The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
(TNS)
Jul. 22—Wess Roley leaned on the bed of his black Ford Ranger pickup and watched as firefighters responded to the upper parking lot at Canfield Mountain on June 29, according to the dashboard video from the fire department.
Within minutes, Roley began shooting them.
Kootenai County Sheriff Robert Norris on Tuesday revealed the findings of the investigation which showed how Roley intentionally set a wildfire to lure firefighters into a killing field.
"On June 29 at approximately 1 p.m., Kootenai County was touched by evil, tragedy and heroism," Norris said. "This was a premeditated ambush, a pure act of evil against the people we look to for help."
Norris said Roley, 20, shot Coeur d'Alene Fire Engineer David Tysdal first, as Tysdal was outside of his fire truck.
Then from about 10 feet away, Roley turned his Mossberg pump-action shotgun, loaded with shells that fired 1-ounce slugs, and shot Battalion Chiefs John Morrison, 52, who was sitting behind the wheel of the fire truck, and Frank Harwood, 42, who was sitting on the passenger side .
"Our hearts are with the families who will be forever changed by this horrific act of violence," Norris said.
The killings set off a chaotic several hours as emergency responders tried to assess the threat they faced and to mount a response as Tysdal lay bleeding next to the fire rig.
After the mayhem of the day subsided, investigators found a note signed by Roley in his pickup that was penned, apparently a day before, to his father.
"Hello Father, I write this to you in a concerned effort that you may read this in upmost sincerity," the note reads, misspelling utmost. "Tomorrow, I shall go into battle if I survive it would be with upmost dishonor.
"I bid thee farewell, I hope that you shall live to the fullest extent as you have thus far. I beg that you do not fall into the traps of modern existence, with media and other false pleasantries that plague the minds of individuals today.
"Propaganda of sorts. You are a astounding individual and I wish you the best. Sincerely, Wess Roley."
Also inside the truck, investigators found a semiautomatic .22 -caliber rifle, but investigators didn't find any evidence that he used that as a backup weapon.
They later found a flint and lighters in Roley's pockets. Norris noted Roley had gasoline at this truck. With those tools, investigators believe Roley set the fire that prompted the firefighters to enter his "battle."
The confrontation started at 1:24 p.m. on June 29, when a former law enforcement officer, who was mountain biking on Canfield Mountain, reported a wildfire on the popular destination, located on the east side of Coeur d'Alene and just above the fire station where Morrison worked.
At about 1:40 p.m., Morrison, of the Coeur d'Alene Fire Department, and Harwood, of Kootenai County Fire and Rescue, arrived at the upper parking lot of Canfield Mountain.
The firefighters encountered Roley standing next to his pickup. They apparently asked Roley to move his pickup, which was parked near a gate where fire trucks would need to pass. "The contact is being described as confrontational," Norris said, without explaining what was said.
The dash-mounted video footage shows Roley standing behind his pickup as Tysdal walks past him, apparently after unlocking a gate to allow fire equipment to drive farther up the road.
"At approximately 1:50 p.m., the suspect, who had lied in wait, intentionally attempted to murder Dave Tysdal," Norris said.
Tysdal, 47, suffered a gunshot wound to the back. The slug punctured a lung, broke a couple of ribs and crushed his collar bone.
Tysdal, who apparently can now wiggle his toes, was moved last week to Colorado to a specialty hospital in hopes he regain his ability to move his legs.
Roley then shot both Morrison and Harwood, Norris said.
"Those firefighters died instantly and simultaneously," he explained.
Some five other firefighters had already passed the upper parking lot and were up the hill trying to locate the fire. Four dirt bike riders also were forced to shelter in place after the shooting started, Norris said.
Apparently, nobody knew, including the firefighters up the hill, nor the bystanders who called 911, that Roley had shot the three firefighters. Norris said officials received no reports of shots fired.
That all changed at about 2:01 p.m. when Battalion Chief Fritz Weidenhoff, of Northern Lakes Fire District, entered the parking lot and saw what appeared to be Tysdal on the ground working on a fire rig.
Tysdal somehow alerted Weidenhoff to the danger, and he then made the radio call that prompted a massive emergency response.
"SEND LAW ENFORCMENT RIGHT NOW. THERE'S AN ACTIVE SHOOTER ZONE," Weidenhoff screamed into his mic. "EVERYBODY'S SHOT UP HERE. LAW ENFORCEMENT, CODE 3 NOW UP HERE."
At first, Weidenhoff told dispatchers to get firefighter units away from the area because he didn't know the full scope of the threat.
"UPPER PARKING LOT. Up on the dirt parking lot. We need law enforcement up here immediately," he said, according to the recorded 911 communications. "Careful, we've got another Coeur d'Alene firefighter down. We need law enforcement immediately, immediately."
Norris, on Tuesday, credited Weidenhoff for alerting other responders.
"He did a great job," Norris said. "The radio transmission from Fritz Weidenhoff, who was the firefighter that saved a lot of lives that day. He did an outstanding job."
Stranded firefighters
Norris indicated publicly for the first time Tuesday that Morrison, Harwood and Tysdal, who were later joined by Weidenhoff, were not the only firefighters on the mountain that day when shots were fired.
Norris said four firefighters had moved up Canfield Mountain to try to locate the fire prior to the shooting.
Asked about that development, Coeur d'Alene Fire Chief Tom Grief said the actual number was five firefighters.
Greif explained that the initial fire call, and it's location, predicated what's called a "WUI" response. That stands for a wildland-urban-interface call.
"It was reported as a wildland fire adjacent to residential areas. Typically when we have those, you get a multijurisdictional response," he said.
That explains why crews arrived from Kootenai County, Northern Lakes, Coeur d'Alene and others responded from the Idaho Department of Lands.
Greif said Tysdal drove a Coeur d'Alene fire engine to the scene. Two city firefighters from that truck jumped off and joined three counterparts on a Kootenai County brush truck that drove up past the parking lot where Roley waited.
Those five firefighters went ahead to locate the fire as Morrison, Harwood and Tysdal stayed behind to coordinate logistics, such as water resources, to support whatever effort was deemed necessary.
Responding to the initial 911 caller who named a specific trail junction, the five firefighters struggled to locate the fire and tried radioing Morrison and Harwood, who had been designated as the incident commanders.
Just like Weidenhoff, the five firefighters could not raise the battalion chiefs on radio.
Grief said those firefighters then heard Weidenhoff's frantic calls on the radio.
"They knew they couldn't go back down the road. They didn't know if there were gunmen running around," Greif said. "Our wildland fire gear is bright yellow. The fire captain decided it was in their best interest to take off their fire gear."
The crews turned all their radios off except for one and started climbing. Greif said they hiked over the mountain to get to a Kootenai County fire station at 6360 N. 4th St. in Dalton Gardens.
"They had to retreat to get to a safe place," Greif said.
Like Norris, Greif credited Weidenhoff for his actions on the radio as Roley continued to fire shots.
"You train to operate a radio in hazardous conditions. You try to replicate scenarios," Greif said. "It's just remarkable that (Weidenhoff) was able to communicate the things he needed to in that level of anxiety.
"That saved lives. It saved the crew up above and the crews that were responding in."
In addition to the five firefighters, Norris said four bystanders, who were riding dirt bikes on Canfield, also had to hunker down and wait as the shooting situation unfolded.
He did not give details about what those four people did or how long they remained on the mountain.
Roley background
Norris said investigators learned from Roley's family that he had been diagnosed as a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder that had never been treated.
Investigators learned Roley attempted to join a branch of the military in 2023 but was unsuccessful. After growing up in Arizona, Roley moved to Bonner County in 2024 to briefly live with his father, Jason Roley, who lives north of Priest River.
Roley also posted prior to the shooting an image of himself on Instagram showing him dressed in camo gear and wearing a shotgun shell belt.
Investigators have placed holds on Roley's social media accounts, but have not been able to access them.
Detectives found several notes and drawings that Roley left behind in his apartment on Sherman Avenue in Coeur d'Alene.
One crude drawing appears to depict the parking lot where he shot the firefighters, Norris said.
The note, he explained, reads, " 'Kill, kill, kill,' and he's got what appears to be a shotgun here with blast coming out."
Roley also traced a symbol on the note he left for his father .
The same symbol was etched into the side of the Mossberg Maverick 88 shotgun that Norris said Roley had legally purchased.
That symbol, a diamond shape with legs, is known as an othala rune, which has been used in nonextremist contexts. It also has been used as a hate symbol by white supremacists in the U.S. and Europe, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
Another drawing depicts someone with a shotgun under his chin. The drawing was eerily similar to the way Roley was found dead at the scene. Norris said investigators determined that Roley had taken his life.
Norris also described how Roley in May approached the Coeur d'Alene Fire Department seeking a job.
"He had the state of mind that he would be able to start that day," Norris said of Roley. "He was told there's a process."
That includes a written exam, a physical agility test, a background check and an in-person interview.
"It was described to us as he left there in a very, very frustrated and agitated state," Norris said.
BearCat response
While audio from 911 calls made by firefighters document Weidenhoff's frantic calls for help, Norris said law enforcement struggled at the base of the mountain to figure out how to enter an active shooting zone while facing the pressure of rescuing a firefighter they knew to be injured.
Norris said officials decided to wait for a BearCat armored vehicle before trying to retrieve Tysdal. It took 22 minutes to arrive.
"When these critical incidents are happening, it's not like in the movies," Norris said. "What are the likely risks?"
When the vehicle arrived, three Kootenai County Sheriff's deputies, a Coeur d'Alene police officer and a Coeur d'Alene police driver drove up the hill.
"They were throwing smoke grenades ahead of them. One of the deputies ... did report that he was receiving fire," Norris said.
Investigators found evidence that Roley shot at least 14 to 15 times. While Norris confirmed that officers and deputies exchanged fire with Roley, he didn't say how many rounds law enforcement fired.
Roley apparently was not hit by any of those rounds, he said.
Greif, the fire chief, noted Norris forgot to mention that a fire department paramedic who teams up with the SWAT team was also on the BearCat.
The paramedic pulled Tysdal into the vehicle before it crawled down the hill and transferred the injured firefighter into a Northern Lakes ambulance.
Norris said the case remains under investigation and he said he would not discuss some of those details.
During the follow -up, investigators will attempt to determine if crews could have responded differently to the chaotic scene.
"The suspect chose an area" that was "heavily treed, heavily brushed and he had high-ground advantage," Norris said. We "are going to review all of our policies to ensure that we can respond efficiently and safely.
"The decision to wait for a BearCat appears to have been prudent at this time. But we are going to continue to seek some additional information."
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