Following closing arguments from the prosecution and defense attorneys as well as lengthy jury deliberations, a guilty verdict has been reached in the case concerning a young man charged in connection with a shooting outside a Waterloo movie theater.

Brenndan M. Pietlukiewicz, 21, if Waterloo, was found guilty of all four charges brought against him. He was originally charged Nov. 7 with aggravated battery/discharge of a firearm, a Class X felony, and aggravated discharge of a firearm (occupied vehicle), a Class 1 felony.

He was more recently charged with obstruction of justice as he was accused of intentionally deleting text messages sent from his phone to the victim in an attempt to conceal any potentially incriminating evidence, a Class 4 felony.

The fourth charge alleged Pietlukeiwicz knowingly carried an uncased and loaded Glock 20 10 mm handgun in a vehicle without having been issued a concealed carry permit, also a Class 4 felony.

Sentencing in the matter will take place March 13 at 1 p.m.

Friday marked the fifth day of the trial to determine if Pietlukiewicz acted in self defense when he shot Kyle Johnson in the leg on Nov. 5, 2025.

Pietlukiewicz is alleged to have injured Johnson, also of Waterloo, by discharging a firearm from a parked vehicle in the RMC Theater parking lot just after 7:15 p.m., turning himself in at the Waterloo Police Department headquarters a short time later.

During three days of testimony earlier this week, defense attorney Robert Bas attempted to show Pietlukiewicz acted in self defense by portraying Johnson as the aggressor.

Bas focused on an earlier altercation in the theater parking lot during which Johnson punched and kicked Pietlukiewicz before returning to the theater just before 7 p.m.

During closing arguments Friday morning, Monroe County State’s Attorney Ryan Webb said Pietlukiewicz, seeking retribution for the fight 20 minutes prior to the shooting, “baited” Johnson into returning to the parking lot.

Webb began by telling members of the jury it was a “fairly simple case.”

He then recounted essential details of events leading up to the shooting.

According to Webb, Pietlukiewicz and his girlfriend Harlie Brigance arrived at the theater shortly after Johnson, who was going to see a movie with his friend Jack Stewart.

Johnson then approached Pietlukiewicz, and a fight ensued.

Pietlukiewicz – joined by Brigance – left the parking lot and went to Brigance’s apartment in Waterloo to retrieve a firearm, returned to the theater, goaded Johnson to leave the theater and then shot him him in the leg in the parking lot.

Webb then reiterated thoughts from his opening statements, mainly assessing that Bas would try to distract the jury and have them “ignore the facts of the case.”

Fittingly, for a trial marked by an abundance of objections and delays, Bas called for a sidebar with Webb and Monroe County Resident Circuit Judge Chris Hitzemann during Webb’s closing arguments.

Following that brief delay, Webb refuted Bas’s assertion that Pietlukiewicz was “terrified” of Johnson, a state of mind which he had been in since Oct. 18, when Johnson learned Brigance – his ex-girlfriend – and Pietlukiewicz had begun dating.

Webb asked why Pietlukiewicz returned to the theater after the initial altercation – knowing Johnson was there – instead of reporting the incident to police.

“It’s about the facts,” Webb concluded, saying those facts include Pietlukiewicz being shown on video shooting Johnson in addition to Pietlukiewicz later deleting text messages sent to Johnson in the minutes leading up to the shooting.

Webb also stated Johnson was led to believe he was going to “another fist fight,” not realizing it was actually a gun fight.

Bas also delivered more than 30 minutes of closing arguments, focusing not on the facts of the case – admitting his client did shoot Johnson – but rather describing Pietlukiewicz as a person who had no other option than to shoot Johnson out of fear.

Bas retold the events of the day, saying Pietlukiewicz and Brigance had visited the St. Louis Zoo, returned to Waterloo and took a nap before deciding to go to the theater.

He described the “Kyle Johnson storm” that raged because Johnson was unable to cope with the fact Brigance was now dating Pietlukiewiz, who at one time had been one of Johnson’s “best friends.”

Pointing to testimony from the previous three days, Bas tried to establish his client’s state of mind when he saw Johnson approaching him in the parking lot about 20 minutes after the first altercation the evening of Nov. 5.

“When you’re attacked by a wild animal, you don’t have time to think,” Bas said of Pietlukiewicz’s decision to shoot Johnson.

Bas concluded by telling the jury they should find his client guilty of carrying the gun illegally – he had a Firearm Owner Identification card but not a Concealed Carry License – and deleting the text messages, though Bas insisted Pietlukiewicz had “no other choice” but to shoot Johnson, an action he said was done in the interest of protecting himself and his girlfriend.

While much of the testimony entered into the record earlier this week was not disputed, Webb and Bas had vastly different interpretations of a key piece of evidence.

In Johnson’s recording, a moment before being shot, Johnson turns the camera toward the back seat for about one second before pointing it back at Pietlukiewicz.

Bas contends the shifting camera angle was intentional, allowing Johnson to quickly punch Pietlukiewicz – an action which is the basis of Bas’s claim of self defense.

During Johnson’s testimony on Tuesday, he said the camera angle changed because he saw a gun case in the back seat of the vehicle.

During his closing argument, Webb said he didn’t hear any physical contact in the recording.

Another contested element of the case was the reason Pietlukiewicz and Brigance stopped at the apartment before returning to the movie theater.

Brigance testified that they went back to her apartment because she had forgotten her debit card. She purchased the movie tickets online, but she wanted to have her debit card for any in-theater purchase.

Webb suggested the primary reason they returned to the apartment was to retrieve the gun.

Pietlukiewicz testified he had been carrying the weapon all day, storing it in the center console of Brigance’s car unbeknownst to her, and Brigance testified she did not see the gun until after the shooting.

For our earlier reporting on the trial, click here.