, “He loved firefighters. It didn’t make sense that he was shooting firefighters.”
Dale continued, “He wanted to be part of a team that he sort of idolised,” raising the possibility that Roley’s height prevented him from pursuing his aspirations of becoming a firefighter despite his prowess in tree climbing.
“He was just trying to figure his life out,” Dale told The New York Times. “He seemed to be a little bit optimistic.”
Dale described Roley as sometimes nervous, a loner, but someone who had never shown violence. “Something must’ve snapped. He did have a lot of heart,” he said.
After relocating from Arizona in 2023 to work for his father’s tree-trimming business, Roley’s mother wrote in an October post that her son was “doing great living in Idaho.”
Sheriff Norris verified that since relocating to Idaho, the suspect had five “very minor” run-ins with the law, including a restaurant trespassing issue.
Norris disregarded any link to radical philosophy, but Roley’s motivation is still unknown.
The families and loved ones affected by this tragedy are in our thoughts and prayers.
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