Who is Brent Kopacka? Internet wonders if Bryan Kohberger knew army vet gunned down by SWAT team
This is based on sources and we have been unable to verify this information independently.
MOSCOW, IDAHO: The arrest of 28-year-old Bryan Kohberger for the murders of the four University of Idaho students has led to web sleuths generating a number of wild theories regarding the stabbings as well as the suspect. The latest point of contention among these online sleuths seems to be the possible connection between Kohberger and Brent Kopacka, a US army veteran who was fatally shot by a SWAT officer during a standoff near the Washington University Campus.
Kohberger, who is currently quartered in Latah County Jail, was arrested in Pennsylvania for killing Kaylee Gonvalves, 21, Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Madison Mogen, 21, in their off-campus home on November 13, 2022. He was living with his parents, Maryann and Michael Kohberger, in their Poconos house, where the police also found the white Hyundai Elantra, which they had been searching for for many weeks. The same vehicle was pulled over by Indiana police on December 15, 2022, just two weeks before his arrest.
RELATED NEWS
Authorities earlier revealed that Kohberger and his father were pulled over twice within a nine-minute timespan on I-70 while making a 2,500-mile cross-country trip. The Indiana police department also released body cam footage of the said incident. In one of the videos, Kohberger was seen discussing an incident near Washington State University where a SWAT team killed an armed man amid a standoff.
Reflecting on the claims, a YouTuber recently stated that Kohberger was speaking about the same incident in which Brent Kopacka was killed by the SWAT team. According to Fox News, the incident took place on December 14, 2022, when a SWAT team responded to the scene on the 1000 block of SE Latah Street in Pullman because Kopacka "was threatening to kill his roommates," according to Pullman police. Kopacka, 36, allegedly barricaded himself inside his apartment after police tried to speak with him. As crisis negotiators tried to make contact, he began firing from his apartment, which prompted a member of the Whitman County Regional SWAT Team to fire several shots at him.
“The suspect was found deceased when the Whitman County Regional SWAT Team cleared the apartment," Pullman Police Chief Jake Opgenorth wrote in a December 15 press release. Later, his family revealed that Kopacka was a US Army veteran who served in the military between 2005 and 2009. His obituary also noted that “he had a traumatic brain injury sustained in combat in Afghanistan, which led to a 16-year ongoing battle with severe PTSD.”
Following the revelations made by Kopacka’s family, the YouTuber, who works under the identity of ‘True Crime Time’, stated that there were high possibilities that Kohberger and Kopacka knew each other as the building where Kopacka lived was not very far from Kohberger’s rented Pullman apartment. The user also claimed that they felt Kopecka was the person, who sold the K-Bar knife to Kohberger.
The explosive video soon garnered immense social media attention, with many web sleuths agreeing to the point made in it. “I was googling this Brent person's former addresses, and Easton PA came up. Not too far from Desales University. Maybe something. Maybe nothing, idk” said one user. “I don't know. But I have a question. Didn't one of his old friends say that in high school (2011?) BK wanted to be an Army Ranger and knew an older Army guy that he kind of admired?” said another user while a third said “I have felt this from the minute it happened. I never believed or understood why they had to even make an announcement that the two were unrelated. That right there said something to me.” Another user asserted “They both work at wsu, both live near campus, both drive white elantras, maybe they hang out & compare kbar knives & sheaths. They favor kopacka’s obituary pic. Eyebrows similar maybe….were they friends???”
This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.