Authorities identified the suspect as Wess Roley. Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris said it appeared he had been living in his car, and authorities did not know why he was in the area. Roley, who dreamed of becoming a firefighter himself, was found dead on the mountain from a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Roley had no known criminal record. Local police had five recent minor and non-violent interactions with Roley, whereby they asked him to move his vehicle from where he was parked.