By Alexandra Duggan, The Spokesman-Review:
The 20-year-old who investigators believe shot and killed two battalion chiefs on Sunday in Coeur d’Alene may have entered a local fire station and inquired about becoming a firefighter himself a few months before the attack, Kootenai County Undersheriff Brett Nelson told The Spokesman-Review.
While officials said earlier this week that Wess Roley might have expressed interest in becoming a firefighter before Sunday’s shootings, Nelson said investigators are probing a tip that he pursued the career more proactively. He noted that a motive in the killings of 42-year-old Frank Harwood and 52-year-old John Morrison still hasn’t been established.
“There was an interaction between an employee before he left (the fire station), and that is all I know right now,” Nelson said Wednesday.
On top of the deaths of Kootenai County Fire & Rescue’s Harwood and the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department’s Morrison, 47-year-old Coeur d’Alene Fire engineer David Tysdal was also shot while responding to a fire on Canfield Mountain. He is in stable condition at Kootenai Health as of Wednesday afternoon following three surgeries, according to the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department. Officials have said Roley set the fire to lure the firefighters there.
Officials previously said Roley never applied at Kootenai County Fire & Rescue, and they still haven’t revealed what department he may have pursued.
Craig Etherton, deputy fire marshal with the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department, said he could confirm Wednesday that the suspect had never applied there, either.
The application process is rigorous, with written and physical tests and multiple interviews.
Investigators have not found a manifesto that would lead them to determine a motive, either, Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris said at a news conference this week.
Norris did say the suspect had no criminal record in California, Arizona or Idaho and was likely living out of his truck.
Social media has taken off in a flurry since the shooting, with people speculating Roley’s motive was related to North Idaho’s past ties to the Aryan Nations, or to a 24-year anniversary of the time Idaho firefighters burned down the rest of the Aryan Nations compound in a training exercise.
The remainder of the compound, which belonged to notorious white supremacist Richard Butler, was given to the firefighters for the training exercise on June 29, 2001, after it was acquired by a local human rights advocacy foundation.
As of Wednesday, Roley has not been linked directly to neo-Nazi groups, but it’s unclear whether he was influenced by any.
“At this point, we have no credible information to link this suspect with any group or motive,” Nelson said Wednesday. “As our investigation continues to unfold, maybe we will or will not find something … In regards to being asked about a link between Aryan groups, we have found nothing.”
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