There is no easy answer as to why Wes’ role shot and killed an Idaho firefighter. According to his friends, he was a fierce conservative who was sticking to guns, but he hadn’t grown up.
There was a suspected shooter identified in an ambush shooting by an Idaho firefighter
The suspected shooter of Wes Roily, 20, was found dead after allegedly pissing a brush fire to seduce a firefighter.
Wes Loffey raised her image in middle and high school as “edgy” and “cool” and funny kids, interested in history, always talking about politics and wanting to join the military, a former classmate told USA Today.
But he also had a dark side.
The young man accused of shooting and killing two firefighters in an attack in rural Idaho, “has been hooked on guns,” classmates said. He also had a “Nazi tendency.” A former classmate of Roily said he painted a picture of the sw swastikas and guns in a school book.
“He’s going to say it’s indifferent,” said Dieter Denen, who attended elementary, middle and high school, where the role was. “We all thought he was messing around.”
Authorities continue to search for the motive for killing a firefighter called by a wildfire at Canfield Mountain, just outside Coeur D’Alene on June 29th. So far, there is no easy answer as to why my 20-year-old son, a tree trimmer and archery enthusiast, suddenly turns on first responders.
What is known, according to his friends, was part of a close circle he grew up before landing in northwest Idaho, known for his acceptance of independence, gun rights and stubborn conservatism. The five former school alumni told USA Today that they had not kept in touch with him after graduating from high school, but they knew about the role’s growth.
They couldn’t say that they turned the opinionated, sociable teenagers into murderers. All five former classmates expressed surprise, anguish and sadness at Rory’s violent fate, who say Lowry doesn’t fit the stereotypes of other mass shooters.
“I’m not saying he was lonely,” said Elina Pinksova, who attended the North Phoenix Preparation Academy with Loffiley. “We were all friends with him. It was a group like 10 of us. He was always hanging out with his friends.”
“Some troubles with girls”
Some who attended multiple schools with him said he was very political at his age and a Trump supporter.
“He was a very hardcore Trump. He’s very involved in politics,” Pinkhasova said. “He’s always very defensive and always with people. We were 14, 15 so I thought it was a bit weird.”
All of Rory’s old friends said he was also obsessed with guns. Pinkhasova said he thought that all the stories from his role on guns were just part of his conservative ideology.
“Wes, we knew, was very interested in joining the Army,” Pinkhasova said. “I thought his love for weapons came from the fact that he wanted to be a law enforcer of some sort.”
One day, a former classmate said he came to school with a “Buzz Cut” and wanted to join ROTC. They said Lophily’s obvious appeal to Nazism is primarily the frontline, a way of prominent and attracting attention. Again and again, his former friend used the same word as “edge.”
“People called him. It’s not like people have turned their eyes off,” said Pinkhasova, Jewish. “People are like, ‘Boy! Cool! What’s wrong with you?’ They call him and he’ll laugh at it. ”
Denen and others said they remember high school when they left the role in their second year. The role believed to have been exiled “after a problem with a girl.”
The unstable landing location
At that time, Lowry moved to Idaho, where his father served the tree three times.
It was an area with a history of dishonest. For decades, the Aryan nations, a white supremacist organisation, remained headquartered there until 2000, when a lawsuit by the Southern Poverty Law Centre made the group go bankrupt.
The group’s compounds have been destroyed, but locals are still trying to shake up the stigma.
A city of over 57,000 people, Core Dahlene has grown over the years and is home to progressive residents, but it is located in the conservative part of the state associated with rebel groups.
In 2022, 31 members of a white group were arrested in the city and charged with rioting during a Pride event. Many came from other states, but did not help them with their efforts to keep the city away from the past.
“This is not us as a community,” Cootenai County Commissioner Bruce Matare told a news conference about the day of firefighters’ shooting last month. “And when you hear how others portray people who live in the news, it’s not true. What happened here doesn’t reflect the amazing people who live here today.”
Tony Stewart, who found the Cootenai County task force on relationships in response to the Aryan countries in the early 1980s, said he helped local firefighters provide one of the vacant buildings for training after the group left.
From controlled burns to wildfire attacks
A few miles away, and 24 years after the wreckage of the Aryan state compound was destroyed by a suppressed burn, firefighters were called to fire grass.
The phone call was made around 1:21pm local time. After about 20 minutes, they are still examining the flames where smoke can be seen in the distance, but suddenly they are in a hurry to seek help when the bullet flew at them.
Some on the radio show pleading for help after the two are attacked.
The hikers were still making it out of the mountain as the shooting continued. The shooter was hidden by a heavy brush and looked well prepared. Investigators believe the gunman set the fire.
“It was a complete ambush,” said Cootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris. The next day, authorities found Lori’s body by tracking data from their mobile phones.
Unforgettable question: Why?
After he moved to Idaho, Rory spent time working in the tree maintenance business.
His father recently remarried and moved to Idaho, where he started a tree trimming and stumping business in the area, according to his social media posts and the company’s website.
Wes Loffeye has tried to enlist in the U.S. Army several times over the past few years, confirmed by US Army spokesman Chris Salridge. He was deemed ineligible each time, but the Army refused to identify what disqualified him. The Army rejects people for disqualified individuals of various physical and mental health, as well as backgrounds based on education, crime, or drug use.
He was also interested in becoming a firefighter, Norris said.
Loffiley appeared to live in his car at one point, having five run-ins with local law enforcement and “by a very, very minor nature,” Norris said. “He cooperated with each other.”
His encounter with police was primarily linked to trespassing, Norris said. At one point, the police had to ask him to leave the restaurant.
Attorney Justin Whittenton, who represents the family of Roll in Arizona, where his mother and stepfather live, has issued a statement read:
“There is no sufficient word for this tragedy and the infinite losses that people affected by this shooting have suffered. I don’t understand why this happened or how it was done.”
Wes Rory’s grandfather told reporters that his grandson appeared to be thriving in Idaho. He had a loving family, Dale Rory told CNN.
“He had his own apartment. He was doing good things,” he told ABC. But in the last few months he has become “a kind of lonely,” he said.
The day after the shooting, his father, Jason Loffey, who refused to respond to a request for comment, posted an image dedicated to the deceased firefighter, reading “In the loving memories of our fallen hero, June 29, 2025.”
His caption below the image: “I have no words. I’m very sorry for my family.”
Nick Penzenstadler contributed the report.
