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A gunman ambushed and shot dead two firefighters responding to a forest fire in the US state of Idaho on Monday, wounding one other during an hours-long incident before the suspect was found dead, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office said.
Law enforcement officers and firefighters took sniper fire during the incident at Canfield Mountain, a nature zone popular with hikers near Coeur d’Alene, about 420km east of Seattle, sheriff Bob Norris said.
“We do believe that the suspect started the fire,” Norris told a press conference. “This was a total ambush. These firefighters did not have a chance.”
A third wounded firefighter was “fighting for his life” after surgery and was in a stable condition, Norris added.
There was an exchange of gunfire between officers and the suspect, but it remains uncertain whether the gunman was struck and killed.
The motive for the shooting was not known and Norris did not provide any details on the suspect, saying officers were still working to identify the man.
More than 300 law enforcement officers from the city, county, state and federal levels responded to the scene of the shooting, including two helicopters with snipers aboard.
Norris said the shooter used a high-powered sporting rifle to fire rapidly at first responders, with law enforcement initially unsure of the number of perpetrators involved.
Norris would not provide more details on weapons recovered, saying officers would likely find more guns at the scene on Monday, once the fire was extinguished.
Firefighters came under fire almost immediately upon arriving at the scene and did not know where the gunfire was coming from.
The suspect was found using cell phone location information and his body was removed by a SWAT team as the fire approached.
Video showed smoke billowing from heavily wooded hillsides and armed responders preparing, while several ambulances and emergency vehicles were seen entering a nearby hospital.
“FBI technical teams and tactical assets are currently on the scene providing support,” FBI deputy director Dan Bongino wrote on X.
Firefighters received the first call of a fire at around 1:21pm Sunday local time (6:21am Monday AEST), and about 40 minutes later, reports emerged that they were being shot at, Norris said.
“This is a heinous direct assault on our brave firefighters,” Idaho governor Brad Little said on X. “I ask all Idahoans to pray for them and their families as we wait to learn more.”
Gun ownership is widespread in the US, where the constitution protects the rights of Americans to “keep and bear arms”.
