Brown University Shooting: What Do We Know So Far?

A tragic shooting over the weekend at Brown University has left two students dead and nine others wounded. Students were taking their final exams in the Barus and Holley engineering building when a gunman opened fire around 4:00 PM local time on Saturday.

Law enforcement responded swiftly with over 400 personnel deployed to find the shooter. Police had taken a “person of interest” into custody, though the investigation continues with the Gun Violence Archive reporting this as the 389th mass shooting in the United States this year.

Timeline of Attack and Emergency Response

4:05 p.m.: Providence Emergency Services received the first 911 calls
4:22 p.m.: Brown University sent its first emergency alert (17 minutes after the original calls)
4:35 p.m.: About 50 police and emergency response vehicles arrived on site
4:51 p.m.: Brown created confusion by wrongly announcing they had a suspect in custody
6:00 p.m.: Officials confirmed two Brown students died and eight others were in critical condition

Hundreds of armed officers searched the area. Military-style vehicles took positions at intersections while helicopters patrolled overhead. Ambulances lined nearby streets ready to help more victims.

Police Detain and Release Person of Interest

Law enforcement authorities have since released a person they detained as a suspect in the shooting.

A tip from the public led police to detain a person of interest around 3:45 a.m. Sunday. They found the suspect at a Hampton Inn hotel in Coventry, Rhode Island, about 15 miles south of Providence.

FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team gave “critical geolocation capabilities” that helped them find the suspect. The search of the hotel room yielded two firearms. One had a laser sight attachment, along with two loaded 30-round magazines.

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha announced late Sunday night they would release the person. The evidence “now points in a different direction”. Neronha explained during an urgent press conference: “I’ve been around long enough to know that sometimes you head in one direction, and then you have to regroup and go in another, and that’s exactly what has happened over the last 24 hours or so”.

Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said: “We know that this is likely to cause fresh anxiety for our community, and we want to repeat what we said earlier, which remains true. We have not received any credible or specific threats to the Providence community”.

Victims Identified

Brown University President Christina Paxson confirmed that all eleven victims from the shooting were university students. Ella Cook, a parishioner at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham, Alabama, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, a recent Midlothian High School graduate, lost their lives. Cook’s church community remembers her through Rev. Craig Smalley’s words as an “incredibly grounded, faithful, bright light” who served others devotedly. Umurzokov’s family remembers him as “the most kind-hearted person”.

Nine students were taken to Rhode Island Hospital, where one remains in critical condition and seven are in critical but stable condition, while one student has returned home. Kendall Turner, a 19-year-old freshman from North Carolina and Durham Academy graduate, is among those fighting for recovery in critical but stable condition. Rhode Island Hospital’s medical team continues to monitor all injured students closely.

Brown University has canceled the remaining undergraduate, graduate, and medical classes, exams, and papers for Fall 2025 semester.

Authorities Expand Search and Request Public Help

The manhunt continues as authorities ask for more video evidence from the Brown University area. Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said police will search neighboring communities and focus on security camera footage. “The videos at Brown in the building have been examined, and at this time, we have no additional actionable information from the video that has been reviewed from the building,” Smiley stated. The public can submit relevant tips, photos, and videos through a dedicated portal at FBI.gov/BrownUniversityShooting. Witnesses also have the option to reach Providence police directly at (401) 272-3121.

Officials have assured residents they face no immediate danger, even though the shooter remains unidentified. “We are not recommending at this time a new shelter-in-place. We do not feel it is necessary,” Mayor Smiley emphasized.

Brown University’s statement confirmed that “local police have advised they do not believe there is any immediate threat to Brown or the local community”. In spite of that, more officers remain stationed around campus to reassure students and staff.