The man suspected of fatally shooting two firefighters and injuring a third as they responded to a brush fire in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, appeared to have used a flint to start the fire in order to lure them to the scene, law enforcement authorities said at a news conference Monday.

The suspect, identified as Wess Roley, 20, is believed to have climbed a tree and shot the firefighters below with a shotgun, Kootenai County Sheriff Robert Norris told reporters.

The sheriff also said the suspect attacked the first responders after they asked him to move his vehicle.

Norris said Roley was living out of his vehicle, had once aspired to be a firefighter and had only minor contacts with area police.

Law enforcement officers had exchanged fire with the gunman while the mountain wildfire burned. Later, using cellphone signal data, officials found the body of the suspect with a firearm nearby. Authorities said Monday that they believed the suspect, who they think acted alone, died in an apparent suicide.

Roley’s grandfather, Dale Roley, said in an interview Monday that his grandson had expressed interest in becoming a forest firefighter. He moved to Idaho last year and was working for a tree company, his grandfather said.“He was just trying to figure his life out,” Dale Roley said. “He seemed to be a little bit optimistic.”

Roley said that he kept in frequent touch with his grandson, but that they last spoke about a month ago because the younger man had lost his cellphone.

“It’s going to be hard to take if it was actually him,” Roley said. “We’re just hoping it wasn’t.”

Asked whether the suspect had ever sought work with the local fire department, Norris said investigators had not found any firefighting job application or interest form from him.

The shootings over the weekend were not Roley’s first contact with law enforcement officers, though the previous contacts were described as minor. He had no criminal record. Police officers previously responded to five incidents involving him, which Norris described as welfare checks and trespassing complaints. He said that Roley had cooperated.

Fire, then gunfire

Firefighters were dispatched after authorities received a phone call about a fire on Canfield Mountain, on the northeastern edge of Coeur d’Alene, about 1:21 p.m., Norris said Sunday. It was not immediately clear who made the call; authorities said they did not think it was the suspect.

About 40 minutes later, firefighters said that they were being shot at, the sheriff said.

As the shooting unfolded, firefighters pleaded for help, according to a feed posted on Broadcastify, a website that provides public access to emergency radio communications. One firefighter reported that they were hiding behind a firefighting rig.

More than 300 law enforcement officers from numerous agencies responded, Norris said. The FBI confirmed that its agents were there and helping local authorities.

Two helicopters converged on the area Sunday, armed with snipers ready to take out the suspect if needed.

As evening fell, authorities found the suspect’s body, and moved it off the mountain because the fire was spreading rapidly, the sheriff said.

The victims

The firefighters who died were identified as Frank Harwood, 42, a battalion chief at Kootenai County Fire and Rescue, and John Morrison, 52, a battalion chief at the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department.

Harwood had worked at the department for 17 years and was married with two children. He was also a combat engineer for the Army National Guard. Morrison began his career at the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department in 1996.

“This loss is felt by so many, including all of the members of his shift that worked and saw the incident yesterday,” said Chief Christopher Way of Kootenai County Fire and Rescue.

Coeur d’Alene Fire Department Fire Engineer David Tysdal, 47, sustained gunshot wounds and was in critical condition. Authorities said he had two successful surgeries.

After the shooting, local law enforcement agencies have offered to go on every call that the fire department goes on, according to Way.

Tysdal, who also worked for the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department, could open his eyes and was surrounded by relatives, according to a family statement.

Outpouring of support for the victims was swift in Coeur d’Alene, a city of 55,000 residents near the border with Washington state.

Hours after the shooting, people gathered along Interstate 90 holding American flags to pay their respects as the two fallen firefighters’ bodies were taken to the medical examiner’s office in Spokane, Wash., about 35 miles from Coeur d’Alene.

Gov. Brad Little ordered U.S. and Idaho state flags to be lowered to half-staff to honor the firefighters until the day after their memorial service.

“All our public safety officers, especially our firefighters, bravely confront danger on a daily basis but we have never seen a heinous act of violence like this on our firefighters before,” he said in a statement. “This is not Idaho.”

The deadly encounter had played out in the rugged terrain of Canfield Mountain, an area popular with hikers, mountain bikers and motorcyclists. Recent dry conditions had increased the wildfire danger in the region.

The fire has been difficult to fight because of the terrain, and has slowly spread to 26 acres, Norris said. He said firefighters had been dropping water on the area from aircraft.

Way described the fire on Monday as “reasonably contained,” saying that respondents had “stopped significant forward progress.”

This report contains information from the Associated Press.