Stolley: Coeur d’Alene ambush was ‘evil in its purest form’

COEUR d’ALENE — Boundary County emergency personnel stood ready to assist after a 20-year-old recent Coeur d’Alene transplant ambushed and killed two firefighters, critically wounding a third, on Canfield Mountain on Sunday, said Sheriff Travis Stolley.  

Around 300 officers from local, state, and federal agencies, including Bonner County, Spokane, the FBI and ATF, converged on the scene after first responders were shot while rushing to put out a grass fire at the popular hiking destination. 

Despite the offer, Boundary County was not ultimately called in, Stolley said, due to the swift multi-agency response already underway. 

“What a tragic incident. These firefighters showed up to do their job like they do every day,” Stolley said. "My thought during that initial shock response was, are we prepared for something like that? What would we do in these situations? That’s weighed heavy on me. We will be ready.”

Moyie Springs Volunteer Fire Chief Steve Economu said the recent tragedy has prompted local firefighters to reflect on the importance of situational awareness for all first responders.

“While our priority is always the safety and rescue of the public, we also have to remain mindful of our own safety,” Economu said.

“It’s a tragedy,” he added. “The responders — the firefighters, all kinds of first responders — were there because they care about our community.”

Police found the suspected shooter, Wess V. Roley, dead by apparent suicide with a shotgun near his body hours after the fatal shootings of Battalion Chief John Morrison of the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department and Battalion Chief Frank Harwood of Kootenai County Fire and Rescue. A third firefighter, David Tysdal, was critically injured.

No clear motive for the ambush has come to light. 

Local law enforcement officers are trained to deal with active shooters in various settings, whether it be at a school or in a rural area, Stolley said. But moving forward, the agencies will be asking themselves how to be more vigilant of the threat shooters pose to unsuspecting first responders. 

“At the end of the day, with every single contact we make as law enforcement, that’s the reality of what happens,” Stolley said. “Is this the contact where somebody is going to shoot us? Even at every traffic stop, we don’t know what’s going to happen. That’s what makes this even more tragic for the firefighters. They’re going there to put out a fire. They aren’t expecting to get shot at. That’s an evil person. It’s evil in its purest form.” 

    John Morrison
  

    Frank Harwood
  

    David Tysdal