Category: Deadly shooting
Brown U. suspected shooter’s DNA gathered; images, video of person of interest match eyewitness descriptions: Police
The DNA of the Brown University suspected shooter has been gathered, and images and video of the person of interest in Saturday’s deadly shooting at the Rhode Island Ivy League college match eyewitness descriptions, police told the Providence Journal.
Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez said law enforcement has DNA of the suspected shooter “from inside” that could be used to confirm his presence at the scene once officials have someone to compare it to, the Journal reported.
‘All video imagery has been turned over to law enforcement.’
The shooting took place in a first-floor classroom in the school’s Barus and Holley building, which houses the School of Engineering and the physics department. Two students were fatally shot; nine others were wounded.
Attorney General Peter Neronha added to the Journal that DNA is “powerful” evidence because it can confirm the identity of a subject or rule people in or out after it’s entered into a nationwide system.
RELATED: At least 2 killed, more wounded in shooting at Brown University
Perez also told the paper that witnesses and surviving students gave a description of the shooter that matches the person of interest as seen on video and in still images that law enforcement has distributed.
Neronha told the Journal that investigators are being protective of what witnesses have said about the shooter or the shooting so they can protect witnesses from being swayed by outside information.
“As we interview witnesses, we don’t want them to learn facts from these press conferences. We want them to relay the facts that they have in their heads, including a person of interest,” Neronha said during a news conference, according to the paper. “We don’t want a person of interest to shape what they’re telling us. … So we’re being careful about the facts that we’re sharing for that reason, so that when we talk to witnesses, what we’re getting is their factual recitation.”
More from the Journal:
Authorities have struggled to convince members of the public that, despite Brown University’s vast resources, there was no camera working in the Barus & Holley Building that captured the shooter entering the building before opening fire.
Brown Provost Francis Doyle III said the school has 1,200 cameras on campus, including some in the old section of the building where the shooting occurred. But that does not mean the cameras captured an image of the shooter.
“All video imagery has been turned over to law enforcement,” Doyle added, according to the paper.
A person of interest was initially detained over the weekend before law enforcement determined they had the wrong guy.
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Person of interest detained after deadly shooting at Brown University — but very little has been shared about the individual
A person of interest has been detained in connection with Saturday’s deadly shooting at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, the Associated Press reported.
However, the outlet added that “key questions remained unanswered” following the attack that killed two students and wounded nine others at the Ivy League campus during final exams.
‘Everybody’s reeling, and we have a lot of recovery ahead of us.’
Col. Oscar Perez, chief of the Providence police, said Sunday afternoon that the person in custody is in the 20s age range and that no one has been charged yet, the AP reported. Perez earlier said the person is in the 30s age range and that no one else was being sought; Perez declined to say if the detained person had any connection to Brown, the outlet noted.
The New York Times reported Saturday that the shooter was described as a man dressed in black. Police released surveillance video late Saturday night that they said showed the person of interest. The AP said the individual in the clip was walking from the scene of the shooting.
RELATED: At least 2 killed, more wounded in shooting at Brown University
The person of interest was taken into custody at a Hampton Inn hotel in Coventry, Rhode Island, which is about 20 miles from Providence, the AP said, adding that police officers and FBI agents remained there Sunday, blocking off a hallway with crime scene tape while searching the area.
College President Christina Paxson told the AP that one of the nine wounded students had been released from the hospital while seven others were in critical but stable condition and one was in critical condition.
Investigators told the AP they weren’t immediately sure how the shooter got into the first-floor classroom in the Barus & Holley building, a seven-story complex that houses the School of Engineering and the physics department.
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said the building’s outer doors were unlocked, but rooms reserved for final exams required badge access, the AP added.
More from the AP:
The gunman opened fire inside a classroom in the engineering building, firing more than 40 rounds from a 9 mm handgun, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. As of Sunday morning, authorities had not recovered a firearm but did find two loaded 30-round magazines, the official said. The official was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke to AP on the condition of anonymity.
Brown canceled all remaining classes, exams, papers, and projects for the semester, the AP said, and told students they were free to leave campus.
Paxson teared up while describing her conversations with students both on campus and in the hospital, the AP said: “They are amazing, and they’re supporting each other. There’s just a lot of gratitude.”
“Everybody’s reeling, and we have a lot of recovery ahead of us,” she added, according to the AP. “Our community’s strong and we’ll get through it, but it’s devastating.”
This is a developing story; updates may be added.
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