THE grandfather of a suspected gunman who lit a wildfire to lure firefighters into northern Idaho mountains before sniping them has broken his silence.
Wess Roley’s heartbroken relative said he had no clue the 20-year-old was capable of murdering two first responders after hearing of the horrific attack.
Several law enforcement officials have named Roley as the shooter who started burning a bush on Canfield Mountain near Coeur d’Alene to bait out fire crews on Sunday morning.
By 1:30 pm that afternoon, crews got a call about the flames and were on the scene just thirty minutes later.
But when they arrived, they were met with gunfire.
The shooter killed two firefighters and critically injured a third with sporting rifles as crews desperately hid behind their trucks and called for backup.
Throughout the next hour, 300 local, state, and federal officials amassed at the chaotic scene, and a gunfight ensued.
By 3:15, a cellphone signal was used to track down the gunman, and a SWAT team uncovered Roley’s corpse alongside a weapon.
It’s unclear how he died, but investigators said they would return to the scene for investigations on Monday.
Over one day after the attack, Roley’s grandfather, Dale Roley, said that he was shocked to learn that his grandson could be behind the cold-blooded killings.
Dale said that he was close with Roley and that they kept in constant contact until his grandson lost his phone last month, he told The New York Times.
He said the suspect just turned 20 in May and had moved to Idaho last year to start working for a tree company.
The grandfather said that Roley had a dream of becoming a forest firefighter.
“He was just trying to figure his life out,” said the grandfather.
“He seemed to be a little bit optimistic.”
