Shooting at Brown University
Authorities in Providence, Rhode Island, were searching for any video footage of the Brown University gunman on Monday. The gunman was seen in grainy footage walking away from the weekend attack that killed two students and wounded nine others.
During a Monday afternoon news conference, authorities released three new videos of the man they believe carried out the attack. The videos, shot about two hours before the shooting, showed the man wearing a mask and a dark two-tone jacket. Although his face wasn’t visible, the videos provided the clearest images yet of the suspect.
“We want to identify the individual and bring them to justice,” said Providence’s police chief, Col. Oscar Perez. He noted that police responded within minutes of getting the initial 911 calls on Saturday and urged the public to call a tip line with any information about the man in the videos.
Attorney General Peter Neronha described the day’s work as “making steady progress.” He added, “The sooner we can identify this person, the sooner we can blow this case open.”
Police renewed their search after releasing a person of interest Sunday once they determined the evidence pointed elsewhere. Meanwhile, details began to emerge about the students who were killed.
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The lockdown order for the Ivy League school was lifted Sunday after authorities said they’d detained a person of interest in the attack. However, hopes for a quick resolution were dashed when they announced hours later that they had released the man because the evidence pointed elsewhere.
The abrupt change of direction marked a setback in the investigation as questions swirled about campus security, the apparent lack of school video evidence, and whether the focus on the person of interest gave the attacker more time to escape.
Colin Moussette, who has friends at Brown and is considering enrolling next fall, said while visiting the campus Monday that he felt uneasy knowing the suspect hadn’t been caught. “How someone got away, like in the middle of the day, is, to me, not only heartbreaking but very concerning,” he said. “How they got access to the building is concerning.”
New Video Emerges
Before Monday’s news conference, police released a second video showing someone dressed in all black walking along a city street minutes after the shooting.
This combo image made with photos provided by the FBI and the Providence, Rhode Island, Police Department shows a person of interest in the shooting that occurred at Brown University in Providence, R.I., Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. (FBI/Providence Police Department via AP)
AP
The video — like an earlier one released the day of the shooting — didn’t show the suspect’s face.
In a neighborhood near the university, a line of officers scraped their feet through a snow-covered yard looking for evidence. Meanwhile, agents identifying themselves as U.S. marshals asked locals if they had security cameras.
Neronha told reporters Sunday that there weren’t many cameras where the shooting happened.
Law enforcement on Monday appeared to still be performing the most basic of investigative tasks: tracing the suspect’s movements in the minutes after the attack and searching for physical evidence near the crime scene.
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“I was really glad to see that they were doing something,” said Katherine Baima, who lives in the area. “This is the first time any of us in my building, as far as I know, had heard from anyone. We hadn’t gotten alerts and we were really surprised that there hadn’t been anyone searching, let alone knocking on doors, on the first night.”
A Look at the Victims
The shooting happened in an auditorium-style classroom where students in a study group were preparing for an upcoming exam.
Ella Cook, a 19-year-old sophomore who was vice president of the Brown College Republicans and beloved in her church in Birmingham, Alabama, was one of the students killed, according to her pastor at home.
In announcing her death Sunday, the Rev. R. Craig Smalley described Cook as “an incredible grounded, faithful, bright light” who encouraged and “lifted up those around her.”
“Ella was known for her bold, brave, and kind heart as she served her chapter and her fellow classmates,” Martin Bertao, the president of the club, said in a message posted on X.
The other student who was killed was MukhammadAziz Umurzokov, an 18-year-old freshman majoring in biochemistry and neuroscience. He was
