A gunman ambushed wildland firefighters. New details emerge.
Nick PenzenstadlerA routine wildland fire call in Idaho took a harrowing turn last summer when an arriving firefighter discovered three of his colleagues had been shot. He put out a chilling radio call: "They are shooting at us."
A new report obtained by USA TODAY details the 2025 ambush and double homicide carried out by Wess Roley, 20, who set a wildfire on Canfield Mountain, then attacked arriving firefighters with a shotgun. He left behind hints at isolation, despair and an affinity for extremist ideologies.
“The motive behind the murders is speculative at best and is only known to Roley himself," wrote lead Kootenai County Detective Derrick Hollenbeck at the end of his 76-page report. "Due to Roley being deceased, his reasons and motive will likely never be known.”
Investigators revealed previously undisclosed details from the intentionally set wildfire and the June 29 attack. It clarified initial reporting that called the man a “sniper.” Instead, all three firefighters were shot with a 12-gauge shotgun at close range.
It provides new details on the confusion and police tactics during the response. Fearing multiple shooters and working to prevent their escape, officers shot flat the tires of cars, trucks and motorcycles in the area and rolled the shooter’s truck down a ravine. During the frenzied police response, an Idaho State Patrol trooper deployed a drone that flew off uncontrolled. The trooper then forgot to put his vehicle in park and it rolled off the road, unlocked, with firearms inside.
The report reveals a police investigation into the shooter that spanned cell phone location data obtained by the FBI, military recruitment records from the U.S. Army, firearms trace reports from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives – and search warrant returns for records from Apple, Facebook, Google and TikTok.
Gabe Eckert, president of Coeur d'Alene Firefighters 710 Union, told USA TODAY the report’s findings mirror what union officials pieced together: No one knows what drove the attack. “Some things in life you’ll never know or understand,” he said.
“It is incredibly raw still. The guys are starting to move forward a little bit,” Eckert said. “Canfield Mountain is the backdrop when you look east out of Coeur d'Alene. It’s a constant reminder of it, but we’re moving forward.”
Setting up an ambush
The report described the timeline leading up to the attack and where the shooter obtained his weapons.
He purchased the Mossberg Maverick 88 12-gauge shotgun in Idaho on March 23, 2025. The weapon is considered a value-priced pump action and sells for roughly $250. Throughout the spring and summer, hikers and motorcyclists spotted the man in the mountains, who they sometimes saw camping.
Days before the June 29 attack, surveillance video showed the shooter making several trips to the Black Sheep Sporting Goods store in Coeur d’Alene. He purchased a shotgun shell belt, foam earplugs and two boxes of 1-ounce Norma Whitetail shotgun slugs. On a separate trip the same day, he bought a $75 hunting knife affixed with a flint fire striker. A day before the attack, he visited the same store for two more boxes of ammunition and a drink called “Ignite Tigers Blood,” which police say was advertised to “provide an increase in energy and focus.”
On June 28, the suspect took photos practicing with his shotgun and shooting at a stump in the woods, according to search warrant returns from Apple.
The attack on Nettleton Gulch
Piecing together data from the FBI of the shooter’s cell phone, surveillance video and audio recordings from the firefighting trucks, investigators developed a timeline of the shooting on June 29, 2025:
11:39 a.m. The shooter’s cell phone left his apartment in Coeur d’Alene. Surveillance video shows him eating lunch alone at Atilano’s Mexican restaurant.
12:18 p.m. The suspect’s phone moved north to Nettleton Gulch Road.
12:25 p.m. The shooter arrived at the wooded parking area.
1:21 p.m. 911 dispatchers began receiving calls for plumes of smoke on the western slope of Canfield Mountain.
1:37 p.m. A city fire engine driven by Engineer David Tysdal, 47, and a truck driven by Battalion Chief John Morrison, 52, arrived at the upper parking lot at Nettleton Gulch. The suspect was there, standing by his black 2000 Ford Ranger pickup.
1:41 p.m. The suspect was asked by the firefighters to move his truck and he agreed.
1:42 p.m. A third Kootenai County brush truck arrived, driven by Battalion Chief Frank Harwood, 42. The three firefighters converged at Morrison’s truck to discuss the plan. Morrison was in the driver’s seat. Harwood sat in the passenger seat, and Tysdal stood at the passenger door.
1:49:54 p.m. On audio, a pump-action shotgun can be heard being racked.
1:49:58 p.m. The first shot.
1:49:59 p.m. The second shot.
1:50:02 p.m. The third shot.
1:50:05 p.m. The fourth shot.
1:50:07 p.m. The fifth shot.
1:50:14 p.m. The sixth shot.
Investigators believe the suspect walked to the firefighters' truck and, without saying anything, fired over the hood into the cab. Tysdal was struck once and fell to the ground. Harwood was struck three times, and Morisson was struck once, mortally wounding both. A sixth shot missed.
Tysdal later told investigators he “heard a loud bang, felt like a bomb went off and could smell gunpowder.”
1:55 p.m. Capt. Fritz Wiedenhoff told dispatchers he was heading to the scene and no one was answering radio calls.
2:02 p.m. The seriously wounded Tysdal was able to key his microphone with his face and report he was shot and couldn’t move. Wiedenhoff arrived, spoke briefly with Tysdal, reported the officers down and crawled for cover. “They are shooting at us,” Wiedenhoff radioed, setting off concerns that one or more shooters were still hiding.
He spotted a drone overhead and was concerned it was being used by a shooter – but dispatchers told him it was being used by law enforcement.
2:21 p.m. An armored Bearcat vehicle arrived on the scene, deploying smoke cannisters, and officers fired several rounds into the woods. Within minutes, the SWAT team loaded up Tysdal and picked up motorcyclists who had been passing through the area.
Nearly 300 law enforcement officers participated in the emergency response, the ensuing manhunt and the investigation. Then, wildland firefighters still had to battle the 38-acre fire that took a week to fully contain.
7 p.m. SWAT officers located the suspect’s body, clad in Army green and camo pants, just 100 yards from the scene, lying face down on top of his shotgun. He had taken his own life.
Shooter’s background comes into view
USA TODAY previously reported on the shooter’s background, but the report provided new details.
He grew up in Phoenix, where classmates say he was obsessed with guns, had thoughts of joining the Army, and had a fascination with Nazism. Several friends used the same word to describe him: “edgy.”
At some point, he moved to Idaho, where his father ran a tree-trimming service. Records show he was fired from his tree-trimming job in Idaho in June 2025 after just four days. Other employees complained he did not appear experienced, and they feared for their safety.
He attempted unsuccessfully to enlist in the U.S. Army in Idaho several times, Army officials confirmed. He missed an appointment in March 2025 to enlist – the last note in his file, according to police.
The shooter also inquired about becoming a firefighter himself, according to Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris. Norris said the suspect entered a Coeur d’Alene fire station in May 2025 and asked about applying. He believed he would be able to join the station that day, but became angry when he was told he would need to go through testing, interviews and training, the sheriff said.
Shooter left notes, symbols, nihilist writings
Investigators located the scene where the suspect sparked the fire to set his ambush.
They found more 12-gauge shotgun slugs and burnt pages from a book about German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, known for his critiques of Western morality, religion and philosophy.
In his truck at the scene, the shooter left a handwritten goodbye note to his father filled with spelling errors. It read in part: “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 the media and other false pleasantries that plage the minds of individuals today.”
When police searched Roley’s apartment, they found several more writings: “You are nothing;” “You did this to yourself, you live to suffer, your hell is here, you only have one choice, when will you jump.”
Another page read, “There is no place for me in this world, I don’t know why but unfortunate series of events has led me to become a shell of a person. I am always undermined by those around me. I can’t make any meaningful relationships. This feels like a cycle I only have one way out of. My life is a waste. I have tried so hard.”
Mark Pitcavage, a senior research fellow at the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, studied the shooting and last summer categorized it as “an extremist-related murder” in the organization’s database.
The new investigative report sheds light on the shooter’s influences and online viewing habits. The suspect's shotgun and notes both featured Nordic runes.
The files describe “bind runes,” which are a combination of symbols adopted by white supremacists.
Pitcavage also noted media preserved on the shooter’s devices related to Serbian nationalism and the 1999 Columbine shooting.
“When you have something as heinous as firefighters killed in cold blood, psychologically we all want an explanation,” Pitcavage said. “We want to at least understand something about why, and here we only have clues, without a particular motive, ideology, or belief system.”
The June 29 attack was on the 24th anniversary of the former Aryan Nations headquarters being burned down in a training exercise by the local fire district, just miles from the shooting scene.
Prior research into the shooter and his family, combined with the new report, crystallizes a picture of extremism, said Rachel Carroll Rivas, deputy director of research at the Southern Poverty Law Center.
“The Neo-pagan, Neo-Völkisch imagery have to be identified alongside their activity because, unfortunately, White supremacists have long twisted images to mean different racist and bigoted things,” Carroll Rivas said. “In this case, it’s notable to me was these were public officials that were the target of violence. We’ve long seen public officials be targeted by the far right.”
Tysdal retired, others awarded
The survivor of the shooting, Tysdal, suffered a collapsed lung, shattered ribs, damage to his spinal cord and underwent a series of surgeries after the attack. He lost the use of his legs.
He moved to Colorado for inpatient rehabilitation last summer until he left the hospital in October. He moved back to Idaho at the end of 2025. Fire officials said construction crews retrofitted his home to accommodate his wheelchair.
The 24-year veteran firefighter announced his retirement on Jan. 31 this year. In February, he was awarded the state’s Medal of Honor for his actions during the attack.
Coeur d’Alene hosted funeral processions for Morrison and Harwood last July. The first responding officers, Kootenai County Sheriff’s deputies Harvey Ballman, Arek Brock and Josh Orr were also honored with awards by the department and the Idaho Attorney General.
In March, prompted by the shooting, Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed a law expanding benefits for public safety officers killed or injured on duty.
Eckert, with the firefighters’ union, said planning is underway to mark the first anniversary of the attack in June. Until then, he said, responders are back on the job 24/7.
Nick Penzenstadler is a reporter on the USA TODAY investigations team. Contact him at [email protected] or @npenzenstadler, or on Signal at (720) 507-5273.