As the investigation into the deadly firefighter ambush in Idaho over the weekend continues, police are still trying to piece together why suspect Wess Roley allegedly instigated the attack, a source familiar told ABC News.
Law enforcement officials identified Roley as the suspected gunman after he was found dead on Canfield Mountain with a shotgun nearby.
Two firefighters were killed — Frank Harwood, 42, a battalion chief with the Kootenai County Fire & Rescue Department and John Morrison, 52, battalion chief of the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department — and another firefighter, Dave Tysdal, of the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department, was injured while responding to the brush fire, which officials believe Roley purposely started before the ambush.
Battalion Chief John Morrison, of the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department (left) and Battalion Chief Frank Harwood, of the Kootenai Fire & Rescue Department
Courtesy IAFF 7th District
Part of the investigation into Roley’s background is focusing on his childhood in Arizona, where he lived with his mother and stepfather, the sources said.
Authorities have spoken with some of Roley’s immediate family, though it’s unclear what they’ve said, the source added.
Police in Idaho have publicly stated that they believe Roley acted alone and that they don’t believe the attack on firefighters had any connection to terrorism.
Growing up around firearms
The source familiar with the investigation, however, said that authorities learned Roley grew up with a family that had firearms and felt comfortable handling them. The source said Roley’s stepfather lawfully possessed many firearms.
Photos posted to the Facebook and Instagram accounts of Roley’s mother and stepfather, reviewed by ABC News, reflect that familiarity with firearms.
Nearly half of Arizona residents own firearms, according to Everytown Research and Policy.
Authorities shared an image of a social media post of suspect Wess Roley during a press conference in Hayden, Idaho, June 30, 2025.
ABC News
In an interview with ABC News on Tuesday, a former classmate of Roley’s said that while the alleged sniper was always “really different,” he still has “a hard time trying to correlate the same Wess that I grew up with to the Wess that did what he did.”
“I don’t know why he did it, and it’s — it’s shocking to me,” said the former classmate Dieter, who didn’t want his last name used publicly. “It’s something that villains do, plain and simple.”
Dieter described Wess Roley as someone who was unusually outspoken in the strident ways he would defend his views.
Extremist views in high school
Dieter claimed Roley was someone who talked about Nazism, who was “very pro-gun,” who spoke of wanting to join the military, who would often make drawings of bombs and military vehicles and who allegedly got in trouble once for drawing swastikas in a textbook.
Roley would also say “awful things” related to the border crisis, Dieter said. Dieter said he and his friends would brush off all the comments as “Wess just being Wess,” trying to say outlandish things to be “edgy” and stand out.
Dieter said Roley never spoke much about his family or his background, except he allegedly often claimed to have been born in Germany and to be more German and “more patriotic” than others.
Two people are dead after firefighters were ambushed by a gunman while responding to a brush fire in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, officials said.
KXLY
According to Dieter, he and Wess were “never close,” but they were part of the same friend group — going to school together in the Phoenix area beginning in late elementary school and continuing until sophomore year of high school, when Dieter moved to Colorado.
During their freshman year of high school, however, Dieter claimed Roley “definitely was becoming more kind of unhinged in what he would say… and what he thought was right.”
Roley’s family’s attorney, Justin P. Whittenton, shared a statement on behalf of the family on Monday, saying they “intend to fully cooperate with authorities in seeking answers.”
Two people are dead after firefighters were ambushed by a gunman, or multiple gunmen, while responding to a brush fire in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, officials said.
KXLY
“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,” the family said in the 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,” the family added.
ABC News has reached out to Roley’s mother and stepfather for further comment, but did not immediately hear back.
