Brown University shooting latest: Officials admit manhunt for double killer could take ‘some time’ after initial suspect cleared
Police release ‘person of interest’ more than 24 hours after mass shooting at Rhode Island Ivy League school with suspect on the loose
Investigators say the search for the shooter who killed two people and injured nine at Brown University on Saturday could take “some time” after police released an initial person of interest.
Providence police said a man in his 20s was detained at a hotel in Coventry, Rhode Island, several miles away from the university campus, following the shooting. But officials announced they planned to release him during a press conference late Sunday night.
“We will have our resources amplified by the state police, by the FBI, by the ATF, by the DEA, by the Marshals Service and others as we develop leads and reach and move towards justice in this case. But this could happen very quickly, but it could take some time,” Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha told reporters.
Eight of those injured are still hospitalized, ABC 6 reports. Seven of them are in critical but stable condition, while one remains in critical condition.
More than 400 law enforcement personnel are joining the search for a suspect.Officials released a video of a person they believe is a suspect, a male dressed in black who has not yet been publicly identified.
Brown University shooting: Everything we know about the campus attack that left 2 dead and 9 injured
Two students were killed and at least nine others were injured after a gunman fired into a classroom at Brown University on Saturday.
Here’s everything we know about the shooting, the search for the suspected gunman and the victims:
Brown University shooting: Everything we know about the campus attack
Students express fear, concern as manhunt continues
Brown University students are concerned about their safety as the manhunt continues for the shooter who killed two people and injured nine on the Rhode Island campus.
Cole Francis, a fourth-year student at Brown University, told CNN the shooting was “terrifying.” After authorities announced they’re still searching for the suspected shooter, Francis said he doesn’t “feel safe here whatsoever.”
“I think that a lot of people found a lot of relief in knowing that the authorities had caught this person and recovered the weapons that this person may have used,” Francis told CNN. “And now to know that he may still be on the street is, is extremely scary and worrisome for a lot of people.”
What to know about Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League school in Providence, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1764.
Brown University has more than 11,000 students enrolled, according to the school’s website. This includes more than 7,000 undergraduates, 3,000 graduate students and 600 medical students.
All undergraduates live on campus, and 15 percent of them are the first in their families to attend college.
The school boasts several notable alumni, including at least three Nobel laureates and several MacArthur Fellows. Other recognizable alums include former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and financier John D. Rockefeller Jr.
Alabama lawmakers honor slain Brown University student
Alabama lawmakers are paying tribute to Ella Cook, a Brown University student from the state who was killed in Saturday’s shooting.
“Wesley and I join the Mountain Brook community and all of Alabama in mourning the heartbreaking loss of one of our own, Ella Cook, who was senselessly killed over the weekend on Brown University’s campus,” Senator Katie Britt said in a statement.
“I am heartbroken to hear that Mountain Brook’s Ella Cook was among those killed over the weekend at Brown University. Our hearts and our prayers are with the Cook family and everyone impacted by this senseless killing,” Senator Tommy Tuberville wrote on X.
Manhunt could take 'some time,' officials say
Investigators said the manhunt for the Brown University shooter could take “some time” after a person of interest was released late last night.
“We will have our resources amplified by the state police, by the FBI, by the ATF, by the DEA, by the Marshals Service, and others as we develop leads and reach and move towards justice in this case,” Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha told reporters on Sunday.
“This could happen very quickly, but it could take some time,” he added.
They survived school shootings. Now these Brown students are angry and in shock after university killings
For two Brown University students, receiving a campus-wide emergency text message of an active shooter triggered memories of school shootings they experienced as children.
Mia Tretta, 21, a junior at the university, survived a gunshot wound to the stomach in 2019 when a boy began firing at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California. Her best friend, Dominic Blackwell, was killed.
Tretta said she spent Saturday evening locked down in her dorm room, learning that two students were killed and nine others were injured in a mass shooting at the Rhode Island university.
Keep reading:
Brown University students who survived other school shootings are angry and in shock
Investigators believe lone shooter carried out attack
Investigators believe a lone shooter carried out Saturday’s attack at Brown University, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley told ABC News.
“We do have a small, short clip of video footage that we do believe is the person that we’re looking for,” he said. “And right now we don’t have any evidence to suggest that it was more than that individual which has been seen in that video.”
“We have an enhanced police presence to try to give that comfort, that sense of security. And the search and the investigation is ongoing,” he added.
Anxiety levels have 'risen', says mayor
Anxiety levels have “risen” in Providence, Rhode Island following the Brown University shooting on Saturday, but there is no immediate threat to residents, mayor Brett Smiley has said in a Monday morning update.
"We understand that there's a high degree of anxiety and after this individual was released last night, I understand that anxiety level has risen in our community," Smiley told ABC News.
"But it's no different than a day ago, which is that we've received -- continue to receive zero credible threats to our community brown or the broader community."
Investigations continued on Monday, with the killer still on the loose and no definite suspect named.
Student recalls hiding in the bathroom as gunfire rang out
Ref Bari, 22, a graduate student at Brown University, was inside the Barus & Holley building when he heard a series of loud popping sounds that appeared to be gunfire.
Bari ran out of the building and asked another student running in the street if he could hide with her and her friends and she agreed. They returned to her basement apartment and hid in the bathroom.
"She trusted me," he said. "The only connection between us is we're both students at Brown but beyond that, we don't know each other."
Jack DiPrimio, another graduate student at Brown, said he was initially not concerned when the university went on lockdown because he had experienced many active-shooter drills. The drills have become more common in the U.S. as attacks targeting students have increased.
"I had faced so many lockdowns in high school and even a few at my undergrad, so I wasn't that worried at first," DiPrimio said in a TikTok video after coming out of a five-hour lockdown.
"Maybe I was desensitized."
Democratic senator says Trump launched ‘dizzying campaign’ of violence after Brown shooting
A Democratic senator who was a champion of gun reforms in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting in his state blamed Donald Trump on Sunday for encouraging a “dizzying” campaign of violence, hours after authorities announced that a person of interest was apprehended for a mass shooting at Brown University.
Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy told CNN’s Dana Bash on State of the Union that the president’s rhetoric and actions since returning to the White House made violence “more likely” in America.
Representing the state in the Senate since 2013, the senator is a leading voice for gun safety restrictions among members of his party.
His remarks came after America was rocked by news Saturday evening of a gunman opening fire in an academic building at the Ivy League university in Rhode Island, killing two people and wounding nine others.
“He has been engaged in a pretty deliberate campaign to try to make violence more likely in this country, and I think you’re unfortunately going to see the results of that on the streets of America,” Murphy said.
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