Wess Roley has been named as the sniper who set a brush fire on an Idaho mountain as bait, before killing three firefighters who rushed to the scene.
The 20 year-old sniper, who also died on Canfield Mountain in Coeur D’Alene Sunday, lived in Arizona with his mother Heather Lynn Kuuipo Cuchiara, according to public records.
The two appeared close, with Cuchiara wishing her son a happy birthday just last month.
Roley was seen glowering from a driver’s license photo but was also pictured on social media images with strikingly-long hair which emphasized his delicate features.
No motive for the double-murder has been given. It is also unclear whether Roley was struck by law enforcement gunfire during a gun battle, or if he killed himself on realizing there was no way out.
No public social media profiles have been unearthed for Riley and he does not appear to have left any kind of manifest explaining his reason to murder two.
Roley’s father Jason, 39, lives about an hour’s drive away from the scene of the shooting, in the town of Priest River, Idaho.
He is married to a woman called Sara Roley – Wess’ stepmother – and the pair are parents to two young children.
Wess Roley has been named as the sniper who gunned down two firefighters before being killed on the side of an Idaho mountain
Roley is pictured with his mother Jennifer during a Hawaii beach break. The pair appeared close
No motive for Roley’s massacre has been given and it is unclear if he was killed by police gunfire, or chose to take his own life on realizing there was no escape
Police and fire crews respond to a shooting and fire on Canfield Mountain in Coeur d’Alene
A United States Customs and Border Protection helicopter lifts off from Cherry Hill Park after multiple firefighters were attacked when responding to a fire in the Canfield Mountain area
His body was pulled away from the scene just as the blaze began to spread across Canfield Mountain.
The fire was first reported at around 1.21pm. Two local firefighters – one from Coeur d’Alene Fire Department and another from Kootenai County Fire & Rescue – were shot and killed while scoping out the scene.
A third was left ‘fighting for his life’ after being struck and rushed to surgery, but is now described as being in a stable condition.
The wildfire that Roley started continues to burn on Monday afternoon, with distraught firefighters now forced to battle it while grieving for two colleagues killed in the most horrific of circumstances.
