Investigators release video timeline of the Brown campus shooting suspect’s movements

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Authorities on Tuesday released a new video timeline and a slightly clearer image of the man suspected in the Brown University shooting, though investigators provided no indication that they were any closer to zeroing in on his identity.

Investigators have been canvassing Providence homes, yards and dumpsters in search of videos or other clues that might help them figure out who was behind Saturday’s campus shooting, which killed two students and wounded nine others.

In all of the videos made public, the suspect’s face was masked or turned away, and authorities have only been able to give a vague description of him as being stocky and about 5 feet 8 inches tall.

In addition to releasing the slightly clearer image of the suspect, the FBI put out a video timeline that includes new footage of the man that was shot before the attack. It shows him running at times along quiet and empty residential streets near campus.

With the killer still at large, Providence is understandably tense, and additional police were sent to city schools on Tuesday to reassure worried parents that their children will be safe. Ten state troopers were assigned to support the local police sent to beef up security at schools, district Supt. Javier Montañez said.

“We recognize that the tragic incident at Brown University, occurring so close to where many of our students and families live and learn, is deeply unsettling and frightening,” he wrote in an email to parents.

A city on edge

With the investigation in its third day Monday, officers were still knocking on doors and poring through dumpsters and backyards near the Ivy League campus in search of additional video evidence or other clues.

But some locals expressed defiance.

“Of course it feels scary. But at the same time, I think that if the person really wanted to scare us, we shouldn’t allow him or her to win,” said Tatjana Stojanovic, a Providence parent who lives next door to the Brown campus. “Despite all of that, we should just go about our lives. I mean, obviously, you cannot forget this. But I think we shouldn’t cower and just sort of stop living despite what has happened.

The attack and the shooter’s escape have raised questions about campus security, including a lack of security cameras, and led to calls for better locks on campus doors.

Others pushed back, though, saying such efforts do little to address the real issue.

“The issue isn’t the doors, it’s the guns,” said Zoe Kass, a senior who fled the engineering building as police stormed in Saturday. “And all of this, like, ‘Oh, the doors need to be locked.’ I get it, parents are scared. But any of us could have opened the door for the guy if the doors had been locked.”

After spending her life in schools where every door was locked and school shootings continued to persist, Kass said such security measures only created “the illusion of safety.”

A fuller picture of the victims emerges

Meanwhile, details have emerged about the victims, who were in the first-floor classroom in the school’s engineering building studying for a final.

Two of the wounded students had been released as of Tuesday, Brown spokeswoman Amanda McGregor said, noting that most of the rest were in stable condition. On Monday, Providence’s mayor said one student was still in critical condition.

One of the wounded students, 18-year-old freshman Spencer Yang of New York City, told the New York Times and the Brown Daily Herald that there was a mad scramble after the gunman entered the room. Many students ran toward the front, but Yang said he wound up on the floor between some seats and was shot in the leg.

Jacob Spears, 18, a freshman from Evans, Ga., was shot in the stomach, “but through sheer adrenaline and courage, he managed to run outside, where he was aided by others,” according to a GoFundMe site organized for him.

Ella Cook, a 19-year-old sophomore who was one of the two students killed, was vice president of the Brown College Republicans and was beloved in her church in Birmingham, Ala. In announcing her death Sunday, the Rev. R. Craig Smalley described her as “an incredible grounded, faithful, bright light” who encouraged and “lifted up those around her.”

The other student killed was, Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, an 18-year-old freshman from Brandermill, Va., who was majoring in biochemistry and neuroscience. His family immigrated to the U.S. from Uzbekistan when he was a child.

Umurzokov suffered from a neurological condition that required surgery when he was younger, and he later wore a back brace because of scoliosis, his sister Samira Umurzokova told the Associated Press by phone. He knew from an early age that he wanted to be a neurosurgeon to help others like him.

“He had so many hardships in his life, and he got into this amazing school and tried so hard to follow through with the promise he made when was 7 years old,” she said.

Kruesi and Willingham write for the Associated Press. AP journalists Jennifer McDermott and Matt O’Brien in Providence; Brian Slodysko in Washington; Michael Casey in Boston; Patrick Whittle in Portland, Maine; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; Kathy McCormack in Concord, N.H.; and Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kan., contributed to this report.