The Brown University community is grappling with profound grief after a tragic shooting claimed the lives of two promising students, 19-year-old Ella Cook and 18-year-old Muhammad Aziz Umurzakov, and injured nine others. Five days after the horrifying incident last Saturday, authorities have made significant strides, identifying a “person of interest” in connection with the deadly event.
While the individual’s identity has not been released to the public and no arrests have been made, police are actively “zeroing in” on them, intensifying their search. Key clues are emerging, including an overdue rental car found abandoned in the Boston area, which investigators believe could be linked to the suspect. Furthermore, law enforcement activity in New Hampshire suggests the investigation spans multiple states.
In a startling turn, officials are now exploring a potential connection between the Brown shooting and the recent murder of MIT physicist Nuno F.G. Loureiro in Brookline, Massachusetts. This comes after initial FBI statements indicated no known link between the separate tragedies, adding a layer of complexity to the already somber case.
The shooting took place in a first-floor classroom within Brown’s engineering building. Despite the university having 1,200 surveillance cameras, the specific crime scene, located in an older section, reportedly had “fewer, if any” cameras. Investigators also suspect the shooter used a less-monitored door facing a residential street for entry and exit.
The FBI is offering a substantial reward of up to $50,000 for information that leads to the identification, arrest, and conviction of the shooter. As the search continues, authorities urge anyone with relevant video, image evidence, or information to come forward to help bring justice to the victims and their families.
