Investigation into Canfield Mountain shooting continues
Kootenai County investigators are working to find out more about Wess Roley, the 20-year-old whom authorities believe shot and killed two Coeur d’Alene firefighters on Sunday.
County Sheriff Robert Norris says detectives believe Roley committed suicide on Canfield Mountain after the initial shooting.
Norris told reporters Monday investigators are combing through the crime scene.
They plan to take a thorough look at Roley’s vehicle, which Norris said officers pushed over an embankment during the standoff.
"Deputies who responded on scene to protect life and engage the suspect thought it would be in their best interest to get rid of what they thought was Roley's vehicle," he said during the Monday press conference. "So they had the frame of mind to push it over the side so he couldn't come around and get in that vehicle and flee.”
Investigators are also searching for clues about Roley’s motive from his social media posts, Norris said.
Firefighters Monday got closer to extinguishing the 26-acre blaze that investigators believe Roley started as a pretext to get firefighters up to the mountain.
Victims of CDA shooting identified
Fire officials in Kootenai County say their two colleagues killed on Canfield Mountain on Sunday were both battalion chiefs.
They released the identities during a press conference Monday.
Battalion Chief Frank Harwood was 42, a 17-year employee of Kootenai County Fire and Rescue.
Fifty-two-year-old John Morrison was a battalion chief for the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department, a 28-year veteran of the agency.
Morrison’s colleague, 47-year-old fire engineer Dave Tysdal was in critical condition at the time of Monday’s news conference but stable after two surgeries. He’s in intensive care at Kootenai Health.
Kootenai County Fire Chief Chris Way said the slain firefighters will be the subjects of a community event honoring their service.
“The International Association of Firefighters, the International Association of Fire Chiefs and the International Fallen Firefighters Foundation, they’re bringing in what they call their funeral response teams," Way said. "We will begin the planning processes, but that involves the families. That involves all the brothers and sisters."
The agency will announce details when the service is finalized, he said.
As community rallies, Sheriff warns against scams in aftermath of CDA shootings
The Kootenai County community is rallying around the families of the victims of Sunday’s shooting on Canfield Mountain.
Sheriff Robert Norris is warning people with good intentions to be careful about where they donate money.
"We will likely have some people that will try to scam based on this tragedy," he said. "So do not give money to any entity until a press release is released ... on where exactly to go to give this money."
Two Coeur d’Alene entities, the Red and Blue Foundation and Anchored Coffee, have offered to collect donations for the firefighters and their families.
Kootenai County Fire Deputy Chief Pete Hawley said during a press briefing Sunday that both have a history of supporting first responders.
Idaho's newest laws of 2025 hit the books
A rash of new laws go into effect today as Idaho begins its new fiscal year.
Private businesses across Idaho will no longer be able to refuse service to actively sick customers or those who refuse to treat their illnesses.
The so-called "Medical Freedom Act" also bars employers from requiring workers to get vaccinated or use any other type of medical intervention unless it’s required for international travel.
Rep. Lucas Cayler (R-Caldwell) said in March the argument that this policy would supercharge the spread of communicable diseases is "negligible."
"Because it’s a part of life. It’s always been a part of life. It’s what makes us human," Cayler said. "We have immune systems and those immune systems, by and large, regulate."
On the criminal justice front, those caught with small amounts of marijuana will also face a new $300 minimum fine if convicted.
And when public schools reconvene this fall, they will no longer be able to display flags that represent quote “political, religious or ideological views.”
More on the laws taking effect in Idaho can be found here.
More trees in WA hit by pests, climate change
Nearly 550,000 acres of trees in Washington are facing the effects of bug infestation and a warming climate.
That’s according to an aerial survey from the Washington Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Forest Service.
It’s a higher number than the year before, but a lower number than the peak year of 2022.
In northeast Washington, many of the trees were subject to damage from both the western pine beetle and the Ips pine engraver.
DNR Entomologist Glenn Kohler said the bugs are opportunists, attacking trees that are already struggling.
"Both of those are really tied to drought events; they follow trees under stress from drought," he told SPR News. "Some of the other bark beetles are more related to stand density — you know, overstocked stands, wildfire activity increasing their populations."
The survey looked at the 2 million acres of forestland managed by DNR, as well as 18 million acres of national forests.
Kohler said DNR will coordinate with the Forest Service to design thinning and harvest projects to remove the affected trees.
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Reporting by Doug Nadvornick, Eliza Billingham, James Dawson and Steve Jackson.