Shooter who ambushed North Idaho firefighters identified as 20-year-old man

Alex Brizee, The Idaho Statesman on Jun 30, 2025

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Authorities have identified the man they say ambushed firefighters at a popular recreation area near Coeur d’Alene on Sunday afternoon.

Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris said the shooter was 20-year-old Wess Roley, who died by suicide after killing two local firefighters and badly injuring another at Canfield Mountain on Sunday afternoon, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Law enforcement said they think Roley started the grass fire, which has grown to 26 acres, to lure firefighters to the spot.

“This was a total ambush,” Norris said Sunday. “These firefighters did not have a chance.”

Firefighters had a “discussion” with Roley when they arrived and asked him to move his truck, the Sheriff’s Office said. That was at 1:21 p.m. By 2 p.m., they were taking on gunfire.

“We need law enforcement up here immediately,” a firefighter said, according to a recording of a call to the county’s emergency management system. “It’s clear to me that this fire was set intentionally to draw us in.”

The victims were identified at a news conference as Battalion Chief Frank Harwood, 42, of Northern Lakes Fire; and Coeur d’Alene Fire Department Battalion Chief John Morrison, 52.

Dave Tysdal, a 47-year-old firefighter, was critically injured, officials said.

Throughout the initial hours of the incident Sunday, law enforcement agencies both locally and nationally descended on Coeur d’Alene, trying to make “heads or tails” of what was going on, Norris said. He described a chaotic scene that was difficult to manage.

Norris said there is evidence that Roley wanted to be a firefighter, but investigators don’t know whether that played any role in the shooting. Roley lived in California and Arizona before moving to North Idaho in 2024, and he had no criminal history, the sheriff said.

Norris said law enforcement had five interactions with Roley over the past year-plus, and described them as “very, very minor in nature.” He said Roley, who appeared to be living out of his truck, always had been cooperative.

Sunday’s shooting likely marked the first time a firefighter in Idaho was killed deliberately in the line of duty.

Since 1990, at least 31 firefighters have died in Idaho, according to a database maintained by the U.S. Fire Administration. Of those deaths, the majority of firefighters died from a traumatic event related to their jobs, or a medical emergency.

“This is something that we don’t train for. It’s not something we expect,” Kootenai County Fire & Rescue Deputy Chief of Operations Pete Holley said of the shooting. “It’s not something our firefighters should have to deal with.

“In this situation, they were called to a grass fire, which is already something that we’re very heightened and are anxious about this time of year, and they were doing everything the way that they’re supposed to do.”

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