After a June 29, 2025, shooting outside of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, left two firefighters dead and another severely injured, a rumor quickly spread online that the suspected gunman, Wess Roley, was born in Russia.
Some posts attributed the information to The Associated Press (AP).
?#BREAKING: Officials are now confirming that the suspect in the Idaho attack on firefighters and first responders is a 20-year-old man named Wess Roley. According to the Associated Press, he was born in Russia and has previously lived in New York and Florida pic.twitter.com/BQFtdk0IES
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) June 30, 2025
However, there was no evidence to support claims that Roley was born in Russia or that the AP ever reported the country was his birthplace.
During a news conference on June 30, 2025, Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris said authorities believed Roley, who was reportedly found dead at the scene, was born in California. Norris described Roley as a "transient" who had lived in North Idaho "for the better part of 2024" and noted that he had relatives in the area of Priest River, Idaho.
Roley was also believed to have ties to Arizona, Norris said during the news conference. According to a report published by the Arizona Republic newspaper, "divorce records from 2015 filed in Maricopa County Superior Court listed a Phoenix address for Roley's family."
Court records also showed that the family lived in Grafenwoehr, Germany, "where there is a U.S. military installation," prior to their time in Phoenix, the Arizona Republic reported. Roley's father had been in the Army, according to court documents cited by the newspaper.
Snopes reached out to the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office for more information about Roley's birthplace and awaits a response. We also reached out via Facebook Messenger to a man who identified himself as Roley's grandfather to ask about his birthplace and will update this story if we receive a response.
Some of the claims falsely attributed the information about Roley being born in Russia to the AP. A spokesperson for the news outlet told Snopes via email, "AP has not reported this," directing us to its coverage here. The AP story did not include any mention of Russia as Roley's birthplace.
Norris shared some additional details about Roley and his background during the news conference. He said Roley grew up in an "arborist family," adding that the family climbed trees.
"We did have reports that he was shooting at first responders via a tree," Norris said.
Roley did not have any criminal history, according to Norris. Area law enforcement had five interactions with him, all of which were "very minor in nature," involving incidents such as trespassing and welfare checks, Norris said.
The investigation into the shooting was ongoing at the time of this writing. Authorities had information indicating Roley wanted to be a firefighter at one time, but a motive was still unknown, Norris said.
This was not the only rumor about Roley that Snopes has looked into. We also investigated claims that a photo showed his mother and stepfather posing in front of the White House wearing "Make America Great Again" hats.