Two firefighters were killed and a third critically wounded Sunday when a gunman opened fire on first responders fighting a brush fire on Canfield Mountain near Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The shooter was later found dead after a six-hour manhunt involving 300 law enforcement officers.
Emergency dispatchers received a 911 call at 1:21 p.m. reporting a fire on the east side of Canfield Mountain. The anonymous caller is not believed to be the gunman, according to Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris.
Firefighters arrived and were attacke by the sniper, who had positioned himself in thick brush, firing from multiple directions at the responding crews.
“This was a total ambush,” Norris said. “These firefighters did not have a chance.”
One firefighter from the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department and another from Kootenai County Fire and Rescue were killed. A third firefighter from Coeur d’Alene remains hospitalized.
“He is fighting for his life but he’s in stable condition,” Norris said.
Radio communications captured the urgency as the unprovoked attack unfolded.
“Two battalion chiefs down, two officers injured,” a first responder said over the radio.
“I have no idea where the shooters [are] at or where they’re going, in which direction. I would recommend that our units, all of our firing units, escape further down the pavement towards town, maybe a half a mile or so to a safe staging area,” another voice said.
“We’re going to need multiple ambulances for ALS care. As soon as we can get law enforcement in here to get these people out, I recommend we get no less than five, five ambulances staged at the bottom. I don’t care where we get them from.”
Law enforcement agencies responded from local, state and federal levels. The FBI, ATF, and U.S. Marshals assisted in the response.
“We are actively taking sniper fire as we speak,” Norris said during the incident. “This is a very, very fresh situation.”
“We had two helicopters that were up and we had snipers in them, so if they had an opportunity to take a shot, we wanted them to take that shot. We wanted to neutralize that threat,” Norris said.
Authorities believe the fire was set intentionally to lure first responders into a trap.
“We do believe that the suspect started the fire and we do believe it was an ambush and it was intentional,” Norris said.
The manhunt continued across Canfield Mountain, a popular hiking destination with more than 25 miles of trails. Officers exchanged gunfire with the suspect throughout the afternoon.
Investigators used cellphone location data to track the gunman’s position.
“We had a cell phone activation that was in the same spot since about 3:16 [p.m.], and that it was in the same area,” Norris said. “And we honed in on that cellphone, and we saw that there was a male, appeared to be deceased, with a weapon nearby.”
“There are some helicopters that had some really good technology that were able to pinpoint where that cellphone activity was,” the sheriff said. “There were our federal partners assisting us in this situation.”
SWAT teams found the gunman’s body next to a firearm just after 7:40 p.m. The shelter-in-place order was then lifted.
“We have currently one dead shooter based on the preliminary investigation that was being conducted. 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. We believe that it is the only shooter that was on that mountain at that time,” Norris said.
Police have not released the gunman’s identity, weapon type, or cause of death and said the motive remains under investigation.
“Based on the preliminary information, we believe that was the only shooter up on that mountain at that time,” Norris said. “There is no threat to the community at this time.”
The brush fire grew to nearly 20 acres as authorities focused on the shooter.
Idaho’s Republican Gov. Brad Little condemned the attack.
“Multiple heroic firefighters were attacked today while responding to a fire in North Idaho,” Little said. “This is a heinous, direct assault on our brave firefighters. I ask all Idahoans to pray for them and their families as we wait to learn more. Teresa and I are heartbroken.”