Some social media rumors claim that Idaho shooter Wess Roley is a transgender
Know all details about Wess Roley, who died shortly after killing two firefighters in Idaho.
The suspect, who was found dead at the scene, was identified as Wess Roley, 20, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho who is a biological male by gender.
Authorities identified Wess Roley as the 20-year-old sniper who allegedly lured firefighters into a deadly trap by igniting a brush fire on Canfield Mountain, near Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Investigators believed Roley had set the blaze intentionally, knowing it would draw emergency crews to the scene—where he then opened fire, fatally shooting two responders and critically injuring a third.
Is Wess Roley a transgender and what is his real gender as Canfield Mountain, Idaho firefighters shooting shooter suspect is identified
https://twitter.com/MissVega8888/status/1939747127288373387
Public records suggested that Roley had been living in Arizona with his mother, Heather Lynn Kuuipo Cuchiara. The two were understood to have shared a close bond, with Cuchiara reportedly posting a birthday message for her son just weeks earlier. Social media photographs portrayed him with notably long hair that drew attention to his delicate features, a contrast to the stern expression seen in his driver’s license image.
The suspect in the sh00ting that k*lled two Idaho firefighters and injured another is 20-year-old Wess Roley.
– He has a prior arrest for as*ault in 2024. This incident involved him allegedly attacking a woman with a knife, for which he was charged with felony as*ault with a… pic.twitter.com/JT0hvMheal
— Sarah Fields (@SarahisCensored) June 30, 2025
While Roley’s death was confirmed at the scene, questions remained surrounding the exact circumstances. It was not yet known whether he had been fatally wounded by law enforcement during an exchange of gunfire or had taken his own life after realizing there was no escape. Officials had not attributed any motive to the killings, and no manifesto or explanatory note had surfaced to offer insight into his actions. Investigators had also not located any active social media accounts linked to him.
Mother and step father of Idaho shooter, Wess Roley. pic.twitter.com/OgNGTSTH1F
— Missy Cucumber (@MissyCucumber) June 30, 2025
His father, age 39 Jason Roley, believed to reside in Priest River, Idaho—about an hour from the shooting site. Jason is reportedly married to Sara Roley, who became Wess’ stepmother, and together they were raising two young children. Photographs circulating online captured Wess during a family vacation to Hawaii, where he was seen with his mother Heather. The images seemed to underscore the closeness between them, adding a personal layer to a tragedy that had already shaken the local community.
Records show Wess Roley, 20, most recently lived in Phoenix, Arizona, but appears to have family in Idaho about an hour’s drive from the location of the shooting. Jason was working for his father, Jason V Roley’s tree company in Idaho, called the Idaho Tree Service LLC.
No public social media profiles have been unearthed for Riley and he does not appear to have left any kind of manifesto explaining his reason behind the shooting.
Roley’s father who lives in Priest River, Idaho, said that he wasn’t close with his son and hadn’t seen him since a family gathering last year. Jason is from Anchorage, Alaska.
Jason was a Former tech at Grand Canyon Harley-Davidson from 2019 – 2021, a former Cavalry Scout at U.S. Army and former climber at Roley’s Tree Care “Your Local Tree Care Doctor”.
Photos showing Roley, a white American and his family have surfaced on social media and in some of the images, two individuals, believed to be his mother and stepfather, are seen wearing MAGA hats and posing in front of the White House. Another image appears to show a MAGA sign displayed outside a residence and posts also claim that Roley’s parents recently traveled to Washington, D.C., from Phoenix, Arizona.
These MAGA parents introduced their child to military style weapons at a very young age. He grew up to be, Wess Roley, a terrorist that murdered 2 fire fighters. https://t.co/D9uW9g7gFV pic.twitter.com/91TEB0MLzG
— 🩺Nurses For A Better Missouri (@Nurses4BetterMO) June 30, 2025
While some reports also claimed Wes was a transgender, nothing officially confirms these claims with him a biological male. These rumors began owing to his long hair and him sporting a pink mermaid hanging on his bag but nothing shows that Wess was transitioning or had transitioned. Although his religion isn’t known, the surname Roley is often associated with Christianity.
Roley’s grandfather, Dale Roley revealed that his grandson came from a family of arborists and had been working in the tree service industry while trying to figure out his career path with him even wanting to become a firefighter and owned a rifle and shotgun.
Age 20 Wess of Idaho has a prior arrest for assault in 2024. This incident involved him allegedly attacking a woman with a knife, for which he was charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon and he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of misdemeanor assault, receiving a sentence of 180 days in jail with 150 days suspended. He was also ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation and complete anger management classes.
He had also made threats against his family leading to a no-contract order being issued against him. Wess Roley’s mom is Heather and alleged stepfather is Tony whose Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2009 had almost $130K in consumer credit debt whilst averaging less than $10K per year over the previous 3 years. Heather and Wess’ father, Jason had divorced each other. His mother Heather Lynn is an archer.
Wess had earlier lived in the Phoenix area, according to public records and he ran track at a high school in the area and was a member of the school’s class of 2024.
His mother filed for divorce in September 2015, when her son was 10 years old, and wrote in court documents that her husband had threatened her, pushed her to the ground, and “punched several holes in the walls.”
“He threatened to sit outside my house with a sniper rifle or burn my house down,” she wrote in the court documents.
A judge granted a protective order preventing Roley’s father Jason from having contact with his wife or son, but later amended the order to remove the son and the divorce was granted in November 2015, and Roley’s mother was designated as his primary residential parent.
🚨🚨 IDAHO SHOOTER IDENTIFIED 🚨🚨
WESS ROLEY, age 20, MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES https://t.co/qV7QcFinYh pic.twitter.com/6fmomj5LHb
— Eorlby (@Eorlby) June 30, 2025
The deadly episode unfolded shortly after 1:21 p.m. on Sunday, when firefighters from Coeur d’Alene Fire Department and Kootenai County Fire & Rescue responded to a reported wildfire. As they assessed the situation, two of them were shot and killed. A third firefighter sustained serious injuries and underwent emergency surgery. By Monday afternoon, his condition had reportedly stabilized.
Meanwhile, the wildfire that Roley had allegedly sparked continued to spread across Canfield Mountain. For the local firefighting teams, the task of containing the blaze came with the additional burden of mourning two of their own.
🚨IDAHO SHOOTER IDENTIFIED as 20 year-old WHITE MALE, Wess Roley confirmed as shooter who ambushed, killing 2 firefighters.
📍Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
Wess Roley deliberately started a wildfire to ambush first responders, then shot at them from an elevated position.
Two… pic.twitter.com/zNBG2OTe0A
— i Expose Racists & Pedos (@SeeRacists) June 30, 2025