PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Authorities are asking the public for any footage of the gunman who shot and killed two students and wounded nine others at Brown University, even as they released a new video timeline and a slightly clearer image of a possible suspect.
Investigators gave no indication Tuesday that they were close to zeroing in on her identity. In all the videos released, the suspect’s face was masked or turned away, and authorities could only give a vague description of him as stocky and about 5 feet, 8 inches (173 centimeters) tall.
Officers are canvassing around Providence looking for clues that could help them figure out who was behind Saturday’s campus shooting.
Surveillance video posted online by the FBI before it was removed showed a man dressed in black walking along several sidewalks for an hour starting just after 2 a.m. Saturday. Streets was within a few blocks of Brown University’s engineering building where the shooting occurred.
Some clips show people walking past certain properties multiple times. In one, the person suddenly turns and runs in the other direction when someone approaches.
Two clips taken minutes after the shooting show the man walking away from the parking lot and down the street.
Authorities are asking the public for help
Police have received about 200 tips, and Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez asked the public Tuesday to look at their camera systems in the area to see if they have footage that could help authorities identify the suspected gunman.
“We’re looking for a moment that’s shorter than someone takes a breath,” Perez said.
The lack of cameras and clear video of the gunman has frustrated both authorities and the community. While Brown President Christina Paxson confirmed Tuesday that there are 1,200 cameras on campus, law enforcement said there was no clear video of the shooting from inside the engineering building.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha defended the investigation as going “really well” as he pleaded for the public’s patience in finding the suspected killer.
Big questions remain, especially about the shooter’s motives. When pressed about connections to ethnicity, political motives or culture, Neronha said, “It’s a dangerous road to go down.”
Seeking comfort
Brown alumnus Chris Kramer joined about 200 people in a church service on campus for the victims on Tuesday. He lives a block from the scene and often visits the building where the shooting took place. Many in the community are wondering how easily they could have been shot, he said.
He said it was better to attend a service than to be sad, depressed and alone scrolling through the phone.
“It’s always good to be on a big high when you’re thinking big, heavy thoughts,” Kramer said. “I guess millennials find it a salve, so I hope that does something for me tonight.”
Campus Safety
The attack and the shooter’s escape have raised questions about campus security, including the lack of cameras, and led to calls for better locks on campus doors.
Paxon said the university has two security systems. A system, activated during the emergency, sent text messages, phone calls and emails that reached 20,000 people. Another system shows three sirens on campus and was not activated Saturday, a decision Paxson said would have caused people to rush into the buildings where the shooting was taking place.
“So that’s not the system we would use in the case of an active shooter,” she said.
Brown’s website says sirens can be used when there is an active shooter, but Paxson said it depends “on the situation” and the location of the shooter.
A town on the shore
Providence remained tense Tuesday as extra police were dispatched to city schools to reassure worried parents that their children would be safe. Ten state troopers were deployed to assist police who were sent to beef up security at the schools, said District Superintendent Javier Montez.
Providence Public Schools canceled after-school activities and field trips for the week as a precaution.
Locals have expressed fear and contempt as the investigation continues on Tuesday.
“Of course it feels scary. But at the same time, I think if the person really wants to scare us, we shouldn’t let him win,” said Tatjana Stojanovic, a Providence parent who lives next to the Brown campus.
Others say that the focus on security measures does little to address the real issue.
“It’s not the door that’s the issue, it’s the gun,” said Joe Kass, a senior who fled the engineering building that police raided Saturday.
After spending his life in schools where every door was locked and school shootings continued, Kass said such security measures only created an “illusion of security.”
A complete picture of the victims emerges
Details about the victims who were studying for their finals in the first floor classroom of the school’s engineering building have come out.
The two injured students were released as of Tuesday, Brown spokeswoman Amanda McGregor said. Of the seven people hospitalized, Mayor Brett Smiley said one was in serious condition, five were in serious but stable condition and one was in stable condition.
One of the wounded students, 18-year-old New York City freshman Spencer Yang, told The New York Times and the Brown Daily Herald that there was a frenzied fight after the gunman entered the room. Yang said he fell to the ground between some seats and was shot in the leg.
Newborn Jacob Spears, 18, of Evans, Georgia, was shot in the stomach, “but through sheer adrenaline and courage he managed to run outside, where he was helped by others,” according to a GoFundMe site organized for him.
One of the two students killed, 19-year-old Ella Cook, was the vice president of the Brown College Republicans and beloved at her church in Birmingham, Alabama.
Another student killed was Muhammedaziz Umarzhokov, an 18-year-old freshman from Brandermill, Virginia, who was majoring in biochemistry and neuroscience. His family immigrated to America from Uzbekistan when he was a child.
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Associated Press reporters Jennifer McDermott, Matt O’Brien and Robert F. Bucati in Providence were contributing; Brian Slodisko in Washington; Michael Casey in Boston; Patrick Whittle in Portland, Maine; John Seaver in Toledo, Ohio; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas; and Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu.
