Two students were killed and nine others were injured in Saturday’s shooting. Local police on Monday released the clearest image yet of a person of interest wanted in connection with the attack.
Authorities continue to search for Brown University shooter
Authorities continue to search for the gunman who opened fire on Brown University’s campus during the finals.
The Rhode Island investigation enters its fourth day Tuesday. Federal and state authorities are hunting a suspect who opened fire during final exams at Brown University, killing two people and injuring nine others, leaving no clear sign of a motive.
The search is expanding after Providence authorities released the clearest image yet of a person investigators believe may have been involved in the deadly attack.
“We hope that the person who pulled the trigger on these young children is arrested, identified and brought to justice,” Gov. Daniel McKee told reporters. “We want all Rhode Islanders to know that everything physically possible is being done.”
The shooting shook the community of Providence and Brown University, one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious universities. On Sunday, trees and menorahs were lit, turning it into a solemn candlelight vigil for the victims of the attack. The two students killed in the shooting were identified as Muhammad Aziz Umurzokov and Ella Cook, according to the U.S. Embassy in Uzbekistan and the church in Birmingham, Alabama, where Cook was a parishioner.
Authorities have hinted that the window to arrest suspects is closing. Attorney General Peter Neronha said he hoped the situation would be resolved within the next 24 hours.
“It has to happen,” said the state’s top prosecutor. “The sooner we can identify that person, the sooner we can solve this case.”
Newly released photos and videos show a man wearing black clothing, a beanie and a face mask walking around the area of Hope and Benevolent streets near the Ivy League university. The images were recorded around 2pm on Saturday, hours before a gunman burst into a classroom in the engineering building and opened fire.
More than 60 hours into Tuesday, the investigation into the Brown University shooter continues. Here are some cases in recent memory where investigations took more than a day.
Charlie Kirk shooting: Thirty-three hours after Charlie Kirk’s murder, suspected shooter Tyler Robinson was arrested. Kirk, a conservative influencer, was shot and killed in public at Utah Valley University on September 10th. Robinson, a 22-year-old Utah man, surrendered to police late on September 11th.
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson shooting: Luigi Mangione, 26, was taken into custody in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on December 9, 2024, in connection with the December 4, 2024 shooting that targeted United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel.
Lewiston, Maine mass shooting: Robert Card, 40, is accused of killing 18 people and seriously injuring 13 others at a restaurant and bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine, on October 25, 2023. He was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on October 27, 2023. The body was found near a recycling center in Lisbon, Maine.
Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez said at a news conference Monday night that officers recovered 9mm shell casings from the scene of the shooting, and also suggested the school was specifically targeted.
“What I can tell you is this person was definitely targeting Brown University,” Perez said. He did not say why the university was targeted.
Forensic teams collected evidence near Barth and Holly Hall, where the shooting took place, and on Waterman Street. Brown University said in an alert Monday that authorities want to interview anyone who was in the Barth & Hawley building at the time of the shooting.
Federal marshals searched the scene, going door to door looking for security camera footage that may have captured a person of interest, identified only as a man wearing all black, leaving the scene.
Another person of interest was previously detained and released. Neronha said the person has been released.
-Antonia Nouri Farzan, Lynn Sullivan, Providence Journal
Within hours of Saturday’s shooting, the FBI and local police announced they had someone in connection with the shooting in custody, but were shocked by the announcement that the detained man would be released because evidence “now points in a different direction.”
Scott Duffy, co-director of the Criminal Justice Institute at the University of Wilmington in Delaware, said it’s not unusual for people to be detained and released during large-scale police investigations.
“This kind of thing happens over and over again,” said Duffy, a former FBI agent who spent 10 years focused on catching fugitives.
But he and other experts say the way authorities announced the arrest led people to believe investigators had more than they actually had, causing confusion and backlash when the person was released and the search continued. The exchange drew similarities to the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk assassination, in which the FBI announced it had detained a “person of interest” but released him hours later.
read more.
-Christopher Kang and N’Dare Yancey Bragg
The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information that could lead to the identification of a person of interest in new videos or photos released by the agency.
FBI Boston Special Agent in Charge Ted Docks said the reward will go toward resources that lead to the “identification, arrest, and conviction of individuals who we believe are armed and dangerous.”
“While we mourn the devastating loss of the victims and those who were seriously injured, the FBI and our partners are committed to honoring their memory through a thorough investigation,” Dox said at a press conference.
Brown University graduate student Jack DiPrimio, 23, said the last email he sent to his friend Muhammad Aziz Umurzokov on Saturday night remained unread.
“I just said, ‘Where are you?'” DiPrimio said in an interview. “When I found out people didn’t know where he was, I sent him that message.”
At the time, he did not know that Umurzokov, an undergraduate student he had befriended during the fall semester, had been killed that night in the engineering building.
“I can’t believe he’s gone,” DiPrimio said.
Mr. DiPrimio said he met Umurzokov at a book event on legal philosophy in early September.
On the night of the shooting, Diprimio barricaded himself in his dorm room and spoke to Umurzokov as he boarded a train to Philadelphia for winter break. As soon as she learned that Umruzokov had died, she said, she was “distraught” and called her family to make plans to return home.
“He was very passionate and wanted to change the world, and I think he did,” DiPrimio said.
− Bailey Allen
Vice President J.D. Vance on Monday paid tribute to the two victims killed in the shooting.
“This beautiful girl was one of the students murdered at Brown University,” Vance said in a post on “It takes a special kind of courage to lead a conservative organization on a left-wing campus, and it is a great shame that our country has lost another bright young star.”
In another post, Vance praised Muhammad Aziz Umurzokov.
“It appears that the second victim of the Brown shooting has been identified, a brilliant young man who dreamed of becoming a surgeon. May God rest the soul of Muhammad Aziz Umurzakov,” Vance wrote. “Just before Christmas, please say a prayer for everyone affected by this terrible tragedy.”
Crowdfunding website GoFundMe has identified two credible fundraisers related to the Brown University shooting. One for the specific student who died, and one for all the victims.
The GoFundMe page “Brown University Shooting Victims Support” says the funds raised will be used to pay for medical and funeral expenses for the victims of the attack and their families. As of this writing, $86,879 of the $120,000 fundraising goal has been raised.
The page “In memory of Muhammad Aziz Umurzokov” says that the funds raised will be used to help the Umurzokov family with any expenses they face. Any remaining funds will be donated to a charity in his name. They raised $272,089 of the $460,000 goal.
– Katie Landeck, Providence Journal
