The man shot the firefighters of Idaho after they asked him to move the vehicle, says the sheriff

Heart of Alene, Idaho (AP) – A man who started a forest fire and then fatally killed two firefighters and injured another in northern Idaho was a 20 -year -old transitional who attacked the first stakeholders after they asked him to move his vehicle, said a sheriff on Monday.

The Sheriff of the County of Kootenai, Bob Norris, proposed new details on the Sunday confrontation in Canfield Mountain, just north of the heart of Alene, a popular leisure area. He said Wess Roley lived out of his vehicle, had once succeeded in becoming a firefighter and had only had a handful of minor contacts with the region’s police.

“We could not find a manifesto,” said sheriff, adding a motif was still unknown.

Norris said that the families of the victims are “in shock – absolutely. They are in shock and they always treat it ”.

2 veterans firefighters are killed and a third party is in critical condition

The 42 -year -old Frank Harwood battalion chief, who had been in the county fire service for 17 years, was killed, said the chief of the County of Kootenai, Christopher Way on Monday at a press conference. Harwood was married and had two children, and he was also a veteran of the National Army Guard.

The head of the heart fire battalion John Morrison, 52, was also killed after working with the department for 28 years.

Alene’s fire fire engineer David Tysdal, 47, suffered from bullet injuries and was in critical condition. Authorities said they had suffered two successful surgeries.

After the shooting, local law organizations proposed to make each call that the fire service continues, according to Way.

“I don’t know that we will never be able to guarantee people’s peace of mind, at least for a while after an incident like this,” he said. “But we take all possible measures to ensure the safety of our respondents.”

Roley had set fire using Flint, and the firefighters who rushed to the stage met under fire. They hid behind fire trucks.

“There was an interaction with firefighters,” said Norris. “It has something to do with the parking of his vehicle where he was.”

Roley had links with California and Arizona before moving to Idaho

Roley then committed suicide, said sheriff.

He had links with California and Arizona and lived in Idaho “for most of 2024,” said Norris. “But as far as when he arrived, why he was here, why he chose this place – I don’t know.”

Two helicopters converged on the region on Sunday, armed with elite shooters ready to eliminate the suspect if necessary, while the FBI used the data from his mobile phone to follow him and the sheriff ordered residents to take shelter. They finally found Roley who died in the mountains, his firearm next to him.

Roley lived with TJ Franks Jr. for about six months in Sandpoint, Idaho, while working for a trees, said Franks on Monday. Franks had cameras in his apartment who one day caught ganging panels, which worries the Franks to the point that he called the police.

“I didn’t know what really thinking about it,” said Franks. “I just called the cops and made them speak with him.”

The owner also called Franks one morning because the neighbors pointed out that Roley’s vehicle had been left for about 12 hours. Franks said Roley was sleeping in his room and said he forgot the vehicle.

Franks said Roley “began to act a little weird” and at one point, completely shaved his long hair.

“We just noticed it by starting to refuse or descending in a way,” he said.

Rapid outpouring of support

The outpouring support for victims was fast at the heart of Alene, a city of 55,000 inhabitants near the border with Washington.

A few hours after the shooting, people gathered along the Interstate 90 holding American flags to pay tribute while the two female fire bodies were taken to the Bureau of the Legalist in Spokane, Washington, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) of Alene’s heart.

Governor Brad Little ordered us flags and flags from the state of Idaho to be lowered to honor the firefighters to the day after their commemorative service.

“All our public security officers, in particular our firefighters, courageously confront the danger daily, but we have never seen an act of heinous violence like this on our firefighters,” he said in a statement. “It’s not Idaho. This indescribable loss is deeply felt by all those in the fire-fighting community and beyond. ”

Although the order of the refuge on the spot was lifted, the sheriff’s office warned the residents to prepare because the fire was still burning. The Idaho Lands Ministry said it burned around 26 acres (10.5 hectares).

Way described the fire on Monday as “reasonably contained”, saying that the respondents had “stopped significant progress”.

Fire is still a concern for the region, said Bruce Deming, whose property results in the trail system. When he noticed smoke on the ridge on Sunday afternoon, he wondered why no helicopter to fight fires responded.

When a friend sent a text to tell him about the shooting, he realized why he did not see planes: “Because they care about being slaughtered,” he said.

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Journalists from the Associated Press Hallie Golden in Seattle, Ed White in Detroit and Martha Bellisle in Seattle contributed to this report.