Authorities have confirmed that a suspect believed to be the only shooter in the ambush-style killing of two firefighters in Coeur d’Alène, Idaho was found dead on Sunday.
Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris told the press at a late evening briefing that the shooter was dead and also confirmed that a third injured firefighter is “fighting for his life” but is in stable condition after surgery.
“This was a total ambush,” said Norris to reporters. “These firefighters did not have a chance.”
At the briefing on Sunday night, the Sheriff explained that the fire appeared to have been set in order to lure first responders to the scene to be ambushed. The sniper, who police say appears to have acted alone, opened fire, killing two of the firefighters and seriously injuring a third. The sniper was then directed at police officers responding to the shooting of the firefighters.
Chilling audio has surfaced of the moment Idaho firefighters were attacked in what officials are calling a premeditated ambush after a man ignited a blaze on Canfield Mountain to lure first responders before opening fire, killing two.
First responders can be heard calling in the attack over the radio, with a voice heard saying, “Everybody shot up here.”
“We need law enforcement up here immediately. We’ve got two unresponsive. Multiple gunshot wounds. Two Coeur d’Alene firefighters are down. I’m pinned down behind Battalion One’s rig. It’s clear to me that this fire was set intentionally to draw us in.”
Listen:
The attack unfolded in broad daylight. Reports of the wildfire came in at 1:21 p.m., and less than 40 minutes later, gunshots were reported by firefighting crews. By mid-afternoon, a cellphone signal led law enforcement to the suspect’s body. Authorities have yet to confirm if the shooter took his own life.
That sniper fire continued for some time, including during and throughout the first press briefing with Norris earlier in the day.
The police tracked a cell phone “activation” that was stationary on the mountainside, the Sheriff said in the second briefing, explaining they “honed in on that cell phone, and we saw that there was a male, appeared to be deceased with a weapon nearby.”
The sheriff revealed that the crime scene was compromised by the ongoing fire, complicating evidence collection. Despite this, law enforcement prioritized recovering the suspect’s body.
“We had to do what we had to do to preserve the body,” Norris said, adding that the investigation will continue Monday and may uncover additional weapons.
“So we have currently one dead shooter,” Norris said. “Keep in mind, we had a fire that was rapidly approaching the body. So we had to scoop up that body. And we had to transport that body to a different location, but based on the preliminary information, we believe that is the only shooter that was on that mountain at that time. So there is no threat to the community at this time.”
Idaho Governor Brad Little called the attack “a heinous direct assault on our brave firefighters” in a post on X.
Norris also noted that nearly 300 officers from local, state, and federal agencies and departments took part in the response, which included FBI and DHS involvement.
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