UPDATE (Sun. 10:15 pm) Kootenai County Sheriff Robert Norris says the third body recovered is believed to be that of the shooter. He says one Coeur d’Alene firefighter and one from Kootenai County Fire and Rescue were killed. He says a CDA city firefighter underwent surgery and in stable condition. None of the people involved have yet been publicly identified.
The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office reports a third person has been killed during a wildfire-related shooting on Canfield Mountain in Coeur d’Alene. A statement from the office says the third person was found with a firearm nearby.
The situation began shortly after 1 when three trucks from the Coeur d’Alene and Kootenai County Fire Departments responded to a call of a small fire on the mountain. When they arrived, they were greeted by gunshots. Two people were killed. Police have not confirmed whether they were firefighters, though Sheriff Robert Norris said during an afternoon press conference that he believed that was the case. He said no police officers had been hit.
Authorities issued a shelter-in-place order for the area in and around Canfield Mountain. People in the area were encouraged to leave. That order was lifted after 6 pm, though officials say the fire is still not controlled and that people who live nearby should be ready to evacuate if needed. Kootenai Fire Deputy Chief of Operations Pete Holley says the fire had grown from its initial estimate of a half acre to 20 acres because firefighters were not able to access it for several hours.
Norris said during the briefing that authorities weren’t sure how many shooters were involved. He said multiple rounds were fired at a rapid clip.
He says law enforcement officers from federal, state and local agencies in Kootenai, Spokane, Bonner counties and western Montana had all responded to the area.
After the bodies were retrieved from the mountain, dozens of vehicles from the region’s first responding agencies drove to Spokane to accompany the slain firefighters as they were taken to the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s office.
