By Brad Brooks and Costas Pitas
(Reuters) -Two firefighters were killed when they were shot at while responding to a fire in northern Idaho, the Kootenai County Sheriff said on Sunday, with law enforcement officers still taking sniper fire and hunting for the killer.
It was not immediately clear if there was one gunman or more, Sheriff Bob Norris told a press conference, urging the public to stay clear of the area.
“We are prepared to neutralize this suspect who is currently actively shooting at public safety personnel,” Norris said, adding that some civilians may have been caught up in the incident.
The attack is unfolding in the Canfield Mountain nature area that is popular with hikers near Coeur d’Alene, a city of 57,000 people located about 260 miles (420 km) east of Seattle in Washington state.
The sheriff said the shooter or shooters were using high-powered sporting rifles to shoot rapidly at first responders, and that the perpetrators “are not, at this time, showing any evidence of wanting to surrender.”
Norris said the perpetrators were in a spot “with heavy brush and they are well prepared and blending in with their surroundings.”
“If these individuals are not neutralized quickly, this is going to be likely a multi-day operation,” Norris said.
Law enforcement is investigating whether the fire could have been intentionally set in order to lure first responders to the scene, Kootenai County Sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Howard told ABC News.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has been briefed on the Idaho shooting, ABC News reported.
Firefighters received the first call of a fire around 1:21 p.m. local time, Norris said, and about 40 minutes later, reports emerged that they were being shot at.
“This is a heinous direct assault on our brave firefighters,” Idaho Governor Brad Little said on X. “I ask all Idahoans to pray for them and their families as we wait to learn more.”
Little did not give further details on any casualties or how the incident unfolded.
“As this situation is still developing, please stay clear from the area to allow law enforcement and firefighters to do their jobs,” Little added.
Gun ownership is widespread in the U.S., where the country’s Constitution protects the rights of Americans to “keep and bear arms.”
Deaths related to gun violence are common – 17,927 people were murdered by a gun in 2023 in the U.S., according to the most recent available data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
(Reporting by Brad Brooks in Colorado and Costas Pitas in Los Angeles; Editing by Humeyra Pamuk, Diane Craft and Lincoln Feast.)
