What we know about deceased suspect Wess Roley in killing of Idaho firefighters

Wess Roley, 20,  has been identified as the gunman who shot and killed two firefighters and injured a third after allegedly setting a fire in the woods near Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. A family member expressed shock, saying the family “had no reason to suspect that he would be involved in something like this.” The suspect was found dead with a firearm nearby. 

In an interview with CNN, Roley’s grandfather, Dale Roley, said that his grandson came from a family of arborists and was trying to figure out his career path while working in the tree service industry. Roley said, “He wanted to be a fireman – he was doing tree work and he wanted to be a fireman in the forest. As far as I know, he was actually pursuing it.” 

Dale Roley said that his grandson owned a shotgun and a long rifle. It is unclear whether those firearms were used in the Sunday attack. He said he had typically spoken with Wess Roley on a weekly basis, but hadn’t spoken to him in the last month due to his grandson losing his phone.

The grandfather said the suspect had loving family and friends, and had gone on vacation to Hawaii with his mother last year. “It wasn’t like he was a loner. We had no reason to suspect that he would be involved in something like this.” He said he was holding out hope that his grandson wasn’t actually the shooter,” he said.

According to CNN, Wess Roley previously lived in the Phoenix area and graduated high school in 2024. Court documents viewed by the outlet revealed that his mother filed for divorce in September 2015, when Roley was 10. The mother wrote that her husband had threatened her, pushed her to the ground, and “punched several holes in the walls.”

“He threatened to sit outside my house with a sniper rifle or burn my house down,” she wrote. A protective order was granted by a judge, blocking Roley’s father from having contact with his wife or son. The order was later amended to allow contact with the son after his father wrote in a filing that “I am not a danger to my son or anyone else” and that his wife “did not tell the truth in her statement.” The divorce was granted in November 2015. The mother was designated as Roley’s “primary residential parent.”

Roley’s father told CNN that he wasn’t close to his son, and had last seen him at a family gathering last summer.

Firefighters were shot at while responding to a fire on Sunday near Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Officials believe the fire was set intentionally as part of an ambush. Two firefighters were killed and a third was injured, who was listed as being in stable condition as of Monday.