PULLMAN, Wash – Washington State University denies it acted with negligence and put four college students in the path of a mass murderer.
Families of four University of Idaho students murdered by Bryan Kohberger are suing WSU, saying the university did not properly act on Kohberger’s behavior before the murders.
He was a Ph.D. student studying criminology when he murdered Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen.
Before the murders, several students and faculty members expressed concerns about his behavior.
In the lawsuit, the families say, “Despite receiving at least 13 formal reports of Kohberger’s inappropriate, predatory and menacing behavior, WSU failed to respond in any meaningful way and allowed Kohberger’s escalating behavior to continue unchecked.”
One graduate student said Kohberger struck her as a “stalker” or “sexual assaulter type”, especially because of how he talked to and treated women.
Another described Kohberger “verbally attacking” her and said he was “very angry, as if he had built up fury or rage.”
“As a result of WSU’s actions and failures,” the suit alleges, “four young college students were brutally murdered.”
WSU filed its response to the lawsuit, now in federal court.
The university denies the allegations put forth, asking the suit to be dismissed.
WSU does not agree with the assertion that it was obligated to control Kohberger because of his role as a student or teaching assistant.
It also denies that Kohberger committing mass murder was something the university could foresee.
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