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Two students died and at least nine others were injured Gunman opens fire in classroom at prestigious Ivy League university In Rhode Island.
Saturday’s mass shooting at Brown University in Providence led to the lockdown of campus buildings and parts of the city, with students barricading themselves in buildings for hours while hundreds of law enforcement officers cordoned off the city.
The suspect fled before police arrived and – except for a brief surveillance video showing a man dressed in black walking around a corner outside the complex – all but disappeared.
A “person of interest” was taken into custody early Sunday, but authorities said he was released late at night. He has been dropped from the investigation.
Here’s everything we know.
The campus building was attacked while the examinations were going on.
More than 400 law enforcement officers – many from surrounding communities and some from the federal government – descended on the city on Saturday, December 13 to join the operation, while others cleared university buildings and evacuated students.
Authorities ordered residents to hide in place as sirens blared throughout the area. According to WPRI, students hid under desks, while the bride and groom were forced to shelter in place at their wedding venue.
A gunman opened fire in the final exam review session of an economics class, according to Professor Rachel Friedberg. The classroom was located on the ground floor of an engineering building on campus, and according to officials, it appears that no other classrooms or buildings were targeted.
Manhunt sees arrest of ‘person of interest’ – who is soon acquitted
A “person of interest” was taken into custody at a hotel in Coventry, Rhode Island, early Sunday morning, police said Sunday.
“The people of Providence should breathe a sigh of relief this morning,” Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said at a Sunday press conference.
CNN journalists staying at the same hotel saw at least 20 police officers, U.S. Marshals and FBI agents enter a room there.
According to the network, hotel guests were woken up around 4 a.m. ET when police knocked on the door and said, “Open up.”
Officers can be heard in the hallway saying, “We have a warrant for your apartment,” and the suspect is being escorted “back to the cruiser,” CNN reports.
But in a hastily announced press conference late Sunday night, officials announced that the man was being released.
Law enforcement officials said, “The evidence now points in a different direction.”
“Sometimes you go in one direction, and then you have to regroup and go in another direction, and that’s what’s happened in the last 24 hours,” Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha told reporters Sunday.
“Clearly we have a killer, and so we’re not going to abandon the game plan,” he said.
He also said that finding the killer “may happen very quickly or it may take some time.”
In a video released late Saturday night, a suspect dressed in all black can be seen walking away from the engineering building and turning a corner and then disappearing from the frame. There is no gun in the photo and the face of the shooter is also not visible.
“We know there is no clear shot of a face,” Mayor Smiley said at the time of the video’s release.
Law enforcement and local officials asked area residents to check their doorbells and exterior cameras for any sign of the shooter, or call in with any tips, no matter how small.
Who were the victims?
Two students died in the firing: Ella Cook and Mukhammed Aziz Umarzokov.
According to one, Umurzokov was studying to become a neurosurgeon. GoFundMe campaign Launched by his family. She was described as “incredibly kind, funny and smart” and her family’s “biggest role model”.
“He always helped anyone in need without hesitation and was the kindest person our family knew,” the GoFundMe reads. “Our family is incredibly devastated by this loss.”
Cook, who was from Alabama, was vice president of the Brown University College Republicans and a parishioner at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham.
Reverend Craig Smalley described Cook as an “incredible, down-to-earth, faithful bright light”. AL.comCollege Republicans of America Said Cook was known for his “courageous, brave and kind heart as he served his chapter and fellow classmates.”
White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt also honored Cook. post on x: “No words. Thinking of his family and friends, especially his parents. God please bless them.”
Brown University student Kendall Turner has also been identified as one of nine people injured in the shooting. Durham Academy, a private K-12 school in Durham, North Carolina, reported fox news On Monday, Turner’s family confirmed he was being treated at a hospital.
“We are deeply saddened to learn that Kendall Turner ’25, a beloved alumnus of Durham Academy, was injured in the mass shooting at Brown University,” the school’s statement said. “His family has informed us that he is currently in serious but stable condition and being cared for at a local hospital. His parents are with him. We look forward to his continued strength and recovery.”
Students described traumatic attack
Spencer Yang told Brown Daily Herald He was shot in the leg after the gunman entered the ECON0110 “Principles of Economics” final exam review session.
“As we were getting ready to leave, we heard gunshots,” Yang said. “So everyone is scrambling to get to the front of the class and trying to hide.” “I couldn’t reach the front, so I lay down between some seats,” he said. “Then the shooter came in, started shooting – I got shot in the leg.”
Brown University junior Max McCord said Washington Post His girlfriend – another student at the school – told him that her brother had been shot in the thigh.
He called at 4:15 pm ET to tell him about his brother’s injury, he said. The student said her brother was studying in the engineering building when the suspect opened fire.
McCord, who is from Pittsburgh, said his girlfriend’s brother is in the hospital but is improving.
He said that while he was talking to his girlfriend, his roommate heard the gunshots and came running into his room.
After the firing the youth remained in lockdown for hours.
Throughout Providence, the Providence Place mall closed its doors early, as well as some nearby nightclubs and bars. Police gathered outside the AMP music venue to protect the Goose Rock concert, and the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, who are set to play the New England Patriots on Sunday afternoon, were forced to shelter in a downtown hotel.
At Brown, two students had to relive some of the most horrific events they had ever experienced.
Brown University junior Mia Treta was injured in the 2019 shooting at her high school in Santa Clarita, California. told NBC News,
She was on campus when she received a flood of text messages and alerts about an active shooter on campus.
“Nobody in this country believes this is going to happen to them,” he told the outlet. “Once it happens to you, you assume or are told that it will never happen again. And obviously that’s not the case.”
He said his community in Brown is “in shambles” following the attack.
Zoe Weissman, 20, is a sophomore at Brown University. She survived the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were killed and another 18 were injured.
He now told ms She is “really angry that this is happening to me again and again.”
“And I’m in shock,” she said.
After surviving the 2019 attack, she said, “I’ll never again be the same person I was that day, and I think it will be no different for Brown students.”
There have been at least 154 school shootings in the United States so far this year, according to the gun safety advocacy group. Every city. At least 49 people have been killed and 135 injured in the attacks.
“Students on college campuses must be preparing for final exams and winter break – not having to endure another all-too-familiar tragedy caused by gun violence,” Everytown President John Feinblatt said in a statement. “While we await details, one thing is clear: today’s shooting at Brown University is another unacceptable reminder of our nation’s gun violence crisis. We either act, or we bury more of our children.”