Idaho police contract private security firm to monitor house where four students were killed

FIRST ON FOX: MOSCOW, Idaho – Police in Moscow, Idaho have contracted a private security firm to monitor the house where four students were killed on Nov. 13, but say that authorities still have control over the crime scene.

The University of Idaho students, Ethan Chapin, 20; Xana Kernodle, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, were fatally stabbed between the hours of 3 and 4 a.m. in a King Road home in Moscow, Idaho near the college campus.

Over two weeks after the attack took place, police hired a private firm to monitor the King Road home and provide scene security, the Moscow Police Department announced on Friday.

“As detectives move forward with the homicide investigation, a private security company has been contracted to provide scene security to free up patrol resources. The scene remains under police control,” a press release from the Moscow Police Department read.

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Idaho State Police Communications Director Aaron Snell told Fox News Digital that authorities “plan to continue holding the house.”

A car from Northern States Security & Investigation Inc. could be seen at the scene, but the company didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Two roommates in the house were unharmed in the attack, both living on the bottom floor of the apartment. They woke up later in the morning on Nov. 13 and brought friends over because “they believed one of the second-floor victims had passed out and was not waking up,” police said. A 911 call was placed from one of the roommates’ cell phones at 11:58 a.m., with police adding that “multiple” people talked with the 911 operator.

Police officers found “two victims on the second floor and two victims on the third floor” when they arrived.

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Shortly before the attack took place, Mogen and Goncalves were seen at Grub Wandering Kitchen’s food truck in Moscow. The pair were taken home by a “private party,” police said, stating that the driver isn’t believed to have been involved in the crime.

Ethan and Xana were at a party at the Sigma Chi fraternity house on campus on the night of Nov. 12 and didn’t return home until 1:45 a.m. on Nov. 13.

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A suspect hasn’t been identified in the murders.

On Wednesday night, the Moscow Police Department issued a press release stating that “detectives do not currently know if the residence or any occupants were specifically targeted but continue to investigate.”

In a statement provided to Fox News on Thursday, the Moscow Police Department clarified that it believes the attack was targeted.

“Our clarification last night directly addressed comments made by Latah County Prosecutor Thompson, who said the suspect(s) specifically looked at this residence, and that one or more of the occupants were undoubtedly targeted. We remain consistent in our belief that this was indeed a targeted attack but have not concluded if the target was the residence or its occupants,” the statement read.

Anyone with information about the incident is being asked to call Moscow police at 208-883-7054 or email tipline@ci.moscow.id.us.

Fox News’ Christina Coleman and Alexandria Hernandez contributed to this report.