Wess Roley has been identified as the suspect who fatally shot two firefighters in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, on Sunday, after allegedly setting a fire on Canfield Mountain to lure first responders into an ambush.
His grandfather, Dale Roley, told NBC News that the 20-year-old aspired to become a firefighter himself.
“He actually really respected law enforcement,” Dale said. “He loved firefighters. It didn’t make sense that he was shooting firefighters. Maybe he got rejected or something.”
Dale Roley revealed that Wess attended high school in Phoenix, Arizona, where his mother lives, and had been working in the tree service industry while exploring career options. He said Wess had contacted a fire department about employment.
“I know he had been in contact to get a job with a fire department,” Dale added. “He wanted to be part of a team that he sort of idolized.”
According to Dale, Wess owned a shotgun and a long rifle, though it remains unclear whether those weapons were used in Sunday’s deadly attack.
“It wasn’t like he was a loner,” Dale Roley told CNN. “We had no reason to suspect that he would be involved in something like this.”
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Wess Roley’s early life was reportedly turbulent. Court documents filed in Maricopa County, Arizona, in 2015 reveal that his mother, Heather Lynn Cuchiara, sought a protective order against his father, Jason Roley. In her filing, she described instances of domestic abuse, including threats of arson and violence.
“He threatened to sit outside my house with a sniper rifle or burn my house down,” she wrote in the court documents.
The couple divorced in November 2015, when Wess was 10 years old. His mother was granted primary custody.
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