What we're covering
• Investigators believe they have identified a suspect in the Brown University shooting, according to two law enforcement officials familiar with the case. The manhunt for the shooter is on its sixth day.
• An early focus on a different person of interest, now cleared in the probe, may have delayed the investigation by up to a day. And limited school security camera footage around the building at the edge of campus where the attack unfolded has spurred questions, including from the White House.
• The shooting left two students dead and nine injured at the Ivy League school, where classes and exams have been canceled. At least 75 school shootings have unfolded this year in the United States.
Investigators believe they have identified a suspect in the Brown University shooting
Investigators believe they have identified a suspect in the Brown University shooting, according to two law enforcement officials familiar with the case.
Authorities have a signed warrant for the individual’s arrest and are currently seeking him.
Providence shops say business is slow during manhunt for Brown University shooter
Providence, Rhode Island, businesses frequented by Brown University students say they’ve seen a drop in sales since Saturday’s shooting on campus, as authorities search for the shooter for a sixth day.
Amir Tatari told CNN he closed his falafel shop Al-Shami on Sunday and in the days since, sales are “not even 25% of the business we serve, not even 25%.” He believes his business will continue to suffer if police don’t find the gunman.
Asked if he fears for his own safety, Tatari replied, “No, I can protect myself.”
Storekeeper Karma Tashi told CNN he’s had very few people stop into City Smoke Shop on Thayer Street, and the hookah lounge where some students come to hang out has been empty.
With the gunman on the loose, Tashi said, “I’m worried and I’m so nervous right now, too. So all I can think is like, how to defend myself and like, hopefully like he’s not around here.”
Michael Boutros, whose family owns several restaurants on Thayer Street, told CNN the restaurants have seen a 60% drop in sales since Saturday’s shooting, regardless of students leaving for winter break.
Despite an expansive system, Brown University faces scrutiny over its surveillance network
Brown University says it has an “expansive network” of security cameras on campus, with more than 1,200 installed in buildings with both interior and exterior locations.
Despite that, a shortage of visuals from the school to aid the search for a gunman who killed two students and wounded nine others last Saturday has led to sharp questions about surveillance at Brown.
Law enforcement has released a series of videos from nearby homes and vehicles showing what the FBI has called an “unknown suspect,” but none of those appeared to come from Brown’s own surveillance cameras or from the building where the shooting took place.
Rhode Island’s attorney general explained Tuesday that at least part of the problem is due to the shooting taking place at the very edge of the school, in an older part of a building that has “fewer, if any” cameras.
CNN took a deeper look: Read more here on why the school’s surveillance couldn’t capture more.
News conference on the Brown University shooting probe delayed
The news conference on the Brown University shooting investigation originally scheduled at 4 p.m. ET today has been delayed, a spokesperson for the Providence mayor told CNN.
The spokesperson did not provide a time when the news conference will be rescheduled, but said officials will do so “soon,” as authorities enter their sixth day in the manhunt for the suspect in Saturday’s deadly mass shooting.
Rain arriving in Providence on Friday may further hamper investigation
Rainfall will arrive in Providence, Rhode Island, on Friday morning, possibly further hampering investigative efforts surrounding the Brown shooting probe.
Rainfall in the city could start as soon as around sunrise, but may hold off to mid-morning. It’s likely to persist through the afternoon and could be heavy at times, but there could be some breaks.
Because of snowfall in the city earlier this week, “most evidence is now gone,” CNN analyst and former Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Juliette Kayyem said.
“If he (the shooter) dropped something, if there were fingerprints or whatever — most of it would be gone,” Kayyem told CNN’s John Berman.
Strong winds around 20 mph to 30 mph are also expected in Providence tomorrow, with gusts up to 45 mph to 55 mph. A wind advisory has been issued by the National Weather Service.
Police are investigating potential ties between the Brown University shooting and killing of an MIT professor
Police are looking into potential ties between Saturday’s shooting at Brown University and Monday’s fatal shooting of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, according to a law enforcement official close to the case.
Authorities are investigating the possibility based on information that has emerged in the last 24 hours, the official said, stressing it was not definitive.
The nature of that information was not immediately clear.
The new information could widen the scope of the investigation from an isolated incident to a person who potentially has multiple agendas, with the two separate acts of violence.
If the same person is connected, they would have had to travel from Providence to Boston, approximately 50 miles, to do separate reconnaissance and carry out a separate crime.
Keep in mind: Other investigations have shown that there can be a connection that appears to join two cases that, when played out, may turn out not to be the case.
At a news conference on Tuesday, officials said there was no apparent connection between the crimes.
This post was updated with additional information.
Sometimes tracking down a suspect can take just hours; other times it can take months
The manhunt for the Brown University mass shooter has entered its sixth day. Several noteworthy pursuits of suspects and fugitives this past years have played out in different ways, with some arrested quickly and others eluding authorities for months.
Authorities still are searching for one of three inmates who officials said escaped from jail in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, on December 3. The other two were tracked down by police within a day or two, authorities said.
Just as people in Providence are this week, the residents of a Montana town were on edge in August knowing that a killer was on the run. Michael Paul Brown fatally shot four people at a bar near his home in Anaconda, Montana, authorities said. A week later, Brown was arrested some 5 miles from the bar.
Vance Boelter, accused of shooting two state lawmakers and their spouses – killing one of the couples – outside Minneapolis in June, was found in woods near his residence after a 43-hour manhunt, authorities said. The arrest came after a trail camera captured an image of a man fitting Boelter’s description, The Minnesota Star Tribune reported.
Travis Decker, accused of killing this three daughters whose bodies were discovered at a Washington campsite in June, wasn’t found until after he died. His remains were found in a wooded area south of Leavenworth, Washington, in September.
Grant Hardin, a former Arkansas police chief known as “Devil in the Ozarks,” escaped from prison in May. Hardin, who had been serving sentences for murder and rape, was on the run for more than 10 days before being recaptured 1.5 miles west of the prison, authorities said.
In May, 10 inmates broke out of a New Orleans jail. While three were captured in parts of the city that day, the last of the fugitives wasn’t caught until October.
Luigi Mangione, suspected of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York in December 2024, was captured after a five-day manhunt. He was arrested at a McDonald’s restaurant in Pennsylvania after an employee tipped police about someone resembling publicized photos of a suspect.
News conference on the Brown University shooting probe expected at 4 p.m. ET
Officials are expected to hold a news conference on the Brown University shooting investigation at 4 p.m. ET today, according to the office of Providence Mayor Brett Smiley.
The news conference comes as authorities continue the manhunt for the perpetrator of Saturday’s deadly mass shooting.
Law enforcement officials continue sifting through hundreds of tips and taking DNA swabs as police have also asked the public for help identifying someone seen in a photo crossing paths with the person of interest in the case.
Blood donation center sees "deeply moving" response from students following shooting at Brown
The Providence community, most notably students, poured into local blood donation centers on Saturday in an “immediate and deeply moving” response in the hours following the deadly shooting at Brown University, according to the Rhode Island Blood Center.
“Students walked through snow, rerouted themselves to other donor centers, and even chose triple platelet donations when they learned how their blood types would help patients the most,” a spokesperson for the center told CNN.
On Sunday, the center collected 330 units of blood, more than three times its typical Sunday volume, and since then, more than 2,000 appointments, double its usual volume, were made, the spokesperson said.
“That immediate surge helped stabilize the blood supply at a critical moment and ensured hospitals had what they needed,” the spokesperson noted.
Many people also donated for the first time, with the Rhode Island Blood Center welcoming nearly 400 first-time donors in the three days immediately following the attack, according to the center.
Authorities release map showing streets where person of interest was on the day of the shooting
Providence police on Wednesday released a map showing the streets where the person of interest in the fatal Brown University shooting was on the day of the incident.
The map, released on X, show streets marked in one particular color to indicate where footage confirms the person walked hours before the shooting, police said.
Streets marked in a different color show locations where footage confirms the person was present immediately after the shooting.
A larger, highlighted area shows where investigators still are searching for footage from the day of the shooting, police said.
With no arrest in Brown shooting, police turn to community for crucial evidence
As the search for the Brown University gunman stretches into another day without an arrest, investigators say community cooperation is key to solving the case.
“It is a very intense investigation, and I think it’s going to take public assistance,” Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez said at a news conference yesterday.
“It’s going to take 21st century policing involving technology, but it’s also going to take good old-fashioned police work, which is knocking on doors, going through yards,” Perez said.
That appeal to the public now includes reviewing security cameras footage from before the shooting, as detectives believe the suspect may have been in the area earlier than initially thought.
Suspects often scout locations in advance, Perez said, emphazising the importance of reviewing video footage. “They do case the areas. They do a lot of prior checking for their crime,” he said. “We truly believe that possibly he was there prior as well. And so we want to make sure that we don’t miss anything.”
Police have previously asked for the public’s help in identifying the person of interest seen in newly released videos. They have also urged residents, including those with camera‑equipped vehicles like Teslas, to share any additional footage dating back “at least a week.”
What we know about the ongoing search for the Brown University shooter
Authorities are still looking for the person responsible for fatally shooting two people and injuring nine others at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, over the weekend.
They are asking for the public’s help to identify a person of interest as well as a person who may have crossed paths with that person. Police also released a map showing where the person of interest was seen on the day of the shooting.
Here’s what we know about the ongoing investigation:
- Investigators not discouraged: The search for the shooter entered its fifth day, but authorities are not discouraged, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said. Law enforcement officials won’t stop searching until they capture the shooting suspect, Providence Police Chief Oscar L. Perez Jr. said.
- Affiliation of person of interest unknown: It is still unknown if the person of interest in the case is affiliated with the university, Perez said.
- Eyewitness accounts of shooter match description of person of interest police are seeking: Eyewitness accounts of the gunman involved in shooting at Brown University match the description of the person of interest police are seeking in connection with the incident, Perez said.
- Students were studying when shooting happened: A study session was happening in the classroom where the shooting happened, Brown University Provost Francis Doyle said. This means students weren’t required to sign in, so it is taking longer than usual for officials to piece together what students were attending, he said.
