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Brown University shooting suspect images released by FBI

Authorities released suspect images in the Brown University shooting as FBI and police intensify investigation in Providence, Rhode Island.

Authorities on Monday released new photos and videos of a person of interest dressed in dark clothing as officials search for the gunman in the deadly attack at Brown University that killed two students and wounded nine others.

Providence, Rhode Island, Police Chief Oscar Perez released three videos of a person authorities said they are looking to identify who was walking in the area of Hope Street, near the university’s campus. The person was seen wearing a beanie that covered part of their face.

“We’re at the 49th hour, and there’s no one that wants to put this individual in handcuffs more than us,” Perez said at an evening news conference.

Officials also released two photos of the individual. Perez said the images were taken at 2 p.m. on Saturday, before a gunman burst into a classroom in an engineering building and opened fire. The new lead by authorities comes after they released a man they initially detained a day after the attack.

The shooting rocked Providence and the community at Brown, one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the country. A tree and Menorah lighting on Sunday morphed into a solemn candlelight vigil for the victims of the attack.

“We want to see the individual that pulled the trigger on these young kids apprehended, identified and brought to justice,” Gov. Daniel McKee told reporters. “We want to make sure that all Rhode Islanders know that everything that is physically possible is being done.”

The two students who were killed in the mass shooting have been identified as Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov and Ella Cook, according to a U.S. Embassy in Uzbekistan and a church in Birmingham, Alabama, where Cook was a parishioner. Police have not officially identified the victims.

Rhode Island’s top prosecutor hinted to reporters that the window to identify and catch a suspect is closing, adding that a breakthrough in the next 48 hours would be vital. 

“The sooner we can identify that person, the sooner we can blow this case open,” said Attorney General Peter Neronha. “But that has to happen in the next 24 to 48 hours.” 

He applauded investigators for sourcing the video police released on Dec. 15 of a person of interest: “I would describe today’s work as making steady progress.”

Neronha’s comments come after authorities released an earlier person of interest in the case. The state prosecutor said it was regrettable the person’s name had been leaked.

The FBI is offering a reward of $50,000 for information that can lead to the identification of a person of interest in new videos and photos released by authorities.

Ted Docks, special agent in charge of FBI Boston, said the reward is for resources that lead to “the identification, the arrest and the conviction of the individual who we believe to be armed and dangerous.”

“While we mourn the devastating loss of the victims and those who are critically injured, the FBI and its partners are dedicated to honoring their memory through a meticulous investigation,” Docks said at a news conference.

President Donald Trump said authorities do not yet know the motive of the gunman or whether the deadly shooting at Brown University was targeted.

“Hopefully they’re going to capture this animal,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

When asked why it has been so difficult for the FBI to identify a shooter, the president said that was a question for university authorities.

“You’ll really have to ask the school a little bit more about that because this was a school problem,” Trump said. “They had their own guards, they had their own police. They had their own everything. … The FBI will do a good job, but we came in after the fact.”

Prospective undergraduate students who apply using early decision options to Brown University typically find out in mid-December if they’ve been admitted, but the college is delaying sending out those letters as the community mourns.

Brown’s undergraduate admissions department said in a statement on Sunday that the university will delay notifications for up to 48 hours “as we grieve, heal, and begin to move forward together.”

– Antonia Noori Farzan

Providence police shared a short video on social media on Monday showing an individual, identified as a person of interest, walking down a sidewalk next to a line of trees while wearing dark clothes.

The footage, taken from a security camera at 144 Waterman St. in Providence, less than half a mile from the Brown University campus, shows the person continuing to walk down the street. That address is an apartment building about .2 miles from the Barus and Holley building where the shooting occurred.

The time stamp on the footage is 4:06 p.m. The shooting was first called in at 4:05 p.m.

Authorities asked anyone who recognizes the individual to contact a new tip center. They did not immediately call the person in the video a suspect in the shooting.

Jack DiPrimio, 23, a Brown University graduate student, said his last text to his friend Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov was left unread Saturday night.

“I just said, ‘Where are you?’” DiPrimio said in an interview. “I texted that to him when I found out people didn’t know where he was.”

At the time, he didn’t realize that Umurzokov, an undergraduate student he had grown close with over the fall semester, had been killed that night in the engineering building.

“I can’t believe he’s gone,” DiPrimio said.

DiPrimio said he met Umurzokov at a legal philosophy book event in early September.

“We connected after the talk because the author that came sort of didn’t like the question I asked, and Mukhammad thought it was funny, so we started talking and got to know each other,” DiPrimio said.

− Bailey Allen

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Authorities continue to search for Brown University gunman

Authorities are still searching for the gunman who opened fire on Brown University’s campus during finals.

A Rhode Island Hospital spokesperson said medical personnel had treated nine victims from the shooting as of 1:15 p.m. on Monday.

Six of them are in critical but stable condition, while a seventh is in critical condition. One victim is in stable condition, and another was discharged.

− Jonny Williams

Vice President JD Vance on Monday paid tribute to the two victims who were killed in the Brown University shooting.

In one post on X, Vance responded to a statement posted by the College Republicans of America that confirmed Ella Cook, one of the victims, was vice president of Brown University College Republicans.

“This beautiful young girl was one of the murdered students at Brown University,” Vance said in his post. “It takes special courage to lead an organization of conservatives on a left wing campus, and I am very sorry our country has lost one of its bright young stars.”

“Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord,” he added.

Vance, in a separate post, also honored Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov.

“It looks like the second victim in the Brown shooting has been identified, a brilliant young man who dreamed of being a surgeon. May God rest the soul of MuhammadAziz Umurzakov,” Vance wrote. “Say a prayer for everyone affected by this terrible tragedy, right before Christmas.”

Former U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha, who was Rhode Island’s top federal law enforcement officer until earlier this year, said the public should be wary of the speculation that armchair detectives are posting on social media about the mass shooting at Brown University.

Reached by The Providence Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network, Cunha said past experience has shown there’s an “inherent desire” that drives people to try and find answers or place blame.

“You really have to wait until law enforcement has done its job and all the facts are in,” he said. “I think there are plenty of examples historically of folks on social media either speculating or appointing themselves investigators and coming to conclusions that ultimately turn out to be wrong.”

“Unfortunately in these situations, you have to be patient,” Cunha added.

– Katherine Gregg, The Providence Journal

The crowdfunding website GoFundMe has confirmed two credible fundraising efforts related to the Brown University shooting: one for a single specific deceased student and another for the victims as a whole.

The page for the “Support for Brown University Shooting Victims” GoFundMe said that funds raised will help the victims of the attack and their families pay medical bills and/or funeral expenses. At the time of writing, it accumulated $86,879 out of its $120,000 fundraising goal.

The “In Memory of MukhammadAziz Umurzokov” page said that funds raised will go to help the Umurzokov family with any expenses they face. Leftover funds will be donated to a charity in his name. They have raised $272,089 of their $460,000 goal.

– Katie Landeck, The Providence Journal

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt offered condolences to Ella Cook, one of the students killed in the deadly shooting on Brown University’s campus.

Brown University College Republicans, in a statement posted to X, described Cook, who was the organization’s vice president, as being “known for her bold, brave, and kind heart…” The statement was shared through the College Republicans of America X account. 

Leavitt reposted the X post, adding “There are no words.”

“Thinking of her family and friends, especially her parents. God please bless them,” Leavitt said in the post.

The Department of Public Safety at Brown University on Sunday evening said it “more than doubled its staffing” as the manhunt is underway for the gunman in the deadly campus shooting.

The department said that Providence police are leading the investigation and that there will also be a heightened amount of local, state and federal police activity in the area.

“We continue to make every effort to ensure the safety and security of the campus,” according to an alert by Brown University. “We are also advising every member of the Brown community to be vigilant in their own activities on campus.”

One other university in the state is canceling in-person exams as authorities search for the gunman in the deadly shooting at Brown University.

University of Rhode Island, located in South Kingstown, roughly 30 miles from Providence, announced it will not hold in-person exams on Monday in an effort to “prioritize the well-being of our community.” Online exams will proceed as scheduled, the university said.

“Importantly, there is no known threat to our campuses; this decision follows consideration of concerns shared by members of our community,” according to an alert from the university. 

Trump responded to the mass shooting over the weekend at Brown University, telling a crowd gathered at the White House that “things can happen” while offering “deepest regards” to the families of students who died and urging a speedy recovery for the injured.

“Brown University, great school… really one of the greatest schools anywhere in the world,” Trump said Sunday at a White House Christmas reception. “Things can happen. So to the nine injured – get well fast; and to the families of those two that are no longer with us, I pay my deepest regards and respects from the United States of America.”

– Zac Anderson

‘Bright light.’ Brown University victims remembered after attack

The U.S. Embassy in Uzbekistan has identified one of the deceased victims as Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov.

“I am deeply saddened by reports of the tragic death of Brown University student Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov on December 13,” said a statement from Ambassador Jonathan Henick. “We extend our sincere condolences to Mr. Umurzokov’s family, friends, and fellow students and mourn the loss of his bright future.”

The other student killed in the attack was identified as Ella Cook, a parishioner at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham, Alabama, the church announced on Sunday.

Contributing: Antonia Noori Farzan, The Providence Journal; Reuters