Wess Roley Coeur D’Alene sniper family release statement saying ‘they do not understand’ how the Idaho 20 year old came to commit heinous crime that led 2 firefighters being killed during an ambush.
The family of the 20 year old alleged Coeur D’Alene sniper accused of gunning down two firefighters in an ambush over the weekend have broken their silence Monday night to say that they ‘do not understand’ how the heinous crime happened.
‘At this time, we, the family of Wess Roley would like to offer our most heartfelt condolences to the families of those whose lives were taken and to the community of Coeur d’Alene at large,’ Roley’s family told the nypost in a statement issued through attorney Justin Whittenton.
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Coeur D’Alene sniper family release statement
‘There are no words that can suffice for this tragedy and the infinite losses suffered by those affected by this shooting. We do not understand why this happened or how this came about,’ they continued.
‘Our hearts and spirits are broken for the lost and hurting, and for our own loss as well,” the family added, explaining they intended to cooperate fully with investigators as they “deal with the grief of this heinous tragedy in our own family.’
Roley, 20, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound Sunday after attacking firefighters responding to a brush fire that he set which morphed into an all encompassing blaze.
About 300 law enforcement officers responded as Roley fired at people from the cover of the woods perched as a sniper, Kootenai County Sheriff Robert Norris told a press conference Sunday.
Coeur D’Alene pastor mentored sniper who recognised he had the devil in him
His body was found after an hours-long shootout. The fire he set continues to burn over 26 acres, officials said Monday.
In addition to the two fatalities, one firefighter was seriously wounded but is in stable condition. Their identities had yet to be made public.
Leading up to ambush shootings in Idaho’s Canfield Mountain just north of Coeur d’Alene, the 20 year old ‘transient’ had been living in his car and had interacted with police at least five times since arriving in the Coeur d’Alene sometime in 2024, according to police.
But those run-ins were all minor, police said Monday, and consisted of little more than trespassing reports and welfare checks from people who saw Roley parked on their property.
He had no criminal record in Idaho, nor in his previous homes of California and Arizona.
A post shared on the Facebook wall of Pastor Stephanie Anna told of the pastor and bible teacher meeting Roley last summer in the wild while living in his car and going on to mentoring the then troubled 19 year old who she remarked ‘had the devil in him’ and who struck her as capable of being the ‘type of person to commit a mass school shooting.’
Roley was born in California and endured a difficult divorce between his parents when he was 10 years old in 2015 — a split which saw his father allegedly threaten to start a fire and shoot his mother, according to court documents obtained by CNN, though the father said those accusations were false.
The suspect also aspired to be a firefighter working in forestry, according to his grandfather, and may have been in Idaho to pursue that career.
His grandfather said Roley had applied to be a firefighter recently but believes his application was rejected.
