Ohio sniper Wess Roley intentionally started a bushfire to lure firefighters into the woods and killed them before killing himself in an unhinged act the motive of which is not clear to the investigators. Roley's parents, his tumultuous childhood have been blamed for his insanely cruel act, while the political angle emerged as obvious with Roley's parents' MAGA hat photo going viral.
Social media users slammed Roley's parenting and called Wess Roley a domestic terrorist groomed by MAGA parents. Roley's grandfather told CNN that Roley was not a loner and had a loving family and friends. However, court documents of Roley's mother's divorce from his father from 2015 revealed how his father threatened to burn down her house -- eerily similar to what Roley did by burning a huge forest area -- spanning over 25 acres,
Amid the massive backlash. Roley's parents issued a statement saying they do not understand how the crime happened. “At this time, we, the family of Wess Roley would like to offer our most heartfelt condolences to the families of those whose lives were taken and to the community of Coeur d’Alene at large,” Roley’s family told New York Post.
“There are no words that can suffice for this tragedy and the infinite losses suffered by those affected by this shooting. We do not understand why this happened or how this came about,” the statement added.
Assuring cooperation with the investigation, the family said they are also dealing with the grief of this heinous tragedy.
No terrorist group involved, motive not clear
Police said Roley is believed to have interacted with the firefighters about his vehicle. The motive behind the sadistic attack has not been identified but investigators have ruled out any form of terrorism.
Roley appeared to have been living in his car and had interacted with police at least five times since arriving in the Coeur d’Alene area sometime in 2024, according to police. But those were for minor offences like trespassing, welfare checks from people who saw Roley parked on their property.
He had no criminal record in Idaho, nor in his previous homes in California and Arizona.
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