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2025 Brown University shooting

Coordinates: 41°49′35″N 71°23′52″W / 41.8265°N 71.3979°W / 41.8265; -71.3979
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2025 Brown University shooting
Memorial outside Brown's Engineering Research Center
Map
Location41°49′35″N 71°23′52″W / 41.8265°N 71.3979°W / 41.8265; -71.3979
Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.
DateDecember 13, 2025 (2025-12-13)
4:00 p.m. (EST)
Attack type
Mass shooting, university shooting
WeaponsUnidentified 9mm firearm[1][2]
Deaths2
Injured9
MotiveUnder investigation

On December 13, 2025, a mass shooting occurred at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, United States, during the second day of final examination week for the fall semester.[3] A gunman entered the school and killed two students and wounded nine other students[4] as they attended a review session in preparation for final exams.[5]

The shooter has not yet been identified and is the subject of an active manhunt by the FBI and local police. Police have released images and videos of the suspect, who wore a mask.

Background

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Brown University is an Ivy League university in the College Hill neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island, where it owns more than 230 buildings. In 2023, it enrolled about 11,500 undergraduate, graduate, and medical students.[6][7][8]

School shootings in the United States had rapidly increased in the preceding decades, which some have attributed to the country's increased availability of firearms.[9][10][11]

Shooting

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The Barus and Holley building, where the shooting occurred, pictured in 2018.

Shortly after 4:00 p.m. EST on December 13, 2025,[12] a single gunman shot 11 people in the Brown University School of Engineering's Barus and Holley Building, which also houses the university's physics department.[13][6] Most of the shooting was inside the first-floor, 186-seat[14] Room 166,[14] where 21-year-old teaching assistant Joseph Oduro was leading a review session for the final exam of Professor Rachel Friedberg's introductory economics class.[15][16][17] Professor Friedberg was not present.[18] It was the second day of the school's final examination week for the fall 2025 semester.[19] The building was unlocked.[3] It is unknown how the shooter entered the building, but authorities said he moved through a part of the building that had limited surveillance cameras and exited on the Hope Street side.[20][21][22]

At 4:22 p.m., the university's Public Safety and Emergency Management issued the first alert message to the campus community about "an active shooter near Barus & Holley Engineering".[23][24]

At 4:50 p.m., the university sent an alert message erroneously saying that a suspect was in custody; it sent a correction 20 minutes later.[13] At 5:27 p.m., the university sent an alert message about reported gunfire near Governor Street; it retracted the message at 6:10 p.m., calling the report "unfounded".[25][26]

Victims

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Police block off a street near the school on the night of the shooting

Two people were killed and nine wounded in the shooting. All were Brown students.[4]

The two who were killed were identified as Ella Cook, a parishioner at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham, Alabama and vice president of Brown's College Republicans,[27] and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, an Uzbek American and recent graduate of Midlothian High School in Chesterfield County, Virginia.[28][29][30][31]

All nine of the wounded people were transported to the university-affiliated Rhode Island Hospital for gun-related injuries.[32][14] One of the victims had a shrapnel injury and was discharged from the hospital after a few hours.[33][4] The other eight victims remained hospitalized as of December 14, with one in critical condition and seven in critical but stable condition.[34] Of those eight, one was discharged by December 16,[35] and another on December 17.[36]

Investigation

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Police tape at the scene

Over 400 police officers responded to the incident,[25] along with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).[37] Rhode Island governor Dan McKee also ordered the Rhode Island State Police to support policing efforts in the days that followed.[38]

Authorities found shell casings[14] and believed the shooter used a handgun, as reported a few hours after the incident.[39]

The Providence Police Department released security footage of the suspect shortly after a press conference around 10 p.m.,[6] which two days later remained the "clearest picture we have of the individual we believe to be responsible", according to Providence mayor Smiley.[40] Authorities asked nearby residents for any relevant video footage from smart doorbells.[41]

Overnight, it snowed, which hampered the collection of physical evidence such as fingerprints.[42][43]

FBI-released CCTV footage of a suspect walking around Providence near Brown University shortly before the shooting took place.

The morning after the shooting, acting on information from Providence Police, the FBI raided a hotel in Rhode Island and detained a man.[44] FBI agents also raided a home in another state, where the local police department confirmed that the FBI was investigating the shooting. The FBI declined to comment on the raid,[45] and the detained man was released the same day. Rhode Island attorney general Peter Neronha stated that "there is no basis to consider him a person of interest".[46][47] The ballistics evidence from the crime did not match the gun in the man's possession.[48]

On December 15, Providence Police released images and three more videos of the suspect.[49][50] One video shows the suspect, appearing to be a white male with a darker complexion, and wearing a black beanie, a mask, a green jacket, and black gloves.[51] Providence police chief Col. Oscar Perez said the shooter had used a 9mm firearm.[52] The FBI offered a $50,000 reward for information related to the perpetrator.[38] As of December 16, authorities had not yet identified or located the suspect.[53][54]

On December 17, Providence Police released a street map of where the suspect was confirmed to have been on the day of the shooting.[55] That same day, authorities also revealed that they had found DNA and fingerprint evidence on shell casings at the crime scene.[56]

Reactions

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Schools

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Well-wishers left flowers by the Van Wickle Gates

Brown University provost Francis J. Doyle III announced that classes and exams for the rest of the fall term were canceled.[57]

Universities and other academic institutions, including Columbia University, Cornell University, and the American Mathematical Society, issued statements condemning the shooting and offering sympathy and support for the Brown community.[58][59][60]

Durham Academy in Durham, North Carolina, released a statement: "Our school community is rallying around Kendall [Turner], her classmates, and her loved ones, and we will continue to offer our full support in the days ahead".[61] Turner was, at that time, in critical condition after being shot. She had recently graduated from Durham Academy.[62][63]

Politicians

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President Trump speaks with the press and addresses the shooting.

On the afternoon of the shooting, United States president Donald Trump said, "Things can happen. So to the nine injured - get well fast; and to the families of those two that are no longer with us, I pay my deepest regards and respects from the United States of America."[64]

Massachusetts governor Maura Healey expressed her support for the victims of the shooting.[65]

Both senators from Alabama, Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville, released statements mourning the death of Ella Cook.[27][66] Tuberville also alleged that Ella Cook was an intended target because she was a Republican.[66]

Organizations

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The day after the shooting, December 14, 2025, was the 13th anniversary of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The anti-gun violence non-profit, Sandy Hook Promise, released a statement which in part read:

Our hearts are with Brown University as this tragic story unfolds. We cannot allow this to keep happening. We must #EndGunViolence.[67][61]

The professional American football team New England Patriots expressed support for the victims.[65]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Helmore, Edward (December 14, 2025). "Person of interest detained in Brown University shooting that left two dead". The Guardian. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  2. ^ Loria, Michael; Santucci, Jeanine (December 16, 2025). "Brown University shooting live updates: Manhunt continues, police share new photos". USA Today. Retrieved December 16, 2025. Officers recovered 9mm shell casings from the scene of the shooting, Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez said at a news conference on Monday evening
  3. ^ a b Kruesi, Kimberlee (December 13, 2025). "Multiple victims reported in shooting at Brown University in Rhode Island". AP News. Archived from the original on December 14, 2025. Retrieved December 13, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c Bi, Michelle; Ruiz, Alejandro (December 16, 2025). "'Unimaginably tragic': Tracing the 50 hours after the shooting at Brown". Brown Daily Herald. Retrieved December 16, 2025.
  5. ^ Zhuang, Yan; Arsenault, Mark; Smith, Mitch; Gibbons-Neff, Thomas; McCarthy, Lauren (December 13, 2025). "What We Know About the Deadly Shooting at Brown University". The New York Times. Retrieved December 16, 2025.
  6. ^ a b c "Brown University: Hundreds of police hunt suspect in shooting after 2 killed, 9 injured". BBC News. Retrieved December 16, 2025.
  7. ^ "Police hunt for gunman who killed 2 Brown University students, injured 9 people". Reuters. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  8. ^ "How Brown's campus and property holdings have changed, from 1770 to today". projects.browndailyherald.com. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  9. ^ Gladwell, Malcolm (October 19, 2015). "Thresholds of Violence, How school shootings catch on". The New Yorker. Retrieved April 1, 2017. School shootings are a modern phenomenon. There were scattered instances of gunmen or bombers attacking schools in the years before Barry Loukaitis, but they were lower profile. School shootings mostly involve young white men. And, not surprisingly, given the ready availability of firearms in the United States, the phenomenon is overwhelmingly American.
  10. ^ Rose, Chip Grabow,Lisa (May 21, 2018). "The US has had 57 times as many school shootings as six other major industrialized nations combined". CNN.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ "Brown University reports two dead, nine injured in US school shooting". Al Jazeera. December 13, 2025. Archived from the original on December 14, 2025. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  12. ^ "2 People Killed, 9 Others Injured in Shooting at Brown University". People.com. Retrieved December 17, 2025.
  13. ^ a b Ritter, Ian; Feil, Emily (December 13, 2025). "Active shooter on campus, no suspects in custody, Department of Public Safety reports". The Brown Daily Herald. Retrieved December 13, 2025.
  14. ^ a b c d Meyer, Matt (December 13, 2025). "Shooting began during final exam review session for Principles of Economics class, professor tells NYT". CNN. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  15. ^ Johnson, Whit; Sweeney, Sam; Coughlin, Kendall; Uff, Nic; Hutchinson, Bill (December 14, 2025). "'We made eye contact': Brown University student describes alleged gunman bursting into lecture hall". ABC News. Archived from the original on December 16, 2025. Retrieved December 16, 2025.
  16. ^ "Friedberg, Rachel". vivo.brown.edu. Archived from the original on December 14, 2025. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  17. ^ Bash, Dana (December 14, 2025). 'I locked eyes with him': Teaching assistant recalls moment Brown University shooter entered his classroom. Retrieved December 15, 2025 – via CNN Politics.
  18. ^ Bernfeld, Jeremy; Berke, Ben; Donnis, Ian (December 13, 2025). "2 dead, 9 wounded in shooting at Brown University; suspect still at large". Ocean State Media. Archived from the original on December 14, 2025. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  19. ^ Helmore, Edward (December 13, 2025). "Two people dead and nine wounded in mass shooting at Brown University, as suspect remains at large". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on December 14, 2025. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  20. ^ "Suspect described as 'male dressed in black'". NBC News. December 13, 2025. Retrieved December 13, 2025.
  21. ^ @BNONews (December 13, 2025). "Police: Suspect in Brown University shooting is a male dressed in black. It's unknown how he entered but he exited on the Hope St. side. He's still at large" (Tweet). Retrieved December 13, 2025 – via Twitter.
  22. ^ Miller, John (December 16, 2025). "Hundreds of tips, DNA swabs and new video: Inside Day 4 of the Brown University manhunt". CNN. Retrieved December 17, 2025.
  23. ^ Ziegler, Hannah; Kirk, Rylee (December 13, 2025). "Students Told to Hide From 'Active Shooter' at Brown University". The New York Times. Retrieved December 13, 2025.
  24. ^ "Urgent: Hostile Intruder". Public Safety: Brown University. Archived from the original on December 16, 2025. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  25. ^ a b Castro, Alexander; Weisman, Janine L. (December 13, 2025). "'The unthinkable has happened.' 2 killed, nine injured in mass shooting on Brown University campus". Rhode Island Current. Archived from the original on December 14, 2025. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  26. ^ "Urgent: Hostile Intruder". Public Safety: Brown University. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  27. ^ a b Baldwin, Sarah Lynch (December 15, 2025). "Brown University shooting victims identified as Ella Cook, Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov". CBS News. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  28. ^ "'Kind-hearted' Midlothian High grad was killed in Brown University shooting, family friend says". CBS 6 News Richmond WTVR. December 15, 2025. Archived from the original on December 16, 2025. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  29. ^ "'A bright light': Brown University student identified as shooting victim by church". ABC News. December 14, 2025. Archived from the original on December 15, 2025. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  30. ^ "2 dead, 8 critical, Providence mayor says". NBC News. December 13, 2025. Retrieved December 13, 2025.
  31. ^ @BNONews (December 13, 2025). "BREAKING: At least 10 people shot, 2 killed, at Brown University in Rhode Island, mayor says. Suspect not in custody" (Tweet). Retrieved December 13, 2025 – via Twitter.
  32. ^ "'Confirmed reports of multiple shooting victims,' Brown says". NBC News. December 13, 2025. Retrieved December 13, 2025.
  33. ^ "What to know about the victims of the Brown University shooting". The Providence Journal. Retrieved December 16, 2025.
  34. ^ Willingham, Leah (December 16, 2025). "Additional police sent to Providence schools to calm fears with the Brown University shooter still loose". PBS News. Archived from the original on December 16, 2025. Retrieved December 16, 2025.
  35. ^ Ritter, Ian (December 17, 2025). "Live updates: Brown names victims in mass shooting". The Brown Daily Herald. Retrieved December 17, 2025.
  36. ^ Von Quednow, Cindy (December 17, 2025). "Another victim released from the hospital as 6 remain hospitalized, Providence mayor says". CNN. Retrieved December 17, 2025.
  37. ^ "ATF says its agents are responding to Brown". NBC News. December 13, 2025. Retrieved December 13, 2025.
  38. ^ a b Shalvey, Kevin (December 16, 2025). "As Brown University shooting manhunt continues, FBI offers reward for info leading to conviction". ABC News. Archived from the original on December 16, 2025. Retrieved December 16, 2025.
  39. ^ Richer, Alanna Durkin (December 14, 2025). "Authorities believe the shooter used a handgun". AP News. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  40. ^ Todd, Brian (December 15, 2025). "Police are back to initial investigations and sorting "a lot of leads," Providence police official says". CNN. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  41. ^ Rotondo, Irene (December 14, 2025). "Police seek Ring camera footage after shooting at Brown University leaves 2 dead, 8 hurt". MassLive. Archived from the original on December 14, 2025. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  42. ^ "Brown University campus snowy and quiet after mass shooting". The Providence Journal. December 14, 2025. Retrieved December 16, 2025.
  43. ^ Chowdhury, Maureen (December 16, 2025). ""Most evidence is now gone," CNN analyst says of search outside Brown shooting scene". CNN. Retrieved December 16, 2025.
  44. ^ Jacobs, Luke (December 15, 2025). "Authorities identified, detained and then released a "person of interest" in the Brown University shooting: What happened?". CNN. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  45. ^ "ABC: Person of interest in Brown University shooting from Wisconsin, released". WISN-TV. December 14, 2025. Archived from the original on December 16, 2025. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  46. ^ Spargo, Chris (December 15, 2025). "New Images Show Person of Interest in Brown University Shooting as Manhunt Intensifies 48 Hours After Fatal Attack". People. Archived from the original on December 16, 2025. Retrieved December 16, 2025.
  47. ^ Kruesi, Kimberlee; Swinhart, Amanda; Ramer, Holly (December 14, 2025). "Authorities say they will release person of interest detained in Brown University shooting". AP News. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  48. ^ Winter, Tom; McLaughlin, Erin (December 15, 2025). "Ballistics evidence led to release of initial person of interest, officials say". NBC News. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  49. ^ Dion, Eryn (December 15, 2025). "New videos, images released of Brown University shooting suspect. Take a look". The Providence Journal. Retrieved December 16, 2025.
  50. ^ "Providence Police release additional video of 'person of interest' in Brown shooting". The Providence Journal. December 15, 2025. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  51. ^ Braun, Sara (December 16, 2025). "Police release new video in hunt for Brown University shooting suspect". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved December 17, 2025.
  52. ^ Cullen, Margie (December 16, 2025). "What weapon killed two in the Brown University shooting? What we know". The Providence Journal. Retrieved December 16, 2025.
  53. ^ Landeck, Katie; Farzan, Antonia Noori; Allen, Bailey; Dion, Eryn; Perry, Jack; Reynolds, Mark (December 16, 2025). "Brown University shooting updates: Hunt for shooting suspect continues". The Providence Journal. Retrieved December 16, 2025.
  54. ^ Todd, Brian; Stracqualursi, Veronica (December 16, 2025). "Person of interest was "casing the area" before shooting, police chief says". CNN. Retrieved December 17, 2025.
  55. ^ Von Quednow, Cindy (December 17, 2025). "Authorities release map showing streets where person of interest was seen on day of shooting". CNN. Retrieved December 17, 2025.
  56. ^ Fortin, Jacey; Marcius, Chelsia Rose (December 17, 2025). "Search for Unidentified Killer at Brown University Stretches to 5th Day". The New York Times. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
  57. ^ "Person of interest in Brown University shooting was taken into custody at Hampton Inn in Coventry, R.I. Follow live updates". The Boston Globe. December 14, 2025. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  58. ^ "Sympathy for the Brown University Community". Cornell University. Archived from the original on December 16, 2025.
  59. ^ "With Sympathy and Support for Brown University Community". American Mathematical Society.
  60. ^ "Important Updates for Our Community". Columbia University.
  61. ^ a b Vileira, Luena Rodriguez-Feo; Yee, Curtis (December 14, 2025). "December 14th Live updates: Police place person of interest in custody after Brown University shooting". AP News. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  62. ^ "Durham Academy alumna among 9 injured in Brown University mass shooting". WRAL-TV. Raleigh, North Carolina. December 14, 2025. Archived from the original on December 16, 2025. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  63. ^ Spargo, Chris (December 15, 2025). "Parents of Brown University Student Kendall Turner Are at Bedside of Daughter Critically Injured in Shooting". People. Archived from the original on December 16, 2025. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  64. ^ Anderson, Zac (December 15, 2025). "'Things can happen.' Trump responds to Brown University shooting". USA TODAY. Archived from the original on December 15, 2025. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  65. ^ a b Rotondo, Irene (December 14, 2025). "'Unthinkable': Brown University shooting condemned by Trump and New England Patriots". MassLive. Archived from the original on December 14, 2025. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  66. ^ a b Koplowitz, Howard (December 17, 2025). "Tuberville claims to know the motive for Ella Cook's murder: 'The consequences here are very, very fishy'". AL.com. Archived from the original on December 18, 2025. Retrieved December 17, 2025.
  67. ^ Allen, Bailey (December 14, 2025). "'We knew it could happen anywhere': Providence mayor speaks on Brown shooting, Sandy Hook". The Providence Journal. Archived from the original on December 14, 2025. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
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