A masked gunman remains at large after a mass shooting at Brown University killed 2 students and wounded 9 others during exams.
PROVIDENCE: A gunman remains at large after a weekend mass shooting at elite Brown University left two students dead and nine wounded.
US authorities released new footage on Monday of a masked “person of interest” captured on surveillance cameras near the Ivy League campus.
The shooting occurred on Saturday in a building where exams were underway in Providence, Rhode Island.
A man with a rifle burst into the building and opened fire before fleeing the scene.
Authorities initially detained a man in connection with the shooting but later released him, stating he was unconnected.
Police revealed newly acquired security camera footage of another person wanted in the case.
The individual was seen wearing a dark beanie hat, a mask, and a heavy black coat.
The two students killed were Ella Cook, vice president of Brown’s Republican association, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, originally from Uzbekistan.
Umurzokov had hoped to become a neurosurgeon.
“We want to see the individual that pulled the trigger on these young kids identified, apprehended and brought to justice,” Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee said on Monday.
Local police said officers had “an enhanced presence in Providence neighborhoods” and were going door to door requesting surveillance footage.
“This is a very active investigation, very complex investigation,” Providence chief of police Oscar Perez said.
The FBI and agents from the US Department of Homeland Security are involved in tracking down the shooter.
News that a person was being held indicated a brief breakthrough, with FBI Director Kash Patel announcing local police had given federal investigators a lead.
Authorities later walked this back, saying late Sunday there was not enough evidence to connect the person to the shooting.
A lockdown and shelter-in-place order went into effect immediately after the shooting, as heavily armed officers flooded the area.
Of the nine wounded, one was in critical condition, seven were in stable condition and one had been discharged.
“The gun was so big and long that I genuinely thought…Okay, this is the end of the road for me,” Brown University teaching assistant Joseph Oduro told ABC News.
Police initially released 10 seconds of footage of the suspect, seen from behind walking briskly down a deserted street.
“This is starting to get very real and very personal,” a spokesperson said as the manhunt dragged on.
The attack is the latest mass shooting in the United States, where attempts to restrict access to firearms face political deadlock.
There have been more than 300 mass shootings in the United States so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
During a Christmas event Sunday at the White House, President Donald Trump spoke briefly about the shooting.
Brown University, which has around 11,000 students, issued an emergency alert on Saturday reporting “an active shooter”.
Law enforcement and first responders swarmed the scene, with local news reporting “clothing and blood on the sidewalk.” – AFP
