The FBI was asking for the public’s help finding a man “with a stocky build” in connection with Saturday’s fatal mass shooting in Providence, Rhode Island.
The FBI was asking for the public’s help finding a man “with a stocky build” in connection with Saturday’s fatal mass shooting in Providence, Rhode Island.
The FBI released a video timeline on Tuesday in the investigation of the mass shooting at Brown University that shows the individual wanted for questioning walking near police just moments after the deadly attack.
Just after the shooting, which the FBI said occurred at 4:03 p.m. local time, a security video captured the individual emerging onto Hope Street from what investigators described as “lot 42” on the Brown campus.
As the individual crossed Hope Street, a police cruiser with its emergency lights flashing was seen less than a block away from him, pulling up and stopping on Hope Street near the scene of the shooting, the Barus & Holley Engineering building.
In the video, the FBI circled the individual in blue crossing the street as a police officer gets out of his vehicle and walks toward the campus.
Other videos released by the FBI showed the same individual dressed head to toe in dark clothing walking through a residential neighborhood near the campus before the shooting, beginning around 2 p.m. The last video in the FBI’s timeline shows the individual walking north on Hope Street at 4:07 p.m. on Saturday.
Col. Oscar Perez, chief of the Providence Police Department, told reporters Tuesday that the person of interest was seen around the area around 10:30 a.m. on the day of the shooting, likening it to him “casing” the area.
The FBI asked anyone who recognized the person in the video to contact investigators immediately.
The FBI issued a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the alleged gunman in Saturday’s fatal mass shooting, as members of the bureau’s Boston Division aided the Providence Police Department in their search for the assailant.
The FBI released a poster with three images of a person whom they’re seeking, calling them an “unknown suspect” and including a short description: “The suspect is described as a male, approximately 5’8″ with a stocky build.”
“We sent additional resources and personnel earlier today to help track down leads, canvass neighborhoods, and develop intelligence,” FBI Director Kash Patel said late Monday on social media. “Our Evidence Response Team remains on campus processing the scene, and our Lab at Quantico is assisting as well.”
The reward for information came as newly released security video showed what local and federal law enforcement said was a person of interest wanted for questioning in connection with the deadly mass shooting.
The FBI released an additional set of security videos on Tuesday afternoon showing the individual they are seeking walking through residential neighborhood near Brown University on Saturday before and after the shooting. In one of the video
Police in Providence said two students were killed and nine other people were injured in the shooting in a classroom setting on College Hill, the area on Providence’s East Side where historic homes intermingle with redbrick and modern campus buildings.
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Brown University Health said seven patients injured in the shooting remain at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, one in critical condition and five in critical but stable condition. One patient was in stable condition and two were discharged from the hospital, the spokesperson said.
Brown University President Christina H. Paxson on Sunday said the shooting amounted to “devastating gun violence.”
The university on Monday evening said the Providence police were seeking interviews with everyone who had been in the Barus & Holley building — the physics and engineering center where the shooting took place — on either Friday or Saturday.
“Even an incidental detail may be helpful in investigating,” the school said in an update.
State officials shared overnight the FBI’s poster seeking information.
Gov. Dan McKee said he had directed the Rhode Island State Police, which is assisting in the investigation, to “continue to provide all necessary investigative and patrol support to the city and the campus.”
“Like so many of us who have been impacted by the tragedy at Brown University this weekend, I am anxious to have the shooter identified, apprehended, and brought to justice,” McKee said in a statement announcing the reward early Tuesday.