Two Idaho firefighters shot dead: What happened, who is suspect Wess Roley?

Two firefighters were killed by gunfire while responding to a brush fire in Coeur d’Alene, a lakeside town in the northwestern US state of Idaho.

The local sheriff’s office reported that a shelter-in-place order was lifted on Sunday night after a tactical team found the body of a man with a firearm nearby. The dead man is believed to be the suspect.
According to a law enforcement official who spoke to the Associated Press on Monday, the suspect was identified as Wess Roley.

What happened in Idaho, and when?
Officials said crews responded to a fire at Canfield Mountain in the United States city at about 1:22pm (19:22 GMT), and gunshots were reported about a half hour later at 2pm (21:00 GMT).

Kootenai County Sheriff Robert Norris said the shooter used high-powered sporting rifles to open rapid fire on first responders.

Two firefighters were killed and, according to authorities, a third one came out of surgery and is in a stable condition but “fighting for his life”.

Norris told reporters on Sunday that authorities believe the suspect intentionally started the fire as “an ambush”.

“We do believe he started it, and it was totally intentional what he did,” the sheriff added.

However, officials have not spelled out any possible motives for why the suspect might have wanted to ambush the firefighters.

According to reports, more than 300 law enforcement officers and FBI agents responded to the emergency, while police snipers searched the area from helicopters.Where exactly did it happen?
The Canfield Mountain area is on the eastern outskirts of Coeur d’Alene. It is a popular 10-hectare (24‑acre) natural space featuring hiking and mountain‑biking trails.

Coeur d’Alene, a city of about 55,000 people, is located roughly 420km (260 miles) east of Seattle.

The mountain is densely covered with trees and thick brush, and its network of trails extends into a national forest.Who was the shooter?
Officials said the suspect, later identified as Wess Roley, 20, was found dead at the scene.

Based on preliminary evidence, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office believed he was the only one involved in the attack. Initially, authorities had suspected there might be as many as four people involved.

Authorities located Roley after they detected mobile phone activity in the area and traced the signal.

According to a report by CNN, Roley came from a family of arborists and was training to be a fireman.

“He was doing tree work and he wanted to be a fireman in the forest,” Dale Roley, his grandfather, told CNN. “As far as I know, he was actually pursuing it,” he added.

Roley moved to Idaho last year and was living independently while working for a tree company, his grandfather told local reporters.