NEW: Kootenai County sheriff’s department officers are taking active sniper fire after responding to the scene at Canfield Mountain in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
At least two people were shot and k*lled after firefighters were ambushed on the mountain.
Here is what we know:
– Firefighters responded after there were reports of a fire.
– They were then ambushed. Two people were shot and k*lled.
– Gunman is using “high-powered” long guns.
– “I’m hoping that someone has a clear shot and is able to neutralize the threat,” said Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris.
– Active shooters are still firing at officers, according to NBC.
Robert Norris, Kootenai County Sheriff: “Okay, my name is Robert Norris. I am the Sheriff of Kootenai County. This information is very preliminary and is subject to change. We want to give you and the public as much information as quickly as possible. So at approximately 1:21 p.m. this afternoon, we received reports of a fire on the east side of Canfield Mountain. Fire assets responded to the scene, and at approximately 2:00 p.m. this afternoon, it was reported that firefighters were receiving shots fired at them. We now have two deaths. We have an unknown amount of casualties. We still have civilians that are coming off of that mountain. We might have civilians that are stuck or in shock on that mountain, so this is a very, very fresh situation. We are actively taking sniper fire as we speak. This is an active situation. We have multiple agencies that are on scene from local and federal authorities and we are prepared to neutralize this suspect who is currently actively shooting at public safety personnel. We are prepared to neutralize this suspect as quickly as possible. And that’s really all that we know as of right now. We don’t know who the suspects are. We don’t know how many there are. So I know that it’s very, very early and I don’t think that any questions would yield anything, but Chief, do you have anything? Was I accurate in what we were reporting?”
Chief: “Yes.”
Reporter: “Just want to confirm, Sheriff Norris, were the two deaths firefighter personnel that have died?”
Sheriff Norris: “We know that there’s two deaths and we believe that they are, yes.”
Reporter: “Have they been taken off of the mountain?”
Sheriff Norris: “Yeah, no. We’re still in that process.”
Reporter: “You mentioned that there were multiple people that have been shot. Do you have an exact number?”
Sheriff Norris: “No, we do not.”
Reporter: “How are you going about evacuating people from the mountain or getting personnel out who are being shot at? What does that process look like?”
Sheriff Norris: “Right now, we’re developing a plan to be able to suppress these individuals’ firefighting capability, and when we get that under control, we will continue our removing of people who are on the mountain, who are on for a hike, or public safety personnel, or people who live on the backside of the mountain.”
Reporter: “Do we have any indication of what type of firearms are being used in this?”
Sheriff Norris: “Well, it appears that modern-day sporting rifles are being used. It appears that high-powered rifles are being used, yes.”
Reporter: “How many acres was this fire on?”
Sheriff Norris: “It started out as a half-acre.”
Reporter: “Do we know about how many minutes after shots were fired when fire crews arrived?”
Sheriff Norris: “Well, we got the first call at 1:21 and we have reports that they were taking shots at about 2:00. I don’t know what time they arrived on scene. I don’t know what time the firefighters arrived on scene, but we can get you that information at the next briefing if you’d like.”
Reporter: “How many engines were on scene when shots were fired? Do you know that?”
Sheriff Norris: “Three. We had three.”
Reporter: “Just to be clear, the people who responded, they were wildland firefighters or were they local firefighters fighting a wildland fire?”
Sheriff Norris: “City of Coeur d’Alene and Kootenai Fire and Rescue.”
Reporter: “As for the shots fired, were they at an accelerated rate or was it a single shot?”
Sheriff Norris: “Oh no, we’re taking rapid fire up there.”
Reporter: “Are we still referring to two individuals? Is that how you’re referring to the casualties or the suspects?”
Sheriff Norris: “Well, we don’t know how many suspects are up there, and we don’t know how many casualties that there are. Yeah, I suspect we’ll have people coming forward that maybe are stuck up there that drove themselves to the hospital, but I suspect that would likely be the case.”
Reporter: “Do we have confirmation that there are people stuck up there?”
Sheriff Norris: “People are still coming off the mountain, so it would only be safe to assume that the mountain is not clear.”
Reporter: “As of right now, is there an active threat to the area?”
Sheriff Norris: “Absolutely, absolutely there is.”
Reporter: “Has there been a shelter-in-place order put forth?”
Sheriff Norris: “Yes, there has. And I would encourage all of you to tell people to stay away from the area. Do not come to the area. Stay away from the area. This is going to be, if these individuals are not neutralized quickly, this is going to be a likely a multi-day operation.”
Reporter: “Is the suspect in a home up there? Do we have indication of where they might be on the mountain?”
Sheriff Norris: “Yeah, we don’t believe that they’re in a home up there at this time.”
Reporter: “So they’re just kind of out in the open firing?”
Sheriff Norris: “Well, heavy brush, well-prepared, so yeah, they’re blending in with their surroundings.”
Reporter: “Sheriff Norris, has anything happened like this before, and if so, do you think you and other law enforcement entities would be more aware going forward?”
Sheriff Norris: “You know, this is an interesting dynamic. This, you know, we have seen some of these things in an urban environment where firefighters were in an urban setting, putting out firefighters during civil disobedience, getting shot at. I’ve seen that. I can’t say that I’ve seen it in a rural setting myself, but I have seen it in an urban setting frequently where firefighters do get shot at in, you know, civil unrest, yes.”
Reporter: “So do we know if it’s one or two shooters?”
Sheriff Norris: “We don’t know if there’s one, two, three, or four. Yeah, we don’t know.”
Reporter: “Just for the fire, the firefighting efforts, is it contained? Is it still spreading? What does that look like?”
Sheriff Norris: “Well, it’s going to keep burning because we can’t put a lot of resources on there right now, but Chief, if you…?”
Chief: “No, we can’t put any resources in there until the threat is neutralized.”
Reporter: “Is there a risk of wildfire spread? Is it high winds? Is that going to fuel the fire or anything?”
Sheriff Norris: “We’re at a high state right now in wildland, so it’ll calm down as the evening progresses, but then it’ll pick back up tomorrow. Thank you. And hopefully, this is neutralized by then.”
Reporter: “Sheriff Norris, how are you feeling about this overall from when you first got the call to just now?”
Sheriff Norris: “You know what? It’s going to be a tough next couple of hours. Yeah, absolutely. I’m hoping that somebody has a clear shot and is able to neutralize because they are not, at this point in time, showing any evidence of wanting to surrender. So as soon as somebody has a clear shot, I encourage them to take that shot and neutralize the threat.”
Reporter: “I’ve seen several LifeFlight helicopters coming in and out. Are there any other air resources that are being used at the moment?”
Sheriff Norris: “Oh yeah, we have our Emergency Operations Bureau that is containing assets, and whenever a situation goes beyond the local resources, which this has, like I said, we have other counties that are here, we have federal authorities that are here, and we will neutralize this threat.”
Reporter: “Sheriff Norris, just to touch on this again, we know there’s at least one, but you said possibly others. Is it coming from multiple different locations that bullets are coming from that might indicate that?”
Sheriff Norris: “Yes, oh yeah. Yep. It’s what the officers and deputies are reporting up on the mountain right now.”
Reporter: “Have any officers been hit?”
Sheriff Norris: “As of right now, we don’t have any officers that have been hit.”
Reporter: “Can you just confirm and list all the law enforcement authorities that are here on scene?”
Sheriff Norris: “Well, I have not gotten a list yet, but however, if I mean, pretty much everybody that’s in this region, we have some Spokane resources that are here. We have a Marshals Office that is on scene. Bonner County Sheriff’s here, Coeur d’Alene Police, of course, is here, Idaho State Police, but we have a multitude of resources right now.”