FBI releases timeline of Brown University shooting suspect
The FBI has released an updated timeline of the suspect’s movements ahead of the Brown University shooting.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Law enforcement is searching for a new person of interest in the mass shooting at Brown University that left two people dead and nine injured, according to multiple media outlets, leading to a manhunt for a man caught on video moments before the assault at the engineering building.
Adding to the revelations in this case, authorities were also investigating a possible connection between Brown’s murder and the shooting of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor on Dec. 16. This was reported by the Providence Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network, citing a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation but who requested anonymity.
CBS News, The New York Times and The Associated Press, citing anonymous sources, reported that New England police have identified a person of interest and are searching for him.
Investigators are searching for a car believed to have been rented by the person. The vehicle was identified in connection with the shooting of MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro in Brookline, Massachusetts, anonymous sources told the Times. CBS and CNN reported that authorities have also issued a warrant for the arrest of a person in connection with the Brown shooting, citing law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation.
Five days after the Brown University shooter fled during the chaos, law enforcement officials and experts say the investigation is ongoing and the fugitive will have a hard time escaping justice.
Just a day ago, officials said the investigation was slow and there was little information about the shooter.
“He could be anywhere,” Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez said at a Dec. 17 news conference. “We don’t know where that person is or who he is.”
But law enforcement experts say the killer is unlikely to remain off the radar forever. Experts told USA TODAY that it’s likely he will eventually be caught, given the prevalence of surveillance methods, advances in technology and the likelihood that someone will recognize him.
“There’s always the possibility that someone will get out,” said former Boston Police Chief Dan Lynskey. “And perhaps they will find him in these ways.”
How did the Brown shooting suspect escape?
Experts say it is not unheard of for suspects to evade arrest in the immediate aftermath of a shooting. Take, for example, Tyler Robinson, the suspect in Charlie Kirk’s murder who allegedly jumped from a rooftop and fled into a wooded area after the September attack at Valley College. Or Luigi Mangione, the man accused of shooting a healthcare CEO and fleeing on foot and bicycle.
“They have the advantage of chaos in their favor,” said Joseph Giacalone, a former NYPD sergeant, supervisor detective squad, and adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. In Brown’s case, “police were driving right by,” Giacalone said.
There were no clear surveillance images of the killer entering or exiting the building where the shooting took place, the Barth and Hawley Building. The building has some cameras, but the shooting took place in an “older” part of the building and there are “few, if any,” surveillance cameras, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said.
He said video footage of the incident showed only “chaos” and did not show the suspect leaving the scene or inside the building.
“We’re creating a situation where the person at the time of the incident is as close as possible to the crime scene, and here we are a few days later, and they’re saying he could be anywhere,” Giacalone said.
The lack of security camera footage of the shooter on campus has drawn criticism from the campus community and even President Donald Trump. But Lynskey said the lack of cameras in the building “is not a failure.”
“The person would probably still have been masked, but we still wouldn’t be able to focus on their face and we would still be in a similar situation,” said Lynskey, who is now a managing director at Kroll, a financial and risk advisory solutions provider.
Investigators still have the tools to track down the culprit
Even without crime scene footage, investigators can work with footage they can collect from communities where businesses and residents have their own cameras. Lynskey said police are likely reviewing the footage to trace the gunman’s movements in the days before and after the attack. That could lead them to where the suspect is hiding or discover a clearer image of the suspect’s face on surveillance camera footage.
Lynskey said surveillance footage could help investigators identify potential suspects based on tips from the public or through the use of artificial intelligence and facial recognition software. Once a name is identified, police can use investigative tools such as geofencing warrants to determine if the person left a digital footprint near the crime scene.
Authorities also announced that they had recovered DNA from the crime scene, and Lynskey said this can be done not only against criminal databases, but also against commercial databases where people upload their DNA to find out their heritage.
Giacalone calls the three biggest tools used in investigations the “three horsemen of forensics”: cell phone records, internet records, and surveillance. Investigators can use the available footage to see the suspect’s movements in as many locations as possible and check cell phone records through cell towers to see who was there at the time.
“The individual was dressed as he was, and efforts to disguise him with a hat and mask have so far been effective against him,” Lynskey said. “But we hope that at some point we’ll have data that will identify that face or allow people to identify that face.”
Giacalone said someone who knows the perpetrator could recognize him and hand him over.
“He has a unique way of walking…anyone who knew him and saw the way he walked would be able to identify him,” he said.
Can archers really disappear? How long does the search take?
While it is technically possible for someone to continue on the run and escape altogether, Lynskey said that is unlikely in this case. The proliferation of surveillance cameras, such as traffic cameras and home surveillance cameras, and advances in technology that can help investigators scan footage and identify additional images of suspects have made it much more difficult for shooters to go completely unaccounted for.
Lynskey, who served as incident commander for the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, said it would take a highly skilled attacker and a lot of planning to permanently evade law enforcement.
Giacalone said he expected investigators to arrest the suspect as early as next week. But until then, he says, the killer still poses a danger. Giacalone said the case is by no means “over,” adding that investigators will continue to pursue suspects for as long as it takes.
Lynskey said the public rightly wants someone to be held accountable for the shooting as soon as possible, but investigations like this can take time.
He noted that it took police several days to track down Mangione, the suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Meanwhile, he noted that the FBI conducted a years-long investigation leading up to the arrest of the suspect who planted a pipe bomb in Washington, D.C., prior to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
“It’s all about information, cooperation and sometimes, frankly, luck,” Lynskey said.
