UPDATE 12/22/22 at 4 p.m.

WSU PD identified WSU Police Sgt. Brett Boyd as the officer who used deadly force in a SWAT standoff that killed 36-year-old Brent Lee Kopacka on Dec. 15. 

Boyd is on administrative leave, which is standard when an officer uses deadly force during an incident, the news release said. 

The regional Palouse Area Law Enforcement Critical Incident Investigative Response Team continues to investigate the shooting.

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UPDATE: 12/19/22 at 7:30 p.m.

The man who was shot by an officer during the incident on Thursday was identified as 36-year-old Brent Lee Kopacka.

In a press release, Whitman County Coroner Annie Pillers said Kopacka died from a gunshot wound and the manner of death is homicide. 

The name of the officer has not been released yet. 

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UPDATE: 12/15/22, 5 p.m. 

In a press release from this afternoon, Washington State Patrol said The Palouse Area Law Enforcement Critical Incident Response Team is investigating the officer-involved shooting where the suspect was pronounced dead on the scene early this morning.

Law enforcement was called for a disturbance where the suspect was threatening to kill his roommates. He was armed with a weapon.

The press release said no officers were injured during the incident. The WSP is the leading investigating agency for this incident. WSU PD will release the name of the officer involved at a later time. The name of the individual will be released when appropriate by the Whitman County Coroner’s Office. 

The case will be forwarded to the Whitman County Prosecutor’s Office for review once the PALECIRT has finished its investigation. 

12/15/22, noon

A 30-year-old male was shot and killed by the Whitman County SWAT team early Thursday morning at an apartment on the south side of campus after threatening his roommates. 

According to the Pullman PD press release, Pullman police arrived at the 1000 block of Latah Street for a weapons offense call. The suspect was threatening to kill his roommates according to police. 

The roommates and the apartment building evacuated to Beasley Coliseum on a bus and Pullman officers attempted to speak with the suspect, however, he barricaded himself inside the apartment.

The suspect began firing gunshots from within the apartment. He was shot by SWAT after unsuccessful negotiations and escalating behavior.

Students received an alert from WSU at 3:02 a.m., which said, “SWAT is actively working on the south side of campus. Shelter in place until further notice.” 

Around an hour later the next alert was sent which said, “Pullman PD have resolved the situation adjacent to the W S U Pullman campus and have declared ALL CLEAR. Resuming normal campus operations.” 

The police showed up at 8:37 p.m., the shelter-in-place was ordered by WSU at 3 a.m. and the incident ended close to 4:30 a.m. when WSU sent the last alert.

Chris Loftis of the Washington State Patrol said because this was an officer-involved shooting, WSP was asked to come in. They will be looking at the behavior of the suspect, what transpired leading up to the shooting and how it played out. 

Loftis said this case also does not have any connection with the Moscow homicides. 

He said WSP will be putting out a statement later this afternoon about the process of the investigation going forward. 

The Daily Evergreen will put out updates on the investigation and statement.