The man who allegedly ambushed firefighters, killing two and critically injuring one other yesterday has been identified.
Police named the shooter as 20-year-old Wess Roley.
Here’s what we know about the suspect so far:
JUST IN – Alleged Idaho sniper ID’d as 20-year-old Wess Roley, per local authorities. pic.twitter.com/FByGm81Quc
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) June 30, 2025
🚨 CONFIRMED: The Idaho shooter was a 20-year-old named Wess Roley, born in Russia, raised in New York and Florida, who intentionally set a wildfire just to lure in first responders… then opened fire from higher ground.
Two firefighters are dead. A third is in surgery. And the… pic.twitter.com/1kdtj63bzJ
— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) June 30, 2025
Here are some more photos of the suspect, where, in one, he can be seen sporting a Satanic symbol on his shirt:
More photos of the alleged Arsonist/Sh00ter, Wess Roley, who ambushed firefighters yesterday in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho have surfaced online.
In one of the photos he is seen wearing a t-shirt with a Satanic symbol on it. In another photo he holds an AR-15.
Follow: @IdahoTribune pic.twitter.com/QKbUCpLKze
— Idaho Tribune (@IdahoTribune) June 30, 2025
Law enforcement say Roley posted this photo to social media shortly before the attack:
Here is the photo of the Idaho Ambush Arsonist, Wess Roley, that was posted to instagram before the incident began. @KootenaiSheriff Norris held this photo up at today's press conference.
Roley's social media accounts have since been scrubbed.
Follow: @IdahoTribune pic.twitter.com/oWl9Qa7wu4
— Idaho Tribune (@IdahoTribune) June 30, 2025
In case you’re curious, the photo he is holding is from a song from the musician Bjork about “going hunting.”
Idaho Tribune provided the lyrics:
The Instagram photo references a song called “Hunger” by Bjork. The lyrics are chilling in this context:
[Verse 1]
If travel is searching
And home what’s been found
I’m not stopping[Chorus]
I’m going hunting
I’m the hunter
I’ll bring back the goods
But I don’t know when… pic.twitter.com/KHmwvXzkYn— Idaho Tribune (@IdahoTribune) June 30, 2025
The Instagram photo references a song called “Hunger” by Bjork. The lyrics are chilling in this context:
[Verse 1]
ADVERTISEMENTIf travel is searching
And home what’s been found
I’m not stopping
[Chorus]
I’m going hunting
I’m the hunter
I’ll bring back the goods
But I don’t know when
ADVERTISEMENT[Bridge]
I thought I could organize freedom
How Scandinavian of me
[Gibberish]
You sussed it out, didn’t you?
[Verse 2]
You could smell it
So you left me on my own
To complete the mission
Now I’m leaving it all behind
[Chorus]
I’m going hunting
ADVERTISEMENTI’m the hunter
I’m the hunter
I’m going hunting
I’m the hunter
I’m the hunter
I’m the hunter
I’m the hunter
I’m the hunter
After a long standoff with law enforcement, Wess Roley was found dead near the mountain with a weapon nearby.
AP News reported:
Two helicopters converged on the area, armed with snipers ready to take out the suspect if needed, while the FBI used his cellphone data to track him and the sheriff ordered residents to shelter in place. They eventually found the suspect dead in the mountains, his firearm beside him.
It is unknown how he died, and authorities have not yet revealed a motive.
ADVERTISEMENTThe suspect has been identified as Wess Roley, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Monday. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation.
“We do believe that the suspect started the fire, and we do believe that it was an ambush and it was intentional,” Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris said at a Sunday night news conference. “These firefighters did not have a chance.”
Although at first, police were saying he was a sniper, it appears that Wes Roley used a shotgun in the attack:
🚨 JUST IN: The suspect in the Idaho firefighter shootlng used a SH0TGUN — NOT a sniper rifIe, per Kootenai County Sheriff
This means he was MUCH closer to the victims than originally thought.
The assailant, Wess Roley, interacted with the firefighters prior to taking them out.… pic.twitter.com/Cqr4502xgP
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) June 30, 2025
Leftists are already labeling Wess Roley as a violent right-wing MAGA shooter, mainly because photos of his mother and step-father wearing MAGA hats have surfaced:
The parents of the Idaho shooter Wess Roley. Need I say more? pic.twitter.com/9j8rDOFU1B
— Liam Nissan™ (@theliamnissan) June 30, 2025
However, it’s notable that Roley didn’t seem to be living with his mother and step-father at the time he (allegedly) carried out the violent ambush.
Police suspect he may have been living out of his car, and there are reports that his parents were not in contact with him.
Roley’s father told CNN he hasn’t seen him in a year:
Roley’s father told a CNN reporter outside his home in Priest River, Idaho, that he wasn’t close with his son and hadn’t seen him since a family gathering last year.
He also had a troubled childhood. According to reports, his father made violent threats against his mother, leading her to file for a restraining order years ago.
The New York Post noted:
He had a tumultuous childhood marked by a messy divorce between his parents — which culminated with his father allegedly making threats that were eerily similar to the crime Roley carried out on Sunday, according to court papers from the bitter 2015 split.
“He threatened to sit outside my house with a sniper rifle or burn my house down,” Roley’s mother wrote in a filing of her son’s father, according to CNN.
She also said Roley’s father pushed her to the ground and “punched several holes in the walls.”
The mother was granted a protective order barring the father from seeing her or her son — then 10 years old. But the father claimed, “I am not a danger to my son or anyone else” and said the accusations were a lie.
Plus, even if Roley’s parents are MAGA, that doesn’t make him so.
Let me ask you: does he seem very MAGA to you?
Wess Roley has been identified as the Coeur D’Alene shooter. The Left is out in full force saying his parents are MAGA. I don’t know if this is true or not, but why would that even matter? He doesn’t look MAGA and conservatives don’t shoot first responders. pic.twitter.com/qHMMQ1j377
— The Grey Beard Biker™️ 🇺🇸 (@yadi_molina4) June 30, 2025
To me, he looks like just another deranged individual with mental issues.
Not a Trump supporter or violent right-wing extremist.
Though, at this time, we cannot confirm either way. No details about Roley’s own political beliefs have surfaced.
But, very ironically, Roley’s grandfather claimed that he once dreamed of becoming a firefighter.
Per NBC News:
The attack stunned some members of the suspect’s family as his name began circulating in news reports on Monday, and 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 said. “He loved firefighters. It didn’t make sense that he was shooting firefighters. Maybe he got rejected or something.”
Preliminary information indicates the suspect acted alone in the shooting Sunday, and officials have not yet identified a motive.
Dale Roley said his grandson, who attended high school in Phoenix, where his mother lives, lived with him in Oklahoma for several months before moving to Idaho last summer to be closer to his father. Neither parent could immediately be reached for comment.
His grandfather said his grandson’s height, standing around 5-foot-8, might have prevented him from becoming a firefighter.
“I know he had been in contact to get a job with a fire department,” Dale Roley said. “He wanted to be part of a team that he sort of idolized.”
He added that his grandson had worked at a tree service and thought he had the proper tree-climbing skills to be an asset to a fire department fighting wildfires. He also knew how to use a firearm and would go hog hunting.
There were times the suspect appeared “nervous” and “high strung” and “kind of a loner” — what his grandfather chalked up as “normal issues for kids these days.” But, he added, he didn’t know him to be violent with others.
What’s your opinion?
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