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as discovered brown university suspect Entering its fifth day, officials asked the public to review phones and security footage From the days before the attack, with the hope that it might help investigator Identify the person.
“I believe this is probably the most intensive investigation currently underway in this country,” ThriftThe police chief, Colonel Oscar Pérez, said at a Wednesday news conference that investigators had collected a lot of evidence at the crime scene.
Authorities have released multiple videos taken in the hours and minutes before Saturday’s attack, showing a person of interest standing, walking and running on streets near the campus. In the video released, the suspect is wearing a mask or his head is bowed.
Authorities believe footage from the days and a week before the attack may possibly show the suspect planning the incident ahead of time.
Although Brown President Christina Hull Paxon said there are 1,200 cameras on campus, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said the attack, which killed two students and injured nine others, occurred in a first-floor classroom in the older part of the engineering building, which has “few if any” cameras.
Investigators also believe the shooter entered and left the building through a door that faces a residential street bordering the complex, which may explain why Brown’s camera did not capture footage of the man.
President Donald Trump accused the Ivy League school of being unprepared for the lack of campus video of the shooter, posting on Truth Social on Wednesday: “Why did Brown University have so few security cameras? There can be no excuse for this. In the modern age, it doesn’t get worse!!!”
where does the investigation stand
Investigators have described the man they are searching for as being about 5 feet, 8 inches (173 cm) tall and of built build, but have given no indication that they are close to determining his identity.
The attacker’s motives also remain a mystery, and Neronha on Tuesday shrugged off questions about what they might have been, saying, “It’s a dangerous path to go down.”
Authorities have been canvassing the surrounding areas and have received about 200 tips, and Neronha defended the investigation on Tuesday, saying the investigation was going “really well” and appealing for patience.
“There is no disappointment among those who understand that not every case can be resolved quickly,” the attorney general said Wednesday.
Pérez declined to say how many witnesses police had spoken to or how many people were in the classroom at the time of the attack. But he said that his department is being harassed.
“We’re all over the place. If a tip tells us we need to go to Connecticut, we’re going to Connecticut. If a tip comes in and tells us we need to go to Boston, we’re going to Boston,” the chief said.
But the timing of the attack just before winter break could complicate the investigation, as remaining classes and exams have been canceled following the shooting and many students have already gone home.
The investigation also comes as Boston-area police search for the man who killed a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor earlier this week. That attack occurred at the professor’s home, and the FBI said it had no reason to think the two attacks were connected. Separately, Providence police on Wednesday released a new photo of a different person who they said was in “proximity to the person of interest” and asked the public for help identifying that person so they can speak with them. The person seen in the new picture is wearing dark colored pants and a blue jacket and is carrying a light brown bag.
Campus security comes under scrutiny
The attack and the escape of the shooter have raised questions about the security of the campus.
Paxson said Brown has two security systems in place. One, which is activated in times of emergency, sent text messages, phone calls and emails that reached 20,000 people. The other has three sirens throughout the complex and was not activated Saturday, a decision Paxson defended because doing so would have sent people running into buildings, including where the shooting was taking place.
“So this is not a system we would ever use in an active shooter case,” she said.
Brown’s website says sirens can be used when there is an active shooter, but Paxson said it “depends on the circumstances” and the location of the shooter.
a city on the edge
With the gunman still at large, Providence remained tense Wednesday as extra police were deployed to city schools to reassure worried parents that their children would be safe. Some schools canceled after-school activities and field trips.
Before the shooting, approximately 1,600 Providence residents were registered to receive texts through the city text alert service. According to the city, 760 new accounts have been created since Sunday, bringing the total number of people registered to receive messages to more than 2,300 as of late Tuesday night. Brown cautioned people to avoid accusing people online of having any connection to the attack, then said that such speculation led to one student being misled after his identifying information was posted.
“The allegations, speculation and conspiracies we are seeing on social media and in some news reports are irresponsible, harmful, and in some cases, dangerous to the safety of individuals in our community,” the school said in a statement.
And the police chief on Wednesday asked the public to stop circulating AI-generated images being shared on social media.
honoring the victims
About 200 people gathered at a campus church service Tuesday to honor the victims, including Ella Cook and Mukhamadaziz Umarzokov, the two students who died.
Cook was a 19-year-old sophomore from Alabama who was very involved in her church and served as vice president of the Brown College Republicans.
Umurzokov was an 18-year-old newcomer to Virginia whose family had immigrated to the United States from Uzbekistan and who hoped to one day go to medical school.
Mayor Brett Smiley said Wednesday that the third injured student has been released, while five remain hospitalized in stable condition and one in critical condition.