Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, is reeling after a tragic mass shooting on Saturday, December 13, 2025, left two students dead and nine others wounded. As the manhunt for the suspect enters its fourth day, the campus community and city remain on edge, united in grief and uncertainty while law enforcement agencies intensify their search for answers.
Authorities say the attack unfolded at approximately 4:00 p.m. local time in the Holley engineering building, located at the eastern end of Brown’s storied campus. The victims, identified as Ella Cook of Alabama and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov of Uzbekistan, were both promising young students whose lives were cut short in a moment of senseless violence. According to BBC, nine others were injured in the shooting, with one person still in critical condition, seven in stable condition, and one already discharged from the hospital as of Sunday.
The suspect, described as a person of interest, remains at large. Investigators released several images and videos on Monday, December 15, depicting an individual dressed entirely in black—including a black face mask, dark jacket and pants, and a woolen cap—walking down residential streets near campus just hours before the attack. The person is described as approximately 5’8” (1.73 m) with a stocky build. Despite the release of these images and a $50,000 reward offered by the FBI for information leading to an arrest, no suspect has been publicly identified. The urgency of the search is palpable. “We are in the 49th hour, and there’s no one that wants to put this individual in handcuffs more than us,” Providence Police Chief Col Oscar Perez told reporters, as reported by BBC.
Over the weekend, police detained a man described by President Donald Trump as “the suspect,” but he was released after officials determined there was insufficient evidence to hold him. Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha emphasized, “There was no basis to keep the first person investigators detained in custody, adding that evidence now points in a different direction.” The rapid release and reversal have fueled anxiety and frustration among students and residents alike, as the threat remains unresolved.
Brown University responded by canceling all remaining in-person exams and classes for the semester. Around 2,000 students were relocated to safe locations overnight after the attack, and the campus has been under tight security as police continue their investigation. “There are not enough words of comfort for families who lose a child, but we will do all we can,” Brown President Christina Paxson stated, according to NBC News. She described the slain students as “brilliant and beloved,” noting that both were “at or near the beginning of their Brown journey — actually, they were at the beginning of a lot of things.”
Ella Cook, 19, was a vice president of the Brown College Republicans, an accomplished pianist, and a volunteer leader at her church in Birmingham, Alabama. The College Republicans of America expressed their grief in a statement: “We are devastated to learn of the loss of our Brown College Republicans Vice President Ella Cook. Ella was known for her bold, brave and kind heart as she served her chapter and her fellow classmates.” Alabama Governor Kay Ivey ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in Cook’s honor, saying, “As all of Alabama wraps our arms around Ella’s family in prayer, I also join in mourning her loss.”
Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, in his first semester at Brown, was remembered by his family and friends as “incredibly kind, funny, and smart,” with “big dreams of becoming a neurosurgeon and helping people,” according to a GoFundMe campaign organized by his younger sister, Samira Umurzokova. The campaign has raised more than $410,000 from nearly 9,000 donations to cover expenses and launch a charity in his name. President Paxson highlighted Umurzokov’s “clear commitment to serving others,” adding that he had planned to concentrate in biochemistry and molecular biology, inspired by a personal experience. The Uzbekistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs called his death “a heavy loss for all of us,” and U.S. Ambassador Jonathan Henick extended “sincere condolences to Mr. Umurzokov's family, friends, and fellow students and mourn the loss of his bright future.”
The trauma of the shooting has rippled throughout the Brown community and the city of Providence. Jensine Coggin, a Ph.D. engineering student, recounted the chaos and fear as she fled the building: “We walk into the lobby ... and Adam, he went in front of me, and he turned the corner, and all of a sudden I hear safeties going off of guns and radios, and everyone’s, like, hands in the air. It was, like, eight cops, and we walk out, and there’s, like, eight guns pointed at us. They’re like: ‘Where have you been? What are you doing here? Who are you? Did you see anything?’ And they start patting us down and everything. And then they’re like: ‘You need to get outside right now. Run as fast as you can.’”
Other students have described the days since the shooting as “really heavy.” Brown senior Eugenia Zinovieva told NBC News, “I think we’re all definitely still processing. The people that are still on campus are trying to spend a lot of time together in the community. It really feels like everyone was affected by this. The campus is so tight-knit, so having something like this happen is just, I mean, no one ever thought it would happen here.”
The university has canceled all athletic events, including Sunday’s scheduled men’s and women’s basketball games. Memorials have sprung up across campus, with flowers and photographs placed outside the Barus and Holley building to honor the victims. Candlelit vigils and community gatherings have provided spaces for reflection and support, including a service at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church described as “a community service of lament, healing and hope.”
Law enforcement continues to canvas neighborhoods and develop intelligence, with the FBI’s Boston field office stating, “Our agents and analysts remain fully embedded with our law enforcement partners. We are working together to track down leads, canvass neighborhoods, and develop intelligence.” The agency’s evidence response team and laboratory specialists are also assisting with processing and documenting evidence from the scene.
The attack at Brown marks the 389th mass shooting in the United States in 2025, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines such events as those with four or more victims killed or injured, not including the attacker. The incident has intensified ongoing national conversations about campus safety, gun violence, and the challenges of preventing such tragedies even in the most prestigious and seemingly secure environments.
As Providence and the Brown community continue to mourn, the search for the shooter presses on. The hope is that justice will be served, healing will take root, and the promise embodied by Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov will be honored in the days and years to come.
