The suspected gunman who fatally ambushed firefighters in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, on Sunday has been found dead, according to the sheriff.
Responding SWAT team members located a deceased male on Canfield Mountain with a firearm nearby, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office said in an update Sunday evening.
This comes after an hourslong, multi-agency manhunt in the area.
The ambush on Sunday left two people dead and another injured after gunfire erupted at firefighters while responding to a brush fire on the mountain.
Kootenai County Sheriff Robert Norris said during a press briefing that the two fatalities are believed to be fire personnel.
The injured individual, who suffered a gunshot wound in the attack, was brought to the Kootenai Health Hospital, the medical center confirmed to ABC News.
The incident unfolded at approximately 1:30 p.m. local time after the small but ongoing brush fire broke out.
When fire personnel responded to the blaze about half an hour later, they started getting shot at by an unknown person in the woods, officials said.
Law enforcement is investigating whether the fire could have been intentionally set in order to lure first responders to the scene, Kootenai County Sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Howard told ABC News.
The shelter-in-place order has been lifted for Canfield Mountain Trailhead and the surrounding area, but residents are advised to monitor for updates on the ongoing fire.
The FBI assisted authorities in Kootenai County, an agency spokesperson told ABC News.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little called the incident a “heinous direct assault on our brave firefighters.”
“Multiple heroic firefighters were attacked today while responding to a fire in North Idaho,” Little wrote in a post on X. “I ask all Idahoans to pray for them and their families as we wait to learn more,” he added.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has been briefed on the shooting, a DHS official told ABC News.
