Idaho murder suspect references 'mass shooting' in 1st Indiana traffic stop | VIDEO

ByABC7 Chicago Digital Team WLS logo

Thursday, January 5, 2023

Officer warns driver of car linked to Idaho deaths

An Indiana Sheriff's Deputy gave murder suspect Bryan Kohberger a verbal warning for following too closely, about a month after four University of Idaho students were killed.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Newly released video shows Indiana law enforcement's first interaction with Bryan Kohberger and his father while driving a white Hyundai across the country to Pennsylvania.

The father and son were stopped twice in Hancock County, Indiana on December 15.

The Hancock County Sheriff's Office released bodycam footage after Kohberger was stopped the first time for "tailgating." Another bodycam video from Indiana State Police also shows the pair stopped for a similar offense a short time later.

In the video, the deputy can be heard saying, "So what do you say about some SWAT teams?"

One of the occupants then apparently replies, "Yeah, there was a mass shooting."

Kohberger then goes on to tell the deputy that he works at Washington State University.

Before sending them on their way, the deputy said, "Well, do me a favor. Don't follow too close."

A few minutes later, the white Hyundai was also stopped on Interstate 70 by Indiana State Police, but the driver was again let go with a verbal warning.

INSP said that at about 10:50 a.m. on Dec. 15, a state trooper stopped the Kohbergers on I-70 in Hancock County for following too closely.

There were two white males in the car, state police said. Brian Kohberger can be seen in the driver's seat on the trooper's body-worn camera footage.

WATCH: Full bodycam video of Indiana State Police pulling over Bryan Kohberger

This bodycam video released by Indiana State Police shows a state trooper pulling over Idaho college murders suspect Bryan Kohberger on December 15.

Indiana State Police said at the time of the stop, there was no information available on a suspect for the Idaho murders, nor was there identifying information or specific license plate information, including state or number, for the white Hyundai Elantra that Moscow police said had been seen near the crime scene around the time the murders happened.

State police said the trooper learned the two had been stopped just minutes before by a deputy from the Hancock County Sheriff's Department. They said he "used his discretion and released the two men with a verbal warning."

The Hancock County Sheriff's Office confirmed their officer pulled over Kohberger at 10:41 a.m., just nine minutes before state police did, also for following another vehicle too close. The sheriff's office said he was released with a verbal warning.

Kohberger was arrested on Dec. 30 in Pennsylvania, almost seven weeks after Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20, were found dead November 13 in an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho.

The 28-year-old suspect last month finished his first semester as a PhD student in the criminal justice program at Washington State University's campus in Pullman, about a 15-minute drive west of Moscow.

He drove home to Pennsylvania for the holidays, accompanied by his father, his attorney told CNN on Saturday. The two arrived in the commonwealth around December 17. The Hyundai Elantra was found at his parents' house.

Tuesday Kohberger waived extradition from Pennsylvania to face murder charges in Idaho.

The CNN Wire contributed to this report

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