Category: Brown University
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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Prominent MIT professor — reportedly Jewish, pro-Israel — shot to death in his home; no suspect in custody
A prominent professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was fatally shot in his Brookline home, the Associated Press reported.
Nuno Loureiro was Jewish and a vocal pro-Israel nuclear scientist, the Jerusalem Post said; but the paper added that it could not confirm speculations by Jewish organizations that Loureiro was targeted for his political affiliations.
‘And a shooting in a state where it’s so hard to even have a gun?’
The shooting occurred on the heels of a deadly shooting Saturday at another prestigious school in the region — Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Police there also have yet to find a suspect. Brookline is about 90 minutes northeast of Providence. The FBI told the AP it knows of no connection between the two crimes.
Loureiro — a married 47-year-old from Portugal — was shot Monday night and died Tuesday at a local hospital, the AP noted. WBZ-TV said in its video report that Loureiro was shot several times in the foyer of his home; a neighbor said he lived in a first-floor apartment.
A reporter suggested to the neighbor on camera that the crime is atypical for Brookline, and the neighbor replied that it was a “surprise … and a shooting in a state where it’s so hard to even have a gun?” The neighbor also said fellow neighbors noted a nearby car was “parked in the wrong direction” and “seemed to be waiting.”
RELATED: Critics lambaste MIT’s vice president for equity and inclusion over ‘race baiting’ social media post
Authorities have not disclosed a possible motive, the AP said, and the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office said no suspects were in custody as of Wednesday morning.
More from the AP:
Loureiro joined MIT in 2016 and was named last year to lead the school’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, one of its largest laboratories. The center has around 250 researchers working across seven buildings and focuses on advancing clean energy technology and other research.
The professor grew up in Viseu in central Portugal, studied in Lisbon, and earned a doctorate in London, according to the university. Before moving to MIT, he worked at a nuclear fusion research institute in Lisbon.
“He shone a bright light as a mentor, friend, teacher, colleague, and leader and was universally admired for his articulate, compassionate manner,” Dennis Whyte, an engineering professor who previously led MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, told a campus publication, according to the AP.
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Brown shooting person of interest cased area that morning: Police
A person of interest in the recent shooting at Brown University in Rhode Island cased the area Saturday morning, according to police “We believe that he was actually casing out this area to commit the crime,” Providence Police Department Chief Oscar Perez said during a press conference Tuesday. “That’s a pattern that criminals do, and…
Brown University Faces Questions About Security Policies After Sending Delayed Emergency Alert and Failing To Sound Sirens During Shooting
Brown University is facing questions over its security policies after its emergency sirens never sounded in response to Saturday’s shooting, while taking nearly 20 minutes to send an alert out to students. The scrutiny comes after campus cops passed no-confidence votes against their police chief and questioned the school’s emergency response capabilities.
The post Brown University Faces Questions About Security Policies After Sending Delayed Emergency Alert and Failing To Sound Sirens During Shooting appeared first on .
Dem House Candidate Offers Condolences to Australia’s Jewish Community—Only To Delete the Statement and Replace It With a Message That Omits Jews
A House of Representatives candidate in Pennsylvania posted a heartfelt message on X about the shooting at Brown University and attack at a Hanukkah festival in Sydney, Australia, before deleting the post and replacing it with one that only mentioned Brown.
The post Dem House Candidate Offers Condolences to Australia’s Jewish Community—Only To Delete the Statement and Replace It With a Message That Omits Jews appeared first on .
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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At least 2 killed, more wounded in shooting at Brown University
At least two are dead and others were wounded after a shooting Saturday at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, the New York Times reported.
An active shooter was reported just after 4:30 p.m. near the Barus and Holley engineering building on Hope Street, officials at the Ivy League college said, according to Fox News. Police were still searching for the shooter, who was described as a man dressed in black, the Times said.
‘It is imperative that all members of our community remain sheltered in place.’
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley told CNN that the doors of the engineering building where the shooting took place were unlocked since numerous final exams were being held there, according to the Times: “Based on what we heard from officials at Brown, anybody could have accessed the building at that time.”
Providence Fire Chief Derek Silva told the Times that two of the shooting victims were found dead at the scene.
Eight other shooting victims were being treated at Rhode Island Hospital, a spokeswoman told the Times, adding that six were in critical but stable condition, one was in critical condition, and another was in stable condition.
However, Smiley later announced that a ninth injured victim was identified, the Times said in a subsequent update, and that victim suffered non-life-threatening injuries from “fragments” related to the gunfire.
Smiley declined to provide any information about the victims, including whether they were Brown students, the Times said.
Brown University officials said just before 8:30 p.m. that the “campus continues to be in lockdown, and it is imperative that all members of our community remain sheltered in place,” the Times added.
Providence Deputy Police Chief Timothy O’Hara said police believe they are looking for a single gunman, the Times also said, adding that no weapon had been recovered and officials did not know what type of gun was used.
Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee (D) said he spoke to FBI Director Kash Patel and that local, state, and federal officers were all searching for the gunman, the Times reported: “Everyone is working under the same goal right now — to keep everybody in that area safe and also to pursue” the attacker, McKee added to the paper.
This is a developing story; updates may be added.
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