In a Tuesday evening press conference, law enforcement and local officials were joined by President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 as they shared additional details in connection with Saturday’s mass shooting. The conference focused on new footage of the suspect released by law enforcement earlier this afternoon.
Before the shooting, the suspect was near Brown’s campus from at least 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, according to Providence Chief of Police Oscar Perez. He added that criminals sometimes scope out areas they plan to strike weeks prior.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha P’19 P’22 noted that law enforcement is currently unaware of any information that points to the gunman’s motive being related to “ethnicity or political outlook or culture.”
He also said that law enforcement doesn’t “have any concerns” about the person of interest being a Brown student.
Law enforcement is searching through “terabytes” of data from the area, Perez said. He asked that community members with camera systems — including cameras attached to residents’ houses and cars — look back “at least a week” in their footage. Law enforcement is also looking into “close to 200 actionable tips” that they have received since the incident, Perez added.
Over 60 law enforcement officers were patrolling Brown’s campus earlier today, according to Paxson. “Right now, campus feels very secure,” she said.
Paxson also said that she was “deeply saddened” to see people question Brown’s commitment to the safety of its community members. “Anxiety and fear is very natural, but the shooter is responsible,” she added.
During the press conference, Paxson addressed what she described as “misinformation” about the alert systems Brown employed during the shooting. Over 20,000 community members were alerted about the shooting through call, text and email “within minutes of the incident,” she noted.
Paxson explained that the siren system, which was not activated during the incident, is used in “broad-scale” emergencies where community members should “rush into buildings.”
“In the case of an active shooter, activating that system could have caused people to rush into Barus and Holley,” she said.
Officials will continue to release video footage from the neighborhood as it becomes available, according to Neronha. He noted that there is no footage that has not been released to the public that “would be useful in identifying him.”
There is limited video footage capturing the suspected shooter because the shooting took place “on the edge of campus,” he explained. Footage recorded inside the building may be released at a later date, he said, but it does not show the suspect.
“There seems to be no connection” between Saturday’s incident and Monday’s fatal shooting of Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno Loureiro according to Ted Docks, the special agent in charge for the Boston Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Docks added that Massachusetts State Police Colonel Jeffrey Noble told him if any information connecting the two incidents emerged, it would be shared with R.I. authorities.
Mayor Brett Smiley noted that since the previous press conference at 5 p.m. yesterday, one of the injured victims of Saturday’s shooting has been discharged from the hospital. “One is in critical status, five (are) in critical but stable status, although health care providers report that they are improving, and one (is) in stable status,” he added.
Gov. Dan McKee shared that, following a meeting with “all the University presidents” in Rhode Island, officials plan to start a working group to address safety issues, with similar plans for mental health concerns.
Smiley said that schools in the Providence Public School District would remain open with an enhanced police presence through Friday, which is “the last day of school before winter break.”
“I want to thank all of my fellow residents of Providence for putting on a strong face for the sake of others,” he said. “We’re taking very tentative steps forward, but we’re doing it for one another.”
Annika Singh is The Herald’s tech chief and a metro editor from Singapore. She covers crime, justice and local politics, but mainly she stands in line for coffee and looks up answers every time she attempts a crossword.
Ian Ritter is a senior staff writer for university news. A junior studying chemistry, he covers the graduate schools & students and admissions & financial aid beats. When he isn’t at The Herald or exploding lab experiments, you can find him playing the clarinet, watching the Mets or eating Ratty carrot cake.
