20-year-old Wess Roley who lured firefighters after starting a brush fire intentionally in Idaho and then killed two firefighters when they responded to the fire, had a disturbing childhood, CNN reported, citing court documents. As soon as the shooter was identified as Wess Roley, social media was abuzz with a purported photo of his parents (mother and stepfather) sporting MAGA hats. While the veracity of most of the social media claims are not known, Wess Roley’s grandfather spoke to CNN and said he was not a loner and had no reason to be involved in something like this.
Wess Roley wanted to be a firefighter
Wess Roley who was found dead at the fire scene himself wanted to be a firefighter, his grandfather said. “He wanted to be a fireman – he was doing tree work and he wanted to be a fireman in the forest,” Dale Roley said. “As far as I know, he was actually pursuing it.”Dale Roley said he typically spoke with his grandson on a weekly basis, but they hadn’t spoken in the last month because Wess Roley had lost his phone. He said the suspect had loving family and friends, and he vacationed in Hawaii with his mother last year, according to social media posts.He said he was holding out hope that his grandson was not the actual shooter.
Wess Roley’s tumultuous childhood
CNN cited court documents claiming that Roley’s mother filed for divorce in 2015 when Roley was 10 years old. In court documents, she wrote that Roley’s father threatened her, pushed her to the ground and “pinched several holes in the walls”. “He threatened to sit outside my house with a sniper rifle or burn my house down,” she wrote.The divorce was granted in two months and Roley’s mother became the primary residential parent. His father was initially prevented from having contact with his wife or son but the order was later amended. Roley’s father told CNN that he was not close with his son and hadn’t seen him since a family gathering last year.
