Person of interest to be released after deadly Brown University shooting

PROVIDENCE, RI — Authorities late Sunday, Dec. 14 announced they will release the person of interest who had been in custody after a shooting at Brown University that killed two people and wounded nine others.

Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said he understood that the release of the person “is likely to create fresh anxiety for our community.”

But Smiley added that there have been no additional credible threats to the community or to Brown University. “The status of safety in our community remains unchanged,” he said.

The investigation remains ongoing, the mayor, Gov. Dan McKee, Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha each said. Perez noted the investigation was “very complex,” and authorities were working through the night to apprehend the person responsible.

“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,” Neronha said.

“I think it’s fair to say there is no basis to consider him a person of interest and so that’s why he’s being released,” Neronha later said.

Multiple news outlets, citing officials briefed on the investigation, reported the person of interest’s identity. USA TODAY is no longer naming the person as they were neither named a suspect in the shooting nor charged.

Perez said in a news conference earlier in the day on Dec. 14 that the person detained was in their 20s. At the time, he said authorities were not looking for anyone else in connection with the case and that officials were not ready to name the person of interest.

The shooting at the Ivy League University happened shortly before 4:05 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 13 in an engineering building with unlocked doors as final exams were underway. Of those injured, Brown University President Christina Paxson said at least one person has been released from the hospital, one remains in critical condition, and seven are in critical but stable condition.

Officials have also not yet named the victims of the shooting. Smiley said during a Sunday afternoon news conference that officials had not yet notified the families of all victims.

What’s next for the investigation?

Neronha said investigators developed a number of leads in the case.

“One was chased to ground,” Neronha said, leading authorities to detain the person of interest.

He said authorities were careful with the words they used to describe the person.

“There was some degree of evidence that pointed to this individual,” the attorney general said. “But that evidence needed to be corroborated and confirmed. And over the last 24 hours, leading into just very, very recently, that evidence now points in a different direction.”

“So what that means is that this person of interest needs to be, it should be released,” Neronha said. “I think what is really unfortunate, that this person’s name was leaked to the public. It’s hard to put that back in the bottle.”

Neronha and Perez vowed that investigators, which included Providence Police, the FBI and Rhode Island State Police, would continue to pursue evidence.

“We’re going to solve his case,” Neronha said. “… We have a murderer out there.”

Neronha said that he understood that finding the person responsible “can never be too fast, especially for the victims and their families,” but he said that the investigation would take time.

Wisconsin police: Feds conducting interviews in Milwaukee suburb

On Sunday night, a large police presence was seen outside a home associated with the family of the person of interest in the Milwaukee suburb of Cedarburg, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported. FBI agents at the scene told the media not to approach the residence.

The Cedarburg Police Department shared condolences on social media for the victims in the Brown University shooting. The agency also confirmed the presence of the FBI in the city and that federal agents would be conducting interviews related to the incident.

Authorities advised that any information related to the shooting should be directed to the Providence Police Department in Rhode Island.

— Phaedra Trethan, USA TODAY; Natalie Eilbert, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

‘We gather this evening in stunned grief’

Several hundred people gathered on the newly fallen snow in Providence’s Lippitt Park as temperatures hovered around freezing to share the light of togetherness in the wake of the deadly shooting at Brown University.

Councilwoman Sue AnderBois told a crowd gathered on the first night of Hanukkah that the evening had been planned as a celebration of light. “Instead, we are gathered to share light in this dark time,” she said. “We are here just to be together.”

Anderbois was joined in a 10-minute speaking program with Mayor Brett Smiley and Rabbi Sarah Mack of Temple Beth-El.

“We gather this evening in stunned grief, in stunned shock,” said Mack. “We can use our light to kindle more light, that is how we can get through this dark moment.”

After the rabbi spoke and the program formally ended, the crowd spontaneously spoke into a rendition of “Amazing Grace.” Read more here.

— Providence Journal

Reports: Person of interest served in the military

Authorities have released a few details about the person of interest.

“It takes time, we have to make sure we have all the right evidence to prosecute,” Perez said during an afternoon news conference.

CBS News and NBC News, citing a military spokesperson, reported on Sunday that the person of interest was an infantryman in the Army from May 2021 to November 2024.

“He has no deployments and left the Army in the rank of specialist,” said Lt. Col. Ruth Castro, the news organizations reported.

USA TODAY has reached out to the Army for comment.

FBI Director says agency assisting investigation

In a Sunday morning social media post, FBI Director Kash Patel said law enforcement used cellular geolocation data to track the person of interest to a hotel room in Coventry, Rhode Island.

The agency, Patel said, is working with local officials to investigate images and videos related to the incident, including by reconstructing the shooting scene.

“This FBI will continue an all out 24/7 campaign until justice is fully served,” Patel wrote in his post on X. “Thanks to the men and women of the FBI and our partners for their continued teamwork. Please continue praying for the victims and their families – as well as all those at Brown University.”

Brown University shooter: What to know about person in custody

What happens next? Authorities describe search for suspect

Perez could not confirm many details during two Sunday news conferences, but he said law enforcement will coordinate with prosecutors, collect evidence, and interview eyewitnesses.

Ted Docks, with the FBI Boston Field Office, commended local law enforcement and said that the collaboration was integral to developing a suspect and taking them into custody within 24 hours. Police in Coventry, Rhode Island, confirmed that he was detained at around 3:45 a.m. in a hotel on Centre of New England Boulevard, but would not pinpoint which hotel.

The Centre of New England is a large commercial and residential development, with several hotels, as well as a Walmart, Home Depot, and BJs.

Living through a school shooting — twice

Mia Tretta was sitting in her Brown University dorm room with friends when she got a text message about an active shooter. She didn’t believe it at first — despite her own painful experience with school shootings.

Tretta was a freshman at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California, on Nov. 14, 2019, when a gunman shot and killed two students and injured three others. Tretta’s best friend died, and she was shot in the stomach.

“I came to Brown because I wanted to get away from what happened to me in Saugus, and I wanted to be able to kind of live my life without constantly thinking about this,” she told USA TODAY. “Now it’s followed me here.”

The shooting that wounded Tretta in 2019 lasted eight seconds, she said. Her road to recovery has lasted years and included a two-week hospital stay, multiple surgeries, physical therapy, and ongoing struggles. Read more here.

— Karissa Waddick, Bailey Allen, and Dinah Voyles Pulver

Patriots pay tribute to Brown shooting victims with moment of silence

The New England Patriots honored the Brown University victims before Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills with a moment of silence.

The Patriots, along with each of the major sports teams in Boston, released statements on Saturday night in the wake of the shooting.

“The New England Patriots are heartbroken by the horrific events at Brown University,” the Patriots’ statement reads. “We extend our deepest sympathies to those affected and their families, and we remain grateful to the first responders and law enforcement who acted swiftly to protect the students, faculty, staff and the community. We stand with Brown University and our neighbors in Rhode Island during this difficult time.”

– Jacob Rousseau

Providence tea shop shared surveillance footage with police

Michelle Cheng, the owner of popular local tea shop Ceremony, said in a series of social media posts that the man who owns the building where the shop is located, David Baskin, stayed up through the night reviewing surveillance footage with investigators.

They spotted the suspect walking through the neighborhood in that footage and shared the information with the authorities.

Cheng said the shop sheltered students while the campus was locked down, and neighbors in the building “opened their apartments and helped us get everyone settled.” The shop will be closed today.

“What we experienced was deeply traumatic, and we need a little more time to cope and support one another,” Cheng wrote.

Students caught by surprise

Smiley, the mayor of Providence, became emotional while talking with reporters about the number of mass shootings devastating communities across the United States. The topic, he said, came up when he spoke with four of the students injured at Brown.

“One of the students who showed tremendous courage literally said to me, ‘You know, that active shooter drill they made me do in high school really helped me,'” he said. “The reason it helped, and the reason we do these drills, is because it’s so damn frequent.”

Ref Bari, 22, a graduate student at Brown, said he 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.”

Hanukkah celebration turned vigil

Providence will turn what was going to be a community Christmas tree and menorah lighting Sunday in recognition of the first day of Hanukkah into a vigil for victims of the Brown University shooting, the mayor said. Law enforcement officers will be present at the event to ensure safety.

“For those who know at least a little bit of the Hanukkah story, it is quite clear that if we can come together as a community, and shine a little bit of light tonight, I think there is nothing better we can be doing as a community,” Smiley said.

At least 11 people were killed and dozens more were wounded at a beach in Australia Sunday, in an attack believed to have targeted the country’s Jewish community.

Brown students react to the shooting

Aviv Cohen, a pre-med sophomore at Brown, was in the midst of a physics final exam when he learned of the shooting. He described the night as “quite a surreal experience.”

Cohen was taking the exam in Solomon Hall, a block away from where the shooting took place, when people entered the room and explained what was happening. After an hour, law enforcement visited the room but instructed the students to stay in place. Law enforcement kept them sheltered for at least 10 hours, Cohen said.

He returned to his dorm with friends after officials lifted the shelter-in-place order. When he heard the suspect was in custody, Cohen commented, “I feel like I am at least happy he is in custody. I think it means we are in a safer area.”

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.”

University cancels all final exams

Paxson, president of Brown, told students in a Dec. 14 email that all remaining classes, final exams, papers and projects for the rest of the semester would be canceled.

“This choice was made out of our profound concern for all students, faculty and staff,” Paxson wrote. “We know there is a long road ahead as students and families deal with the after effects of the events of the past day and the emergency that is still unfolding.”

Brown joins other US college campuses rocked by fatal shootings

Brown University is not the only U.S. college campus to grieve after gun violence this year.

On Dec. 10, the parent of a Kentucky State University student was charged after a shooting at the campus left one student dead and another critically injured. On Oct. 25, one person was killed, and six others were injured at a celebration for Lincoln University’s homecoming.

Authorities suspected multiple shooters opened fire at the Pennsylvania HBCU.

Conservative podcaster and activist Charlie Kirk was killed by a lone gunman while speaking at an outdoor event on the campus of Utah Valley University on Sept. 10. No one else was injured.

On July 25, a 14-year-old was killed, and another person was injured in a shooting at a University of New Mexico dormitory. Earlier this year, two people were killed, and six people were injured in a shooting at Florida State University.

President Trump asks for prayers for Brown University victims

Speaking at the White House on Sunday, President Donald Trump paid his respects to the victims in the shooting and called Brown University “one of the greatest schools anywhere in the world.”

“I pay my deepest regards and respects from the United States of America,” Trump said, wishing those who were hurt from the attack to “get well fast.”

Is this the first shooting at an Ivy League school? 

Yes, Brown University is the first Ivy League school in recent history with a mass shooting that led to multiple deaths.

USA TODAY, along with the Gun Violence Archive (GVA), defines a mass shooting as an incident in which a minimum of four or more people are shot (injured or killed), not including the shooter, within a single event.

While there have been isolated fatal shootings at several Ivy League colleges, including a gun death at Harvard University in 2009 and a 2021 killing of a Yale graduate student, there have been no active-shooter incidents with multiple fatalities.

Contributing: Natalie Eilbert and Hope Karnopp, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Brown University shooting live updates: Person of interest to be released