Authorities knocked on doors and scoured yards Monday (December 15, 2025) in search of any video or other evidence that might lead them to the Brown University gunman, whose face was covered or not visible in footage captured before and after the weekend attack that killed two students and wounded nine others.

Officials released three new videos of the man they believe carried out Saturday’s (December 13) attack that show him wearing a mask and a dark two-tone jacket. Although his face wasn’t visible, the footage from about two hours before the shooting provided the clearest images yet of the suspect.

The FBI said the man is about 5 feet, 8 inches (173 centimetres) tall, with a stocky build. The agency offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of the person responsible.

“We’re asking for the public’s assistance,” Providence’s police chief, Col Oscar Perez, said at a news conference, urging people who might recognise the suspect to call a tip line.

Police renewed their search after releasing a person of interest Sunday (December 14) once they determined the evidence pointed elsewhere. Meanwhile, details began to emerge about the students who were shot.

The lockdown order for the Ivy League school was lifted Sunday (December 14) after authorities said they had detained the person of interest. But hopes for a quick resolution were dashed when they announced hours later that they had released him.

The abrupt change of direction marked a setback in the investigation as questions swirl about campus security, the apparent lack of school video evidence and whether the focus on the person of interest gave the attacker more time to escape.

Colin Moussette, who has friends at Brown and is considering enrolling next fall, said while visiting the campus Monday that he felt uneasy knowing the suspect hadn’t been caught.

“How someone got away, like in the middle of the day is, to me, not only heartbreaking but very concerning,” he said. “How they got access to the building is concerning.”

New video emerges

Before Monday’s (December 15) news conference, police released a second video showing someone dressed in black walking along a city street minutes after the shooting. The video — like one released the day of the shooting — didn’t show the suspect’s face.

In a neighbourhood near the university, a line of officers scraped their feet through a snow-covered yard looking for evidence. Meanwhile, agents identifying themselves as U.S. marshals asked locals if they had security cameras.

Attorney General Peter Neronha, who said Sunday (December 14) that there weren’t many cameras where the attack happened, said Monday that investigators were “making steady progress.” Law enforcement on Monday (December 15) appeared to still be performing basic of investigative tasks, including tracing the suspect’s movements in the minutes after the attack and searching for evidence near the crime scene.

“I was really glad to see that they were doing something,” said Katherine Baima, who lives in the area. “This is the first time any of us in my building, as far as I know, had heard from anyone. We hadn’t gotten alerts and we were really surprised that there hadn’t been anyone searching, let alone knocking on doors, on the first night.”

One of the dead was active in church. The other overcame health concerns

The shooting happened in an auditorium-style classroom where students in a study group were preparing for an upcoming exam.

Ella Cook, a 19-year-old sophomore who was vice president of the Brown College Republicans and beloved in her church in Birmingham, Alabama, was one of the students killed, according to her pastor at home.

In announcing her death Sunday, the Rev R Craig Smalley described Cook as “an incredible grounded, faithful, bright light” who encouraged and “lifted up those around her.” “Ella was known for her bold, brave, and kind heart as she served her chapter and her fellow classmates,” Martin Bertao, the president of the club, said in a message posted on X.

The other student who was killed was MukhammadAziz Umurzokov, an 18-year-old freshman majoring in biochemistry and neuroscience. He was helping a friend at a review session for an economics final when he was shot, his sister said.

As a child, Umurzokov suffered a neurological condition that required surgery, and he later wore a back brace because of scoliosis, said Samira Umurzokova, noting that the family immigrated to the US from Uzbekistan when she, her brother and sister were young.

“He had so many hardships in his life, and he got into this amazing school and tried so hard to follow through with the promise he made when was 7 years old,” she told the AP by phone Monday.

Only one of the nine people wounded had been released as of Sunday, Brown President Christina Paxson said. One was in critical condition and the other seven were in critical but stable condition. Mayor Brett Smiley said Monday evening that none of their conditions had worsened, but that he didn’t have further information.

Durham Academy, a private K-12 school in Durham, North Carolina, confirmed that a recent graduate, Kendall Turner, was critically wounded and that her parents were with her. “Our school community is rallying around Kendall, her classmates, and her loved ones,” the school said in a statement.

Another wounded student, 18-year-old freshman Spencer Yang of New York City, told the New York Times and the Brown Daily Herald from a hospital bed that there was a mad scramble after the gunman entered the room where he and the other students were studying for finals. Many students ran toward the front of the room, but Yang said he wound up on the ground between some seats and was shot in the leg.

Mr. Yang, who expects to be discharged in the coming days, said he tried to keep some of the more seriously wounded students conscious until police arrived.

Questions are raised about campus security

Brown was no longer on lockdown and the city’s schools were open Monday (December 15). But some colleges and universities, including in Rhode Island and some Ivy League schools, were increasing security in light of the attack. Yale said extra security would be in place for Hanukkah celebrations.

The shooting occurred as final exams were underway at Brown, one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious schools.

Investigators were not immediately sure how the shooter got inside the first-floor classroom.

The attack set off hours of chaos on campus and in the surrounding neighbourhoods, as hundreds of officers searched for the shooter.

Li Ding, a Rhode Island School of Design student who is on a dance team at Brown, was upset that there wasn’t better security on campus.

“The fact that we’re in such a surveillance state but that wasn’t used correctly at all is just so deeply frustrating,” Li Ding said.

A person of interest detained after a Brown University shooting that killed two students and injured nine will be released after an investigation took law enforcement authorities in a “different direction”, officials have said.

The disclosure, made at a hastily convened on Sunday (December 14, 2025) late night news conference, represents a stunning turn of events in an investigation into killings that rattled the Ivy League campus and came more than 12 hours after officials had announced that they had taken a person into custody in connection with the attack.

The release means that whoever is responsible for the killing may remain at large.

“We know that this is likely to cause fresh anxiety for our community,” Mayor Brett Smiley said.

The attack Saturday afternoon set off hours of chaos across campus and surrounding Providence neighbourhoods as hundreds of officers searched for the shooter and urged students and staff to shelter in place.

The lockdown, which stretched into the night, was lifted early Sunday, but authorities had not yet released information about a potential motive.

On Sunday morning, officials took a person into custody that two people familiar with the matter identified as a 24-year-old man from Wisconsin. That individual, whose name was never released by authorities, is now being released.

“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,” said Attorney General Peter Neronha.

Col Oscar Perez, the Providence police chief, said Sunday afternoon that no one has been charged yet. Mr. Perez, who also said no one else was being sought, declined to say whether the detained person had any connection to Brown.

The person was taken into custody at a Hampton Inn hotel in Coventry, Rhode Island, about 32 km from Providence, where police officers and FBI agents remained Sunday, blocking off a hallway with crime scene tape as they searched the area.

The shooting occurred during one of the busiest moments of the academic calendar, as final exams were underway. Brown cancelled all remaining classes, exams, papers and projects for the semester and told students they could leave campus, underscoring the scale of the disruption and the gravity of the attack.

As police scoured the area for the shooter, many students remained barricaded in rooms while others hid behind furniture and bookshelves. One video showed students in a library shaking and wincing as they heard loud bangs just before police entered the room to clear the building.

University President Christina Paxson teared up while describing her conversations with students both on campus and in the hospital.

“They are amazing and they’re supporting each other,” she said at a news conference. “There’s just a lot of gratitude.” The gunman opened fire inside a classroom in the engineering building, firing more than 40 rounds from a 9 mm handgun, a law enforcement official told AP.

Two handguns were recovered when the person of interest was taken into custody and authorities also found two loaded 30-round magazines, the official said.

One of the firearms was equipped with a laser sight that projects a dot to aid in targeting, said the official, who was not authorised to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke to AP on the condition of anonymity.

One student of the nine wounded students had been released from the hospital, said Paxson. Seven others were in critical but stable condition, and one was in critical condition.

Durham Academy, a private K-12 school in Durham, North Carolina, confirmed that a recent graduate, Kendall Turner, was critically wounded. The school said her parents were with her.

“Our school community is rallying around Kendall, her classmates, and her loved ones, and we will continue to offer our full support in the days ahead,” the school said.

On Sunday evening, city leaders, residents and others gathered at a park to honour the victims. The event originally was scheduled as a Christmas tree and Hanukkah menorah lighting.

“For those who know at least bit of the Hanukkah story, it is quite clear that if we can come together as a community to shine a little bit of light tonight, there’s nothing better that we can be doing,” Mayor Brett Smiley said at a news conference earlier in the day.

Smiley said he visited some wounded students and was inspired by their courage, hope and gratitude. One told him that active shooting drills done in high school proved helpful.

“The resilience that these survivors showed and shared with me, is frankly pretty overwhelming,” he said.

Investigators were not immediately sure how the shooter got inside the first-floor classroom at the Barus & Holley building, a seven-story complex that houses the School of Engineering and physics department. The building includes more than 100 laboratories, dozens of classrooms and offices, according to the university’s website.

Engineering design exams were underway. Outer doors of the building were unlocked but rooms being used for final exams required badge access, Smiley said.

Emma Ferraro, a chemical engineering student, was in the lobby working on a final project when she heard loud pops. Once she realized they were gunshots, she darted for the door and into a nearby building where she waited for hours.

Surveillance video released by police showed a suspect, dressed in black, walking from the scene.

Eva Erickson, a doctoral candidate who was the runner-up earlier this year on the CBS reality competition show “Survivor,” said she left her lab in the engineering building 15 minutes before shots rang out.

The engineering and thermal science student shared candid moments on “Survivor” as the show’s first openly autistic contestant. She was locked down in the campus gym following the shooting and shared on social media that the only other member of her lab who was present was safely evacuated.

Brown senior biochemistry student Alex Bruce was working on a final research project in his dorm across the street from the building when he heard sirens outside.

“I’m just in here shaking,” he said, watching through the window as officers surrounded his dorm.

Brown, the seventh-oldest higher education institution in the U.S., is one of the nation’s most prestigious colleges, with roughly 7,300 undergraduates and more than 3,000 graduate students.