Search for the Brown University shooter resumes as police release 3 new videos

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Authorities knocked on doors Monday searching for any video there might be of the Brown University gunman, who could be seen in grainy footage walking away from the weekend attack that killed two students and wounded nine others.

During a Monday afternoon news conference that got testy at times, authorities released three new videos of the man they believe carried out the attack. In the videos, which were shot about two hours before the shooting, the man was 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.

The FBI said the man is about 5 feet, 8 inches tall, with a stocky build. The agency offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the identification, arrest, and conviction of the person responsible.

“We’re asking for the public’s assistance,” Providence’s police chief, Col. Oscar Perez, said at a news conference, urging people who might recognize the suspect to call a tip line.

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.

The lockdown order for the Ivy League school was lifted Sunday after authorities said they’d detained a person of interest in the attack. But hopes for a quick resolution were dashed when they announced hours later that they had released the man.

» READ MORE: Mass shooting at Brown: When gun heartbreak comes home

The abrupt change of direction marked a setback in the investigation as questions swirl 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.”

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. 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.

“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.”

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, Ala., 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 Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, an 18-year-old freshman majoring in biochemistry and neuroscience. He was helping a friend at a review session for an economics final when he was fatally shot, his sister said.

As a child, Umurzokov suffered a neurological condition that required surgery, and he later wore a back brace because of scoliosis, said Samira Umurzokova, noting that the family immigrated to the U.S. from Uzbekistan when she, her brother, and sister were young.

“He had so many hardships in his life, and he got into this amazing school and tried so hard to follow through with the promise he made when was 7 years old,” she told the AP by phone Monday.

The release of the person of interest left law enforcement without a known suspect, with officials pledging to redouble their efforts by asking neighborhood residents and businesses for video surveillance that might help identify the attacker.

“We have a murderer out there,” state Attorney General Peter Neronha said.

Authorities said Sunday that one of the reasons they lacked video of the shooter was because Brown’s engineering building doesn’t have many cameras.

The mayor said there have been no credible threats of further violence since the shooting, and the city’s schools were open Monday.

Colleges and universities, including in Providence and some Ivy League schools, are increasing security in the wake of the shootings. Yale said extra security would also be in place for Hanukkah celebrations.

On Sunday morning, officials took into custody a person of interest at a Hampton Inn outside of Providence. Two people familiar with the matter identified that individual as a 24-year-old man from Wisconsin, though authorities never released his name.

Neronha said some evidence pointed to the man authorities detained, but further investigation pointed elsewhere.

The shooting occurred as final exams were underway at Brown, one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious schools.

The gunman opened fire inside a classroom in the engineering building, getting off more than 40 rounds from a 9 mm handgun, a law enforcement official told AP. Two handguns were recovered when the person of interest was taken into custody, said the official, who was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke to AP on the condition of anonymity.

Investigators were not immediately sure how the shooter got inside the first-floor classroom.

The attack set off hours of chaos on campus and in the surrounding neighborhoods, as hundreds of officers searched for the shooter. During the lockdown, which wasn’t lifted until Sunday, after the person of interest was taken into custody, many students barricaded their rooms and hid behind furniture and bookshelves.

Li Ding, a Rhode Island School of Design student who is on a dance team at Brown, was upset that there wasn’t better security on campus.

“The fact that we’re in such a surveillance state but that wasn’t used correctly at all is just so deeply frustrating,” Ding said.

One of the nine wounded students has been released from the hospital, Brown President Christina Paxson said Sunday. Seven others were in critical but stable condition, and one was in critical condition.

The mayor said he visited some wounded students and was inspired by their courage, hope, and gratitude. “The resilience that these survivors showed and shared with me, is frankly pretty overwhelming,” Smiley said.