In a Sunday late-night news conference in Providence, Rhode Island, a 24-year-old male person of interest was announced to be released, leaving "fresh anxiety" for the area that an armed Brown University mass shooter remains at large.
The investigation of Brown's mass shooting that left two dead and nine wounded is now rendering evidence "that points in a different direction," authorities announced Sunday night.
Unlike many news outlets, Newsmax had not identified the to-be-released person of interest by name, and reports indicate he is no longer a considered a person of interest by authorities.
That information means someone who shot up a Judaic program professor's class remains at large in the New England region.
"We know that this is likely to cause fresh anxiety for our community," Mayor Brett Smiley said.
Attorney General Peter Neronha did not mince words, expressing frustration at the news conference late Sunday, admonishing the media for having leaked the name of the person of interest.
"We have a murderer out there, frankly," Neronha said.
Brown University issued an emergency statement to its official website 12:47 a.m. ET after the news conference:
Providence police announced late on Sunday night that they have released the individual they had detained in connection with the investigation into the shooting on the Brown campus on Saturday, Dec. 14, which claimed the lives of two Brown students and injured nine others. The Rhode Island Attorney General stated definitively in a news media event hosted by the City of Providence that "there is no basis" to consider the released individual a person of interest.
Law enforcement agencies continue to investigate, and local police have advised they do not believe there is any immediate threat to Brown or the local community.
As Providence police continue to lead this investigation, they have informed Brown that they are continuing their search efforts, which includes ongoing coordination with multiple agencies. There continues to be a heightened amount of local, state and federal police activity in the area as law enforcement continues to investigate and patrol with increased vigilance. The Department of Public Safety has more than doubled its staffing.
We know that this update may prompt numerous questions. This remains an active police investigation, and the University must defer to the Providence Police Department to release information as they deem appropriate. The police department has established a designated tip line for this investigation. Any individual with information that may be relevant to law enforcement should call 401-652-5767.
We continue to make every effort to ensure the safety and security of the campus. We are also advising every member of the Brown community to be vigilant in their own activities on campus.
Officials took a person into custody Sunday morning that two people familiar with the matter identified as a 24-year-old man from Wisconsin.
"I've been around long enough to know that sometimes you head in one direction and then you have to regroup and go in another and that's exactly what has happened over the last 24 hours or so," AG Neronha said.
Col. Oscar Perez, the Providence police chief, said Sunday afternoon that no one has been charged yet. Perez, who also said no one else was being sought, declined to say whether the detained person had any connection to Brown.
The person was taken into custody at a Hampton Inn hotel in Coventry, Rhode Island, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from Providence, where police officers and FBI agents remained Sunday, blocking off a hallway with crime scene tape as they searched the area.
The shooting occurred during one of the busiest moments of the academic calendar, as final exams were underway. Brown canceled all remaining classes, exams, papers, and projects for the semester and told students they could leave campus, underscoring the scale of the disruption and the gravity of the attack.
As police scoured the area for the shooter, many students remained barricaded in rooms while others hid behind furniture and bookshelves. One video showed students in a library shaking and wincing as they heard loud bangs just before police entered the room to clear the building.
University President Christina Paxson teared up while describing her conversations with students both on campus and in the hospital.
"They are amazing and they're supporting each other," she said at a news conference. "There's just a lot of gratitude."
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 AP. Two handguns were recovered when the person of interest was taken into custody and authorities also found two loaded 30-round magazines, the official said. One of the firearms was equipped with a laser sight that projects a dot to aid in targeting, said the official, who was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke to AP on the condition of anonymity.
One student of the nine wounded students had been released from the hospital, said Paxson. Seven others were in critical but stable condition, and one was in critical condition.
Durham Academy, a private K-12 school in Durham, North Carolina, confirmed that a recent graduate, Kendall Turner, was critically wounded. The school said her parents were with her.
“Our school community is rallying around Kendall, her classmates, and her loved ones, and we will continue to offer our full support in the days ahead,” the school said.
On Sunday evening, city leaders, residents and others gathered at a park to honor the victims. The event originally was scheduled as a Christmas tree and Hanukkah menorah lighting.
“For those who know at least bit of the Hanukkah story, it is quite clear that if we can come together as a community to shine a little bit of light tonight, there’s nothing better that we can be doing,” Mayor Brett Smiley said at a news conference earlier in the day.
Smiley said he visited some wounded students and was inspired by their courage, hope and gratitude. One told him that active shooting drills done in high school proved helpful.
“The resilience that these survivors showed and shared with me, is frankly pretty overwhelming,” he said.
Investigators were not immediately sure how the shooter got inside the first-floor classroom at the Barus & Holley building, a seven-story complex that houses the School of Engineering and physics department. The building includes more than 100 laboratories, dozens of classrooms and offices, according to the university’s website.
Engineering design exams were underway. Outer doors of the building were unlocked but rooms being used for final exams required badge access, Smiley said.
Emma Ferraro, a chemical engineering student, was in the lobby working on a final project when she heard loud pops. Once she realized they were gunshots, she darted for the door and into a nearby building where she waited for hours.
Surveillance video released by police showed a suspect, dressed in black, walking from the scene.
Eva Erickson, a doctoral candidate who was the runner-up earlier this year on the CBS reality competition show “Survivor,” said she left her lab in the engineering building 15 minutes before shots rang out.
The engineering and thermal science student shared candid moments on “Survivor” as the show’s first openly autistic contestant. She was locked down in the campus gym following the shooting and shared on social media that the only other member of her lab who was present was safely evacuated.
Brown senior biochemistry student Alex Bruce was working on a final research project in his dorm across the street from the building when he heard sirens outside.
“I’m just in here shaking,” he said, watching through the window as officers surrounded his dorm.
Brown, the seventh-oldest higher education institution in the U.S., is one of the nation’s most prestigious colleges, with roughly 7,300 undergraduates and more than 3,000 graduate students.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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