Hunting new leads, police seek video of Brown University gunman

Providence police officers gather while going door-to-door seeking video footage that could help identify a suspect in the Brown University shooting in Providence, R.I., on Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (Christopher Capozziello/The New York Times)

By MARK ARSENAULT, THOMAS GIBBONS-NEFF, IRINEO CABREROS and JACEY FORTIN

Police officers went door to door through the streets of Rhode Island’s capital city Monday afternoon in search of video footage that might help them track down the gunman who killed two students and injured nine others at Brown University this weekend.

Mayor Brett Smiley of Providence, Rhode Island, said officials had no way of knowing if the killer was still in the city. A 24-year-old Wisconsin man who was held for nearly all of Sunday was released late in the night, after officials determined they could not connect him to the attack. The move left the city and campus on edge as the search resumed.

In College Hill, the neighborhood where the gunman apparently fled after opening fire on an economics final study group, many parents stayed home with their children because some schools were closed. College students carried luggage as they left campus, either to start winter break early or stay with friends in off-campus housing, because they didn’t felt safe at Brown.

The turn in the investigation late Sunday came some 20 hours after authorities detained the suspect and lifted a lockdown on the Brown campus. FBI Director Kash Patel said federal investigators had found the man in a town near Providence by tracking the cellphone of a person identified by the city’s police department as the possible gunman.

Law enforcement officials have not named any other suspects or discussed potential motives. Police released a brief video of the possible shooter — whose face is not visible — in the hopes that someone might recognize him by his gait or dark clothing.

Here’s what we’re covering:

— The search: Officials are seeking additional video and photographic evidence of the killer. “We know that this is likely to cause fresh anxiety for our community,” Smiley said after the suspect was released late Sunday, adding that officials had not received “any credible or specific threats to the Providence community.”

— The attack: The shooting occurred around 4 p.m. Saturday during a final exam review for an economics class. Joseph Oduro, 21, a teaching assistant, said he had been wrapping up the session when a man with a face mask and a rifle burst into the classroom. The man shouted something that Oduro could not make out and opened fire.

— A stellar student: One of the people killed in the attack, MukhammadAziz Umurzokov, an 18-year-old from Virginia, had earned a scholarship to attend Brown. His friends and relatives remembered him as extroverted, helpful and bright. Umurzokov and his family are naturalized citizens who arrived in the United States in 2011 from Uzbekistan.

— A bright sophomore: The other person who was killed, Ella Cook, 19, was a talented pianist who spoke French and joined the French Honor Society in high school. At Brown, she became vice president of the Republican Club. Her friends said she was studious, humble and kind, and the pastor of her church described her as a “bright light.”