Authorities have confirmed that there was only one shooter responsible for the ambush on firefighters responding to a brush fire near Canfield Mountain in northern Idaho. According to Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris, law enforcement tracked the suspect using cell phone ping data, which led them to his location high on a hillside .
During the operation, Sheriff Norris stated officers returned fire but could not immediately determine how the suspect died—whether from a self-inflicted wound or in the exchange with police .
“We now have two deaths… We are prepared to neutralize this suspect,” Norris said; the shelter-in-place order was later lifted once the situation was contained.
Two firefighters were fatally shot, and a third was critically injured and taken into surgery . The incident triggered a major tactical response, with snipers deployed in helicopters and the FBI assisting in tracking and locating the suspect.
The FBI’s technical teams remain on-site as part of the continued probe, focusing on the circumstances surrounding the attack, the shooter’s identity, and possible motives .
