Authorities are under mounting pressure to track down the ‘organized’ tubby at-large suspect who killed two people and injured nine more in a horror shooting at Brown University.
The bungled response from law enforcement has been widely criticized in the days following the incident on Saturday, including the release of a ‘person of interest’ who was found not to be the killer.
Cops had also previously announced that they had a suspect ‘in custody’ in the aftermath of the killings before walking back the news, and shared conflicting reports of a secondary shooting that were ‘unfounded.’
Days later, surveillance footage was shared by authorities on Monday in hopes of triggering a new lead, showing the suspect walking slowly through the Providence, Rhode Island, community in the moments after the attack.
Officials seemingly admitted they had nothing as they released the footage, with the university appealing for help from witnesses to offer ‘even an incidental detail’ that could point to the gunman’s identity.
The gunman opened fire on a weekend study session classroom on the seventh floor of Brown University’s engineering building on Saturday afternoon, and officials said he walked into the building because it was left unlocked for midterm exams.
Criminal profiler John Kelly told Fox News that this security lapse allowed Brown University campus to be a ‘soft target’ for the ‘organized’ killer.
In an updated description from the FBI, the suspect is described as standing 5’8″, with ‘stocky build’, wearing a black mask, dark jacket, black beanie, gloves and boots.
Authorities are under mounting pressure to track down the at-large suspect who killed two people and injured nine more at Brown University on Saturday
A $50,000 reward has been issued for information leading to the suspect’s arrest, with authorities on Monday releasing new surveillance footage of the killer walking the Providence, Rhode Island, community after opening fire
Investigators have come under scrutiny in the days after the shooting, as footage and images of the gunman have failed to offer a look at the suspect’s face or specific information to track them down.
Kelly cited unlocked doors, an apparent knowledge of the layout of the engineering building and its surveillance cameras as evidence that the killer meticulously planned the attack ahead of time.
‘College was a soft target – doors open and no security,’ said Kelly, a criminal profiler and the president of STALK Inc.
‘The killer was familiar with the area, enraged, probably at the college or engineering program. Organized,’ he told Fox News.
‘Dressed for the occasion – and very comfortable with a semiautomatic.’
In the latest footage, the suspect was seen walking slowly along a street in the aftermath of the attack that killed two people.
The gunman was seen walking with his hands behind his back, at one point stopping to turn around and look across a road and over a fence with no apparent urgency.
With the suspect remaining at large into Tuesday, Kelly said the task for investigators to track down the gunman grows increasingly difficult the longer the manhunt continues.
‘They don’t know if he’s 500 miles away or five doors down the street,’ he said.
‘What they do know is he’s a psycho killer and mass shooter. If they don’t get him, there is a lot of fear for people living there, and there will be a lot of scared kids returning to campus.’
In the latest footage, the suspect was seen walking slowly along a street in the aftermath of the attack that killed two people
The gunman was seen walking with his hands behind his back, at one point stopping to turn around and look across a road and over a fence with no apparent urgency
Ella Cook, a 19-year-old sophomore at Brown University and a vice-president of the school’s Republican club, has been identified as one of the two students killed in Saturday’s shooting
Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov (pictured left), the second Brown University victim killed on Saturday, has been remembered by his roommate as an aspiring neurosurgeon and ‘ball of joy’
FBI Director Kash Patel has been at the center of criticisms of the investigation, as he was accused of repeating a pattern throughout the year of premature announcements of suspects.
On Sunday, Patel bragged about how the FBI had used its advanced cell phone tracking technology to detain a suspect at a hotel in Rhode Island, and the suspect’s name was leaked to the press.
But just hours later, it was announced that the ‘person of interest’ would be freed.
Investigative experts warn that authorities must now start from scratch, reviewing all the evidence again after they were led to the wrong individual.
On Monday, university officials pleaded for any information from witnesses that could help lead to the suspect, saying in a statement that ‘even an incidental detail may be helpful’ as they scramble for answers.
It comes as the two victims who lost their lives in the horror attack have been identified as neuroscience student Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, 18, and sophomore Ella Cook, 19.
Umurzokov’s roommate, Khimari Manns, paid tribute to the American-Uzbek student as kind, intelligent, and ‘always there for you’.
‘(He was) just a ball of joy, ball of energy,’ Manns told CBS affiliate WPRI.
‘He raises everybody else to a certain level. He made sure I had my stuff done. He made sure he had his stuff done. He was just always there… He was kind.’
FBI Director Kash Patel has been at the center of criticisms of the investigation, as he was accused of repeating a pattern throughout the year of premature announcements of suspects
A memorial for the two slain Brown University students, Umurzokov and Cook
Umurzokov, 18, was described by his roommate as ‘kind’ and ‘always there for you’
Cook was the vice-president of Brown University’s Republican Club, and was remembered by Reverend Craig Smalley at a memorial as ‘incredible, grounded, faithful bright light.’
‘She encouraged and lifted up those around her,’ Smalley said.
Former Brown student Alex Shieh, who said he knew Cook, wrote on X that she was widely respected across ideological lines on campus.
‘Everyone at Brown who knew Ella, regardless of their politics, found her to be friendly and kind,’ Shieh wrote.
‘My thoughts are with Ella’s family. Ella was a promising young leader taken too soon.
‘I knew Ella through Brown Republicans, where she was vice-president.
‘Being a conservative at Brown isn’t always the easiest, but Ella was never afraid to share her beliefs on an overwhelmingly liberal campus and support others in doing so.’
Despite over 400 law enforcement agents deployed to assist the manhunt, authorities have been criticized for a lack of movement in tracking down the suspect
Students are seen sheltering in place on Saturday evening after the shooting rocked the Providence, Rhode Island, campus
The bungled investigation has been slammed by many on social media as the suspect remains at large.
In the chaotic aftermath of the shooting, officials announced that they had arrested a suspect, only to walk back that announcement less than an hour later.
Conflicting reports from the chaotic scene also claimed a secondary shooting occurred blocks away from the campus around an hour after the initial shooting. Brown University said in an update that those reports were ‘unfounded.’
Law enforcement sources told CNN that the confusion over reports of a second shooting were sparked by a ‘confrontation’ with an individual blocks away from the campus, which resulted in gunfire.
The police source said that the connection between the incident and the suspected shooter is uncertain, but the incident was the reason for conflicting reports that a suspect was in custody.
