October 05, 2026
Brown University shooting manhunt: FBI offers $50,000 reward as new suspect video released
Headline card by The Night Desk — suspect surveillance stills released by police are not yet publicly retrievable from our desk
The search for the gunman behind Saturday's deadly shooting at Brown University entered a new phase Monday, as Providence police released fresh surveillance videos and images — the clearest pictures yet of the person they believe opened fire inside a campus engineering building during exams.
What happened
Shortly after 4 p.m. Saturday, the gunman walked into a classroom in the Barus & Holley Engineering Building — the seven-story complex that houses Brown's engineering school and physics department — and opened fire on students taking final exams. Authorities say more than 40 rounds were fired from a 9 mm handgun.
Two students were killed:
- Ella Cook, 19, a sophomore from a Birmingham, Alabama suburb, a campus student leader
- Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, 18, a freshman from Brandermill, Virginia, described as an aspiring neurosurgeon
They were in a study group preparing for an economics final.
Nine other students were wounded. University President Christina Paxson said one of the wounded was discharged from the hospital, seven were in critical but stable condition, and one — Kendall Turner — was in critical condition.
The university has cancelled all remaining classes and exams for the semester.
The person of interest who wasn't
On Sunday, investigators detained a man in his 20s as a person of interest — then released him late Sunday night after determining the evidence pointed "in a different direction." The release marked a major setback in the investigation.
The new video
On Monday, Providence police released three videos and photos captured around 2 p.m. Saturday — roughly two hours before the shooting — near Hope Street and the intersections of Benevolent and Manning streets, on the College Hill neighborhood near campus.
The footage shows a person dressed in all black, wearing a mask and a dark two-tone jacket, walking on a sidewalk. Authorities believe the individual is the same person seen in previously released footage and say the new material provides the clearest images yet of the suspect.
The FBI describes the suspect as a man approximately 5 feet 8 inches tall with a stocky build. Officials stress he is considered armed and dangerous.
"We have a murderer out there." — Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha
The $50,000 reward
The FBI announced a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the identification, arrest, and conviction of the person responsible.
Anyone with information is asked to contact:
- FBI: 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324) or tips.fbi.gov
- Providence Police: 401-272-3121
The FBI's Evidence Response Team remains on campus processing the scene, and investigators have asked neighbors and businesses to review any home surveillance or CCTV footage from the area around the time of the attack. Close to 200 tips have been received so far.
Brown University is urging anyone who was inside the Barus & Holley building on Friday or Saturday to contact police — "even an incidental detail may be helpful."
What we don't know
- The suspect's identity or motive. Law enforcement has not publicly identified the shooter, and officials have declined to speculate on motive.
- How the shooter got inside the first-floor classroom remains under investigation. Authorities note the engineering building has relatively few cameras — a gap that has forced investigators to lean heavily on neighborhood surveillance footage.
The suspect remains at large. This is a developing story.
If you or someone you know is affected by this tragedy, resources are available: SAMHSA's Disaster Distress Helpline is 1-800-985-5990 (call or text).
Source: Associated Press, via livemint.com — read the original report
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