CANFIELD MOUNTAIN, Idaho — A brush fire was intentionally set to lure firefighters to an ambush in Canfield Mountain, Idaho, officials said.
Officials said the gunman, who opened fire on the fire crews, was found dead after an hour-long search, The Associated Press reported.
Updated 11:56 a.m. ET, June 30: The AP and CNN said that the alleged gunman was identified as Wess Roley, 20.
Original report: Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris said the brush fire was started early Sunday afternoon in the hiking and biking area. As soon as firefighters arrived to put out the flames, someone opened fire on them.
“These firefighters did not have a chance,” Norris said, according to the AP.
Two firefighters were killed and one was injured.
Others took to their communication system to ask for help as they hid behind their fire truck to avoid being shot, The New York Times reported.
Police looked down the surrounding neighborhoods, trying to track down the alleged shooter. It was not known if bystanders were on the mountain or if anyone other than the firefighters was hurt. The one who was injured underwent surgery and was “fighting for his life” as of Sunday night.
“We don’t know how many suspects are up there, and we don’t know how many casualties there are,” Norris said. “We are actively taking sniper fire as we speak.”
Eventually, first responders were able to track the apparent shooter down using his cellphone. There was a signal from a phone that had not moved for some time. When a tactical response team arrived at where the phone was, they found a man dead, with a weapon nearby. They believe that it was the gunman and that he had acted alone.
As the fire encroached on the scene where the man was found, first responders had to “scoop the body up” before flames destroyed his remains.
Norris said they could not “preserve the scene like traditionally we would like to,” but " we had to do what we had to do to preserve the body."
The fire has spread to between 15 and 20 acres, CNN reported.
Because they were under fire from the gunman, firefighters were not able to contain the blaze at the time.
The investigation will continue Monday when officials believe they will find more weapons left by the alleged gunman, the AP reported.
“We don’t know if there are more weapons up there that he had. There is a belief that he ran and shot,” the sheriff said on Sunday, according to CNN. “There’s a likelihood that when we are able to enter the scene again tomorrow without the threat of fire that we’ll find other weapons that were placed.”
The site where the man was found was “contained” and crews remained on the scene throughout the night.
The name of the alleged gunman had not been released as of Monday morning. Nor has the cause of his death.
The firefighters’ names were also not released. But officials did say one worked for the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department and the other worked with Kootenai County Fire and Rescue, the Times reported.
The injured firefighter was also from Kootenai County and was in stable condition.
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