MOSCOW, Idaho – The Washington man who recently sparked a SWAT response to a Pullman apartment complex near the Washington State University campus on December 15 has been identified as Brent Lee Kopacka, according to the Whitman County Coroner.
Authorities responded to the scene in the 1000 block of SE Latah Street in Pullman on the night of December 14 because Kopacka was “threatening to kill his roommates,” according to Pullman police.
Kopacka, 36, allegedly barricaded himself inside his apartment after police tried to talk to him. When crisis negotiators tried to make contact, he “began shooting from his apartment,” at which point the building’s residents were evacuated, Pullman Police Chief Jake Opgenorth wrote in a Sept. 15 news release. from December.
“After unsuccessful negotiations, escalating behavior, and continued danger to the public and officers, the man was shot by a member of the Whitman County Regional SWAT Team. The suspect was found dead when the Whitman County Regional SWAT Team vacated the apartment.” Opgenorth said. at the time.
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Police respond to an incident near Washington State University on December 15, 2022.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
His manner of death is listed as homicide by gunshot wound, according to coroner Annie Pillers.
Kopacka had “a traumatic brain injury sustained in combat in Afghanistan, which led to an ongoing 16-year battle with severe PTSD,” his obituary states.
The Washington man who sparked a SWAT response to a Pullman apartment complex near the Washington State University campus on December 15 has been identified as Brent Lee Kopacka, according to the Whitman County coroner.
(Corbiell Funeral Home)
Kopacka served in the US Army from 2005 to 2009. Kopacka’s family said in his obituary that he “fought a valiant battle against PTSD” for 16 years, “but in the end he couldn’t break free.”
SCHEDULE OF MURDERS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO: WHAT WE KNOW
Police respond to an incident near Washington State University on December 15, 2022.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
Photos from the scene show police personnel and vehicles descending on an area adjacent to the south side of the WSU Pullman campus in the early morning hours of December 15. Neighbors and witnesses said they heard gunshots in the area.
Police respond to an incident near Washington State University on December 15, 2022.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
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The building is located just 15 minutes and approximately nine miles from the crime scene in Moscow, Idaho, where four University of Idaho students were murdered more than a month ago.
The proximity of the Pullman incident to the U of I raised some concern among locals and speculation that the two events could be related, but Pullman authorities have said they do not believe there is any connection. The two typically quiet college towns have been on edge since the Nov. 13 quadruple homicide.
