Washington State University graduate student, 28, arrested in University of Idaho shootings

The brutality of a suspect slayings of four University of Idaho students — crimes that have “shaken our community” — was arrested in Pennsylvania, authorities said Friday.

Bryan Christopher Kohberger was 28, a Pullman, Washington resident. He was taken into Albrightsville in northeastern PennsylvaniaOfficials stated that it is approximately 2,500 miles from the Idaho campus.

According to authorities, he’ll be charged for four counts of first degree murder and burglary. He allegedly broke into the Moscow, Idaho house with the intent of committing a felony.

Two law enforcement sources told NBC News that DNA evidence was a crucial part of linking the murders with Kohberger.

These shocking crimes have captured the attention of the nation over the past seven weeks. Police received approximately 19,000 tips from members of the public, which they said was crucial to the investigation.

Moscow Police Chief James Fry stated that the murders had shaken his community and that no arrest would ever bring these students back, according to Idaho reporters. “We do believe that justice will be brought to an end through the criminal court process.

Ethan Chapin, 20, of Conway, Washington; Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Avondale, Arizona; and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho, were killed on Nov. 13.

Three of the victims shared the home in which they died — Goncalves, Mogen and Kernodle — while Kernodle’s boyfriend, Chapin, was staying overnight, according to investigators.

Kohberger is due back in court in Pennsylvania on Tuesday when he’ll opt to fight or waive extradition to Idaho, according to Latah County prosecuting attorney Bill Thompson.

Washington State University Provost Elizabeth Chilton said the murders have “shaken everyone in the region,” which includes overlapping college communities, and she thanked law enforcement for making an arrest.

Washington State University released a statement Friday evening stating that Kohberger was a graduate student at its main campus located 9 miles from Moscow.

The institution claimed it had assisted investigators in Friday’s execution of search warrants at the apartment and office located on campus.

According to university officials, the suspect is a doctoral candidate who has completed his first semester in criminal law.

At nightfall, forensic specialists were in a Pullman apartment on the second floor that had been cordoned off by yellow police tape. Local authorities also stood watch.

Justin Williams, 34-year-old, lives in the same building that the taped apartment is in. He said that he learned about the suspect when two FBI agents knocked at his door earlier in day.

During the 15 minute questioning, Williams told them he’d only crossed paths with Kohberger once — last June when he saw Kohberger checking his mailbox.

At the time, he said nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but the two didn’t speak.

“He didn’t act weird. He just seemed quiet and kept to himself,” Williams said. “Everyone usually just sticks to themselves. But he lives right next to me and I have kids.”

Aryan Deshwal (another apartment resident, and a graduate student) said that Friday’s stabbing had stressed out the complex’s residents.

“It’s so scary right now,” he said, adding that the four murders have dominated conversations among residents, even over the holiday break.

“The killings have been hovering over the community,” he said.

Prosecutor pleads to get more tips

The prosecutor said investigators were still in need of more information and pleaded with Idaho residents to come forward with anything they knew about  Kohberger.

“This is not the end of this investigation,” Thompson said. “In fact, this is a new beginning.”

Investigators still need the public’s help to “understand fully everything there is to know not only about the individual but what happened and why,” according to Thompson.

On Friday, police and prosecutors provided few details regarding the arrest. They did not reveal any motive or how the suspect could have known the victims.

Authorities said that a probable cause affidavit with details supporting Kohberger’s arrest is sealed. It cannot be made public until Kohberger sets foot in Idaho.

Fry, chief of police, said that Kohberger is the sole suspect in this case.

“What I can tell you is that we have an individual in custody who committed these horrible crimes and I do believe our community is safe,” he said.

Police before their arrests, “sleepless nights”

For their assistance in taking Kohberger into police custody, the Idaho authorities thanked the FBI as well as Pennsylvania’s state police.

Fry seemed to admit that there had been several days between when detectives identified Kohberger as their suspect and when handcuffs were placed on the graduate students.

“I can tell you, for a lot of law enforcement,  it was a fairly sleepless couple of days,” the Moscow police chief said.

A Hyundai Elantra was taken away from the person’s home in Pennsylvania on Friday, law enforcement sources said.

Moscow Police had been looking for a white Hyundai Elantra This is a possible piece evidence.

Arrest a loved one who is carrying a “huge burden”

One of the students’ mothers told NBC News that her son had gained a lot of weight by being arrested.

Cara Northington, mother to Xana Kernodle said she was awakened by a friend and learned about the arrest. She hasn’t been able to stop thinking about who killed her daughter or her friends, but she hoped that there would be an end to the case.

“It’s been a nightmare. This whole thing has been a nightmare, literally,” Northington said. “But I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.”

She stated that she wasn’t familiar with the Pennsylvanian arrested on Friday but is glad he was caught.

“A lot of the grief was not knowing who this was, knowing that whoever was responsible for that is still out there,” she said. “So yeah, this definitely takes a lot of the grief that we were experiencing off our shoulders.”

Northington said she’s also grateful to the support from strangers across the country and to law enforcement. Although some of them had defensive wounds, authorities believe they were both killed in the apartment while they slept.

Frey indicated that police were still looking for the weapon which is believed to have been a large knife.

Two other roommates were also at home during the killings on Nov. 13, but police stated that they weren’t believed to be involved in the crime.

The stabbings occurred while they were asleep, and detectives claimed that one of their cellphones was used by them to call 911 later in the morning.

Moscow police have led the investigation. Hundreds of federal and state agents performed forensic analysis on the scene. Experts say it was an accident. complicated by the nature of the crime — a quadruple homicide — and the fact that the roommates would host parties.

As weeks passed without an arrest or name of a person in interest, the case became more complicated drew attention from internet sleuthsPolice were able to discredit unfounded claims made on social media.

Fry insists that the case is not cold.

He also declined to speak in detail about the case or investigators’ best leads, telling NBC News last week that police must protect the integrity of the investigation and didn’t want to taint a potential jury pool if there was a trial.

“I know that’s very frustrating,” Fry said. “It’s frustrating to family members and [the] community, but our end goal is to bring somebody to justice for those families and for those victims.”

The case was initially dogged by mixed messaging from authorities, who first told the public that the “targeted attack” posed no lingering threat to the community. But Fry, days later, said he couldn’t say where the killer or killers may be.

Chief says that keeping quiet is the best way to go.

Fry on Friday defended his handling of the case, saying it was crucial to keep information “very, very tight.”

“One-hundred percent, (we) will stand behind how we handed this investigation,” Fry said. “We want to have a situation where when this goes to trial there is no doubt that we did everything right.”

An arrest comes as a “celebration of life” was planned later Friday for two of the roommates, Goncalves and Mogen.

Shanon Gray, a lawyer for Goncalves’ loved ones, said of his clients: “The family is relieved that the authorities have someone in custody and now the journey through the criminal justice system begins.”

This article was first published on NBCNews.com