According to initial confirmation from Mr. Pat Riley, Commander of the Northern Lakes Forest Fire Protection Force, "many firefighters were shot" while participating in extinguishing a fire in the Canfield Mountain Natural Area forest area, Coeur d'Alene city, Idaho state, on June 29 (local time).
The incident caused the fire fighting work to be immediately stopped. We were forced to stop all efforts to put out the fire to ensure the safety of the force, said Mr. Riley.
Kootenai County - the area's emergency management unit - issued an urgent warning, asking residents around the Canfield Mountain area to immediately take shelter on the spot. At the same time, everyone was urged to absolutely not enter the area where the incident occurred.
Images and videos at the scene showed police from various agencies flocking to the area. A patrol car sped through the barrier to approach the scene, while many other police set up checkpoints to prevent outsiders from approaching.
The scene of the shooting was at the 24-scale Canfield Mountain Natural Area nature reserve located east of Coeur d'Alene city. The area is already famous for its walking trails and bicycles, along with dense forest canopy, but is the focus of a tense Besieging campaign.
Details about the perpetrator and the motive of the shooting have not been released. However, the surprising and courageous nature of the attack shocked the public, especially when the victims were people on rescue missions.
The incident comes as the US is still facing a number of gun violence cases in different states. But the fact that firefighters - who are often seen as heroes on the front lines - became targets of the attack has caused particular public outrage.
