Wess Val Roley Coeur D’Alene sniper who killed 2 firefighters along Canfield Mountain in Idaho was a transient living out of his car and had applied to be a firefighter only to be rejected. Few run ins with the law and no prior criminal history.
Wes Val Rolley, the 20 year old sniper suspect believed to have fatally shot two firefighters and wounded a third on Sunday as crews responded to a raging brush fire in northwest Idaho was identified on Monday as a 20-year-old man, Wess Val Roley whose family described him as a ‘loner’ who nevertheless dreamed of one day becoming a firefighter himself.
Wess Roley is suspected of intentionally setting the fire to ‘ambush’ firefighters according to two law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation.
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His body was found with a gun in the area of the blaze in Canfield Mountain near Coeur D’Alene, authorities said, almost six hours after the shooting began, Kootenai County Sheriff Robert Norris told a press conference Sunday.
Sheriff Norris declined did to say whether the suspect died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound or was fatally shot by authorities.
He said Wess Roley was living out of his vehicle, had once aspired to be a firefighter and had only a handful of minor contacts with area police, WDSU reported.
‘We know that he was a transient here,’ the sheriff said. ‘We know he lived here for the better part of 2024. But as far as when he got here, why he was here, why he chose this place — I don’t know.’
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho – Woman experience with Wess Roley, the young man that shot and killed two firefighters yesterday at Canfield mountain. #WessValRoley pic.twitter.com/IJipif3z3d
— News Channel3 Now (@newschannel3now) June 30, 2025
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Sheriff Norris said local law enforcement had five prior interactions with him, including welfare checks and a trespassing incident, all of which were minor and did not result in any arrests or charges.
‘We don’t have any indication of a motive at this time,’ Norris said, adding that Roley appeared to be living out of his vehicle, which deputies pushed down an embankment during the incident to prevent him from using it to flee. Deputies also disabled firetrucks at the scene as a precaution, BNO News reported.
According to Norris, Roley may have aspired to become a firefighter, though no connection has been established between that and the shooting. It remained unclear if his application had been rejected and may have prompted the ambush shooting against first respondents.
‘We cannot find any evidence that he has had any type of survivalist training,’ the official said when asked how long he lived in the wild and whether he had been trained in outdoor combat and survival.
The official noted the 20 year old suspect grew up in a family of arborists and had experience climbing trees, which may have aided him in ambushing responders.
The attack stunned members of the suspect’s family as they initially thought he could have been at the scene as a volunteer. Wess Roley’s grandfather told NBC News that ‘something must have snapped’ for his grandson to have committed such violence, particularly against firefighters.
‘He actually really respected law enforcement,’ Dale Roley told NBC. ‘He loved firefighters. It didn’t make sense that he was shooting firefighters. Maybe he got rejected or something.’
Sunday’s blaze which Roley had intentionally lit to ambush first respondents by Monday has reached 26 acres, but was said not to be threatening any structures. Crews were working to establish a containment line by nightfall despite difficult terrain.
The identities of the firefighters killed in the attack are expected to be released at a 4 p.m. local time press briefing.
The motive behind Sunday’s ambush remains under investigation.
