A man was released hours after the FBI and police announced they had taken him into custody in connection with the attack at Brown University. what happened?
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.
Within hours after a gunman opened fire inside a classroom at Brown University, the FBI and local police announced they had captured the person responsible for the shooting that left two students dead and nine injured.
However, officials held a late-night press conference later that day and made the surprise announcement that the detained man would be released because the evidence “now points in the other direction.”
“Frankly, we have a killer,” Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha told reporters.
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.
Rep. Seth Magudger (DR.I.) appeared on CNN to talk about the mass shooting, referenced the Kirk investigation, and accused FBI Director Kash Patel and others of being “very eager to release news before they’re sure it’s true.”
The FBI is “pleased” to report that a person has been taken into custody.
Federal agents and local police arrived at a hotel in Covington, Rhode Island, about 20 miles from the Brown campus, around 3:45 a.m. on Dec. 14 and took the man into custody, police said. Within hours, Brown University lifted its campus-wide shelter in place.
Patel then posted a photo to X showing agents, Providence police and Covington police standing inside a hotel where dignitaries were being held. Patel touted the FBI’s role in the detention, writing that the man’s identity was determined after Providence police relayed information to the agency.
Authorities have not released the man’s identity, but multiple news outlets cited law enforcement officials as naming him as a former U.S. Army veteran from Wisconsin. USA TODAY will no longer be publishing the person’s name because he has not been named or charged as a suspect in the shooting.
A large police presence was seen at the man’s associated home in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, the USA TODAY Network’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
At a press conference announcing the man’s detention, FBI Agent Ted Docks thanked law enforcement for their quick response.
“We couldn’t have done that without seamless collaboration with our partners,” he said, adding, “We were definitely honking with glee when we found someone of interest.”
“It’s not a mistake.”
Hours later, around midnight, the tone was dramatically different, when officials held a surprise news conference announcing that the man was no longer in police custody and that the investigation was moving in a different direction.
“We will soon be releasing the dignitaries who were detained earlier today,” Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said. “We know this may cause additional anxiety in our community.”
Law enforcement officials did not provide details about why they arrested the man in the first place. Neronha said there was a “massive body of evidence” to justify the initial detention, but not enough to charge the man in connection with the shooting.
“I’ve been in this business for a long time and I know that sometimes you go in one direction and then you have to pick yourself up and go in another direction, and that’s exactly what happened in the last 24 hours or so,” Neronha said.
Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar L. Perez Jr. echoed those comments, telling reporters, “It’s not a mistake. It’s how investigations work.”
Law enforcement experts interviewed by USA TODAY agreed that detaining and arresting suspects is a natural progression during police investigations.
“People are often detained, interrogated and ultimately released,” Duffy said. “A big incident like this one gets more attention.”
Concerns grow over handling of investigation information
What’s unusual, former Assistant U.S. Attorney Alok Chakrabarty told USA TODAY, is that “you have stopped being concerned about public safety and have led the media to believe that there is no longer a risk or threat to the community.”
“There seems to be an unnecessary and sometimes dangerous urgency to disseminate information, even if it has not been thoroughly vetted,” Chakravarti said.
Chakravarti said police may have information about whether an attack was targeted, which could lead them to believe there is less ongoing danger to the public.
“Having said that, once someone is wanted, they can become desperate,” he added. “And if they have already taken lives, it will be more convenient to attack again.”
Chakravarti cited the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, which he helped prosecute, as an example. Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev shot and killed an MIT police officer who was fleeing after the attack.
What is happening now?
Providence police said Monday, Dec. 15, they continued their search for the suspect, reviewing physical evidence, interviewing witnesses and searching for clear video of the shooter.
At a news conference Sunday night, Smiley asked for the public’s help in identifying the shooter and asked businesses and residents to check their surveillance cameras.
Police have previously released multiple videos showing the suspect walking near campus, but not at the engineering building where the shooting took place.
“There weren’t that many cameras in that Brown building,” Neronha said, describing it as “old.”
Duffy said investigators are likely focused on finding evidence that could identify the suspect, such as fingerprints or recent threats against the school.
He added that investigators were in a race against time. As hours and days pass, eyewitness testimony becomes less reliable and the suspect has more time to run or hide.
Law enforcement’s first goal is to find a name, he said.
“If you don’t know who you’re looking for, you’re still just an investigator,” Duffy said.
