Two firefighters killed in Idaho ambush

A gunman ambushed and shot dead two firefighters responding to a forest fire in northern Idaho on Sunday, wounding one other during an hours-long incident before the suspect was found dead, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office said.

Law enforcement officers and firefighters took sniper fire during the incident at Canfield Mountain, a nature zone popular with hikers near Coeur d’Alene, about 260 miles (420 km) east of Seattle, Sheriff Bob Norris said.

“We do believe that the suspect started the fire,” Norris told a press conference. “This was a total ambush. These firefighters did not have a chance.”

A third wounded firefighter was “fighting for his life” after surgery and was in a stable condition, Norris added.

Officers exchanged gunfire with the suspect but it was not clear if the gunman was hit and killed, or if he killed himself.

The motive for the shooting was not known and Norris did not provide any details on the suspect, saying officers were still working to identify the man.

More than 300 law enforcement officers from the city, county, state and federal levels responded to the scene of the shooting, including two helicopters with snipers aboard.

Norris said the shooter used a high-powered sporting rifle to fire rapidly at first responders, with law enforcement initially unsure of the number of perpetrators involved.