Police identified the Idaho killings suspect with DNA databases … – msnNOW

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A Moscow police officer stands guard in his vehicle, on, Nov. 29, 2022, at the home where four University of Idaho students were found dead on November 13. Associated Press/Ted S. Warren © Associated Press/Ted S. Warren A Moscow police officer stands guard in his vehicle, on, Nov. 29, 2022, at the home where four University of Idaho students were found dead on November 13. Associated Press/Ted S. Warren

  • Police were reportedly able to link the Idaho killings suspect to the crime scene with DNA.
  • They ran DNA through genealogy databases and got a hit, anonymous law enforcement sources told ABC News.
  • CNN reported that police then tracked the suspect back to Pennsylvania, where he was arrested.
In at least 10 mass shootings, suspects purchased guns despite being in red flag law states. Studies have shown that the measure can be an effective way to prevent mass shootings. But the law is only as strong as it is properly implemented and used, one researcher said. As the US continues to be rocked by a chain of deadly mass shootings, lawmakers and the public have made loud calls to rein in firearm ownership through stronger federal gun laws.In June, President Joe Biden signed into law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act — the most significant piece of gun legislation to pass in decades. Part of the bill included $750 million in federal funding for states to implement intervention programs such as gun restraining orders, more colloquially known as "red flag laws."The scope of the law varies by state. Generally, it allows law enforcement, family members, and sometimes school staff to petition someone's firearms to be confiscated if they present a danger to themselves or to others."Red flag laws are an intuitive law and they're a popular law," Veronica Pear, a researcher in the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California, Davis, who studied red flag laws in California, told Insider. "And, anecdotally, we can say that they've disarmed many people who were making threats of mass shootings."But the law is far from foolproof, Pear said.On Saturday, a gunman entered an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and killed 5 people and injured at least 25 others.The Associated Press reported that in 2021 police responded to a call that the 22-year-old suspect threatened his mother with a homemade bomb — an incident that could have triggered Colorado's red flag law if it was enforced. The state also conducts universal background checks. But these laws are only as useful as they are properly implemented, Pear said.When California enacted the Gun Violence Restraining Orders in 2016, Pear's study found that law enforcement didn't take full advantage of the measure until at least two years after it went into effect. "That would explain of course why we had so few orders issued in the first couple of years," she said.Other issues Pear's research team found around implementation included a lack of funding for training and, in some cases, law enforcement's unwillingness to use the law, especially in areas where there is a strong culture of gun ownership."There can be cultural barriers within police departments," Pear said. "In Colorado, we saw sheriffs coming out and saying that they would refuse to petition for these orders."When the law is properly utilized, Pear and her researchers found that red flag laws can be effective.In California, out of the 201 cases the state's gun restraining orders were utilized, almost 30% of them, or 58 cases, involved individuals making mass shooting threats, according to Pear's study.Currently, 19 states and the District of Columbia have some form of a red flag law in place. About 16 of those jurisdictions enacted the law on or after 2018, following the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida.Insider found at least nine other cases of shootings with three or more fatalities, in which the suspect or perpetrator was known to have shown concerning behaviors, such as threats to themselves or the public, by mental health evaluators, law enforcement, or family members. And despite their state's gun restraining measures, the perpetrators were able to purchase a firearm.Here are several cases where shooters and suspects slipped through the cracks of their state's red flag laws.Read the original article on Insider

Police were reportedly able to link the suspect in November’s Idaho student killings to the crime scene using the same controversial method investigators used to find the Golden Gate Killer.

Investigators ran DNA found at the crime scene in a public genealogy database and got a hit that led them to the suspect, sources familiar with the case told ABC News and Fox News.

Police arrested Bryan Kohberger in his parent’s Pennsylvania home on Friday and charged him with the first-degree murder of four University of Idaho college students: Ethan Chapin, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, and Xana Kernodle, 20.

After tracking Kohberger across the country, the FBI followed him for four days before the arrest, CNN reported. Kohberger was booked at the Monroe County Correctional Facility after his arrest, and will waive his extradition to go back to Idaho faster, according to CNN.

Kohberger’s lawyer told CNN the 28-year-old was “shocked” by his arrest.

Police said they found another piece of evidence linking Kohberger to the crime since the arrest: a white Hyundai Elantra similar to the one that was found near the house around the time of the killings, which is now in police custody, Moscow Police Chief James Fry said at a press conference.

But the weapon used to kill the four students has not yet been found, Fry said.

Using genealogy databases during a criminal investigation has been both lauded and scrutinized, according to a University of Chicago Law Review article published earlier this year.

Investigators used the database GEDMatch to solve the Golden State Killer cold-case and charge Joseph James DeAngelo with murder. He’s now serving multiple life sentences after his conviction in 2018.

Many law experts assert that lawmakers must set legal standards for using genetic data in this way in order to protect the privacy of individuals, the author of the law article stated. Some states agree: Montana, Maryland, and Utah enacted laws that govern the use of genetic data to solve a crime in 2021.

Experts previously told Insider that those who send their DNA to genealogy companies should do so with caution if they want to protect their genetic privacy.

There’s another factor in this case that could possibly complicate the use of DNA found, former NYPD Sgt. Joseph Giacalone, who used to helm the Bronx’s cold case unit, told Insider last month.

“You have all this blood, and there might be hair fibers, but you’re also dealing with a college house,” where there are “lots of people coming and going,” Giacalone, who now teaches at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, told Insider at the time. “So you probably have lots of mixtures in there with DNA.”

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