What we know so far
• A manhunt continues into a third day in the deadly mass shooting at Brown University after a person of interest detained in connection with the attack was released, Providence, Rhode Island, Mayor Brett Smiley said. Evidence “now points in a different direction,” state Attorney General Peter Neronha said, without offering details.
• The shooting left two students dead and nine others injured at the Ivy League school, where classes and exams have been canceled. At a Sunday vigil in a nearby park, the mayor urged residents to come together and “shine a little bit of light.”
• The carnage followed at least 75 school shootings in the United States this year. So far in 2025, there have been at least 391 mass shootings and 13,929 shooting deaths nationwide, Gun Violence Archive reports.
Our live coverage of the manhunt for the suspect in the Brown University shooting has moved. You can continue reading here.
Investigators convinced they’re looking for lone shooter in Brown attack
Local, state and federal authorities are confident they are looking for a sole gunman as the manhunt continues for the person responsible for the deadly shooting at Brown University as a person of interest previously in custody was released overnight.
“We do have a small, short clip of video footage that we do believe is the person that we’re looking for,” Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said this morning on ABC. “And right now we don’t have any evidence to suggest that it was more than that individual which has been seen in that video.”
The mayor reiterated that Brown students are safe and no credible threats have been received against the campus community or greater Providence.
“We have an enhanced police presence to try to give that comfort, that sense of security. And the search and the investigation is ongoing,” Smiley said.
As investigators continued to gather evidence, it was ultimately concluded that a person of interest taken into custody Sunday morning needed to be released, the mayor said.
“Until such time as we have an individual in custody who we’re confident is responsible, that we’re prepared to press charges and then prosecute. We’re going to continue to leave all doors open until such time as that we’re in a place where we feel confident that we’ve got the right person,” the mayor said.
Brown delays release of admission decisions
The weekend mass shooting at Brown University came “on the eve of a very important day for our many talented applicants,” the university said Sunday in announcing a delay of up to 48 hours in letting would-be students know if they’ve gotten into the Ivy League school.
“We are going to delay notifications for up to 48 hours and appreciate your patience and understanding as we grieve, heal, and begin to move forward together,” the university said.
Investigators need to start from square one, law enforcement analyst says
As the manhunt for a suspect in the Brown University shooting continues, following the release of a person of interest, authorities must now go back over all of the evidence.
“No investigation is perfect and you’re going to go through ups and downs,” CNN Law Enforcement Analyst and former FBI Special agent Steve Moore told Rosemary Church.
Moore said part of the solution now is to restart the investigation, because whatever led authorities to the person “was obviously an error.”
“So you pretty much have to throw out, not the evidence, but the conclusions from the evidence,” he said. “And you start, basically, as if you’re seeing the evidence for the first time and say ‘Where should this lead us?’”
Moore said it’s encouraging, however, that the shooter has not launched another attack –– and this should assure the community that there is no immediate threat.
“It would indicate to me that they didn’t have further plans for violence. So to me, it mitigates towards people having a reason to feel safer,” he said.
Brown says there is no immediate threat to university community after person of interest released
Brown University, in a Sunday night statement, said “there is no basis” to consider the released Wisconsin man a person of interest and that law enforcement agencies are continuing to investigate.
“Local police have advised they do not believe there is any immediate threat to Brown or the local community,” the statement read, noting there is still a “heightened amount” of local, state and federal police activity in the area.
“We know that this update may prompt numerous questions,” officials said, emphasizing that the investigation remains active and that the university is deferring to the Providence Police Department to release information.
“We continue to make every effort to ensure the safety and security of the campus. We are also advising every member of the Brown community to be vigilant in their own activities on campus,” the statement read.
Officials did not have enough evidence to prosecute, police chief says
Officials had evidence, but not enough to prosecute anybody, Police Chief Oscar L. Perez, Jr. said Sunday night.
A tip had come in, Perez said, and the FBI “followed through with it, and they ended up coming and locating this individual of interest.”
That evidence was examined, and ultimately the person was released, he said.
The reversal is a normal part of the investigative process, said Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha.
“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,” he said.
“It’s fair to say that there is no basis to consider him a person of interest,” said Neronha of the man who was detained. “So that’s why he’s being released.”
Students are beginning to learn about their losses, campus journalist says
After Saturday’s deadly shooting, “people are starting to find out their friends, people they cared about, or whom they know are dead,” Ethan Schenker, a student journalist at Brown University, told CNN’s Erica Hill.
As since then he’s been reporting from campus and interviewing other students, he said the reality of the losses is becoming “a lot more apparent” as more information emerges.
Schenker described being in the library during the lockdown, surrounded by hundreds of students preparing for final exams before they were relocated.
He said the experience brought back memories of the active shooter drills he participated in throughout middle and high school, noting shootings have become “staggeringly frequent.”
For many international students at Brown, “That’s not necessarily something they have grown up with,” Schenker said, adding the experience is “uniquely American” and unfamiliar to many on campus.
Correction: A prior version of this post incorrectly described Schenker’s professional affiliation. He is a freelancer.
Rhode Island governor says "a lot of steps left" in investigation
Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee said there are still a “lot of steps left to take” in the investigation after news that a person of interest who had been detained earlier was now being released.
“After 30 years in law enforcement, there were a lot of twists and a lot of roads that I’ve walked down, and so I’m not here to predict anything,” McKee said.
He praised officers in the command post leading the investigation.
“I can’t tell you what direction it’s going to take right now,” McKee said.
“We’re going to solve it,” he added.
Shelter-in-place not recommended at this time, Providence mayor says
Another shelter-in-place is not recommended, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said Sunday night.
“We do not feel it is necessary to, as I mentioned at the outset, in order to provide an enhanced sense of safety,” Smiley said.
The shelter-in-place order had been lifted earlier Sunday because there had not been another “additional specific threat to the Brown community.”
Officials searching for additional video evidence, Providence mayor says
Mayor Brett Smiley said they had no way of knowing if the gunman had left the state.
“We are searching for additional video evidence,” Smiley said.
If you have video, he said, please reach out to law enforcement.
Officials ask public for any information that might help investigation after person of interest released
Officials in Rhode Island are encouraging the public to share relevant tips, photos and videos on the FBI website for the incident, at FBI.gov/BrownUniversityShooting or call the Providence police non-emergency number at (401) 272-3121.
Evidence "points in a different direction," Rhode Island AG says
Police are releasing the man that had been detained earlier today because evidence “now points in a different direction,” Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said.
There had been evidence pointing to this individual, Neronha said, but that evidence needed to be corroborated.
Over the last 24 hours, the attorney general said, the evidence is now leading them elsewhere.
Neronha added it was “unfortunate that this person’s name was leaked to the public” and “we will proceed very carefully.”
Police to release man detained in connection with shooting
Police will release a man detained in connection with yesterday’s deadly shooting, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said late Sunday night.
Next news conference coming at 10:45 p.m. ET
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley will join police and fire officials at 10:45 p.m. ET tonight for an update on Saturday’s shooting at Brown University.
Catch up here: Police continue investigation after campus shooting
Editor’s note: This post was updated to reflect that authorities announced that the person of interest detained Sunday was being released.
Brown University community members are mourning two students killed during a tragic Saturday afternoon shooting on campus that left nine others hospitalized.
Here’s everything you need to know from today’s updates:
Person of interest: Police released an Army veteran from Wisconsin who was detained as a person of interest. The state attorney general said at a news conference late Sunday that the evidence “now points in a different direction.” Benjamin Erickson, 24, was identified by sources as the person of interest detained in connection with the shooting, multiple law enforcement sources told CNN.
The investigation: Police detained Erickson at a Hampton Inn hotel in Coventry, Rhode Island and spent the day collecting evidence, seizing items and searching locations with help from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Ultimately Erickson was being released by police after authorities said Sunday night they initially had a “quantum of evidence” justifying the detention but that evidence was not corroborated.
Honoring victims: Officials in Providence held a community gathering this evening at a local park to honor the victims of Saturday’s tragedy. Providence Mayor Brett Smiley met with the victims who remain hospitalized Sunday, saying he intends to advocate for change after the shooting. Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee has directed state buildings and facilities to lower flags to half-staff to honor the victims.
A campus reeling: Final exams and classes have been canceled as the Ivy League school works to heal from the shooting. The university has organized resources, including food, mental health, academic assistance and more for students in need of support.
FBI investigation targeted Wisconsin city
Editor’s note: This post was updated to reflect that authorities announced that the person of interest detained Sunday was being released.
Decorated soldier and Wisconsin native, 24-year-old Benjamin Erickson, has been released by police after authorities said Sunday night the evidence “now points in a different direction.” He had earlier been detained over the university shooting, according to sources.
Memorial grows at shooting scene
Students have been leaving flowers and candles in a makeshift memorial outside Brown University’s Barus and Holley building, where Saturday’s shooting took place.
The wrapped bouquets – many in Brown colors of red and white – have been placed in front of a student-designed sculpture named “Infinite Possibility.”
According to the university, the continuous twisted stainless steel loop is a sundial that marks noon in the building’s courtyard.
The Barus and Holley building houses classrooms and lab space for the school’s engineering and physics departments.
Former Brown professor says she "can barely comprehend" she stayed in same hotel as person of interest
Hilary Levey Friedman, a Special Assistant Attorney General in the Rhode Island Attorney General’s office who formerly taught in the education department at Brown University and whose husband teaches at the Ivy League school, was out of town with one of her sons when she received the shocking news there was an active shooter on campus.
“We’ve never had a mass shooting like this in Rhode Island before,” she said. “I’ve always, unfortunately felt it was a matter of ‘if not when,’ just because of the state of the world and lack of common sense gun control, even though we do have good legislation here.”
Friedman drove back to Providence to meet her husband and their other son Saturday night. But because of the shelter-in-place order, they were unable to return to their home just a few blocks from Brown’s campus. Instead, they booked a hotel around a 20-minute drive from the school, intentionally choosing a location “away from everything.”
She woke up to text messages saying a person of interest had been detained in the same hotel where they were staying. The lobby was full of FBI agents and the parking lot filled with journalists, she said.
“Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought the person of interest was in that hotel,” she said. “I can barely comprehend it.”
With a suspect in custody, Friedman and her family have since returned to their home near campus. But she says the deadly shooting has “disrupted” the surrounding communities. She once taught in the building where the gunman opened fire, she said.
“It’s a traumatic event, and it is like a community trauma,” she said. “I think it will take a while to recover, and there will always be a scar – there’s just no question.”
What law enforcement sources have disclosed so far about the investigation
Editor’s note: This post was updated to reflect that authorities announced that the person of interest detained Sunday was being released.
Law enforcement officials released a Wisconsin veteran who earlier had been detained as a person of interest in connection with the Brown University shooting. At a Sunday night press conference, the state attorney general said the evidence “now points in a different direction.” Law enforcement sources had earlier identified the person of interest detained in connection with the Brown University shooting as 24-year-old Benjamin Erickson of Wisconsin, multiple sources told CNN.
CNN observed the FBI at a Wisconsin home owned by Erickson’s family earlier today. Authorities have not publicly identified the person in custody.
A CNN crew was at the Hampton Inn in Coventry, Rhode Island, early this morning where the man was detained.
Here’s what we know about him so far, per sources:
Authorities traced Erickson to the hotel in Coventry. According to the sources, law enforcement banged on the door, ordering him to open up. Once inside, they asked where Erickson had been that day and evening. He responded he was there in the hotel the whole time.
Police recovered two firearms from the room, the sources said. Authorities said Sunday night they did not have evidence to justify continued detaining of Erickson.
The FBI’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team used cellphone data to geolocate a person of interest, FBI Director Kash Patel said.
CNN’s Evan Perez contributed to this post.
Person detained in connection with Brown University shooting
Editor’s note: This post was updated to reflect that authorities announced that the person of interest detained Sunday was being released.
Law enforcement officials released a Wisconsin veteran who earlier had been detained as a person of interest in connection with the Brown University shooting. The evidence “now points in a different direction,” the state’s attorney general said Sunday night.
The individual had earlier been identified as 24-year-old Benjamin Erickson of Wisconsin, multiple law enforcement sources tell CNN.
On Sunday afternoon, CNN observed the FBI at a Wisconsin home owned by Erickson’s family.
Authorities had not publicly identified the person in custody.
CNN’s Bill Kirkos contributed to this report.
