The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office has released new details in the case of Wess Roley, the 20-year-old Idaho man who ambushed and killed two firefighters on June 29 after setting a fire on Canfield Mountain, as reported by The New York Post.
According to authorities, Roley left behind a disturbing letter addressed to his father and several drawings depicting his own death prior to carrying out the attack.
Roley set a blaze in a wooded area outside Coeur d’Alene and then waited in hiding nearby. When firefighters responded to the call, Roley opened fire, killing two and wounding another before ultimately taking his own life.
The suspected gunman in Idaho is Wess Roley, 20 years old. pic.twitter.com/Wo2Xd37rBl
— Karol Markowicz (@karol) June 30, 2025
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At a press conference Tuesday, Sheriff Bob Norris said investigators found multiple handwritten documents and crude sketches in Roley’s vehicle, which was located at the scene.
One drawing, titled “Goodbye Wess,” showed Roley with apparent gunshot wounds and a pentagram drawn on his forehead.
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The accompanying letter, riddled with spelling and grammatical errors, appeared to be a farewell note to his father.
“Hello Father, I write this to you in a concerned effort that you may read this in upmost sincerity. Tomorrow I shall go into battle if I survive, it would be with upmost dishonor. I bid thee farewell,” Roley wrote.
He also warned his father not to be consumed by “media and other false pleasantries” and praised him as an “upstanding individual.”
Roley’s behavior had raised concerns long before the shooting. Investigators said that as a teenager, he frequently drew swastikas and firearms in his school notebooks.
There were also very distrubing drawings that Roley had made in the days leading up to the shooting, showing “Kill Kill Kill” scrawled on the page, and “Goodbye Wess” with images depicting his su*cide.
These Images also included similar Pagan runes. pic.twitter.com/MWa7cZUMGN
— David J. Reilly (@realDaveReilly) July 22, 2025
Just a month before the deadly attack, Roley applied to join the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department but became agitated and left the process unfinished.
Sheriff Norris confirmed that Roley had made three attempts to enlist in the U.S. Army but failed to follow through on required steps, which led to disqualification. He had a history of marijuana use and unmedicated ADHD, according to officials.
Authorities are continuing to examine documents recovered from the scene and Roley’s social media activity. In one of his final posts, he wrote that he was “going hunting,” which investigators now believe was a reference to the planned attack.
In a disturbing parallel, Roley’s father had previously been the subject of a protective order stemming from threats made during a divorce case in 2015. Court records indicate that Roley’s father allegedly threatened to set a fire and use a sniper rifle against family members.
The protection order was requested by Roley’s mother. It remains unclear when that order may have expired.
The investigation into the events leading up to the June 29 shooting is ongoing. Officials have not released the names of the firefighters killed pending family notifications.
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