Brown University shooting: Officials say gunman likely ‘cased’ campus before attack

NEW YORK - The authorities searching for the man who killed two Brown University students
over the weekend shared enhanced video footage on the evening of Dec 16 in an effort to generate new leads on the attacker.

The gunman remains at large more than three days after the shooting, which killed two students and injured nine others, and the authorities said they have no specific suspects, and no indication of a possible motive.

“We don’t yet know who we’re looking for,” said Attorney-General Peter Neronha of Rhode Island. He said that “once we identify who this person is, I believe we’ll be able to locate him. It’s very hard to hide in this country”.

Officials hoped that the new footage, which included a timeline of a man circulating in neighbourhoods close to campus, would help someone recognise him. But the man’s face remained covered in all the images released on Dec 17.

“Focus on the body movements, the way the person moved their arms, the body posture, the way they carry the weight,” said Colonel Oscar Perez, chief of the Providence, Rhode Island, police department.

“I think those are important movement patterns that may help you identify this individual, which is extremely important.”

The footage shared by the police
on Dec 17 showed that the possible shooter was walking through a residential area near the university as early as 10.30am the day of the shooting, which happened around 4pm in an engineering building on campus.

“We believe he was actually casing out this area, which is something that criminals do,” Col Perez said. He asked residents to look back at least a week for possible images of the suspect.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) shared a similar compilation of footage, much of it from home security cameras near the campus.

The images showed a man walking, loitering and sometimes running along residential streets, both before and shortly after the shooting.

The building where the shooting occurred, Barus and Holley, was renovated within the past few years, officials said. The shooting occurred on the older side, where there are fewer cameras, and none captured an image of the man that they believe is the shooter.

“The building is on the edge of the Brown campus. Where the shooting took place is at the edge of that building,” Mr Neronha said.

He added, “There is no footage that depicts this individual, that would be useful in identifying him, that we have not released to you.”

Law enforcement officials have not indicated that they believe anyone other than the gunman was involved in the attack, and have not disclosed any possible motive for the shooting, which occurred during an economics review session.

A young man described by the authorities as a “person of interest” was detained for most of the day on Dec 14, but was later released
. Officials said they had determined that he was not connected to the crime.

US President Donald Trump, whose administration has been waging a campaign against elite universities, including Brown, said that criticism over the lengthy search for a suspect, which extended over three days, should be directed at the school.

Mr Neronha and Mayor Brett Smiley of Providence have rejected criticism of the university, which they called an important partner in the investigation. City and state police, as well as the FBI, have been working to track down the suspect.

Family and friends continued to mourn the two Brown students killed in the attack.

Mr Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov was an 18-year-old from Virginia whose family immigrated to the US from Uzbekistan in 2011. Ms Ella Cook, a 19-year-old sophomore from Alabama, was a talented pianist and vice-president of the university’s Republican Club.

Col Perez said investigators had no evidence at this point that Ms Cook was targeted, despite widespread speculation in right-wing circles.

Brown has not named the nine students who were injured. But according to the university’s health department, two have been released from the hospital, and most of the remainder are in critical but stable condition.

Both the Providence Police and Brown University have said that security measures on and around the campus have been increased since the shooting. Brown has cancelled all remaining classes and exams for the fall semester. NYTIMES