RI - Mass Shooting at Brown University - Providence 13 Dec 2025

[keek]

A thought just occurred to me, if this was a student there, what if he simply walked back to his dorm room or house near campus. He sheltered there pretending to be like everyone else. If he didn't bring a phone and they can't ID him from the one video they have, then it's possible he is just still on campus and will head "home" with everyone else today pretending he's just a student impacted by this tragedy.

Oddly, I right off felt, they won't catch him. I was gladly surprised when they did, but it wasn't him they say. I shortly had just got this feeling that he'd not be found. IF he, please, is, it would be from someone where he's from that is suspicious and drops a tip. IMO

 

[Mere2828]

What I absolutely cannot understand is the 'lack' of camera footage. This is an area with TONS of cameras, not just the cameras on Brown's campus in other academic and residential buildings. Nearly every stoplight in that couple block radius has a camera. Not to mention the other schools in the area (Wheeler School, Moses Brown, RISD, etc.)... plus it is a highly trafficked RIPTA route (the local public bus) with 10+ stops nearby and the bus has cameras. All of the businesses nearby, Tesla (and other cars similar), multi-family homes with Ring (or other) doorbell cameras...

 

[Stunned]

Someone in this thread said they are moving in a different direction. If you scroll up you can see it.

So maybe the guy they caught on camera isn't him?

 

[Sundog]

No imminent danger, no threat to the public.....carry on, nothing to see here...
For all we know this guy could be local, living right there in Providence, blending in.
If my kid was still at Brown, I would insist she come home...like yesterday.

I would assume that the majority of the students have gone home by now, other than international students and any students who have nowhere else to go. We had to do this during Covid-19 when without notice we had to close down the university for a few weeks due to state and federal mandates. We put international students and students with nowhere else to go in one building, temporarily, so that it could be managed in relation to dining, security and other needs.

Also, this is the time of year when students leave for the Christmas holidays/winter break, although leaving a little earlier and without taking exams and/or completing academic assignments.

 

[appleatcha]

So did he make the drive from Wisconsin? Was he there for a game?

The POI with ties to Wisconsin was cleared. He wasn't involved.

 

[LAborn]

So maybe the guy they caught on camera isn't him?

I interpret this to mean the guy on video is not the person they brought in for questioning.

 

[Stunned]

I interpret this to mean the guy on video is not the person they brought in for questioning.

Yes, I'm sorry. The guy we've been talking about, the one we thought they captured in the hotel room.

 

[Inthedetails]

So did he make the drive from Wisconsin? Was he there for a game?

It wasn't him at all, apparently.

False info.

jmo

 

[thebedbug]

No imminent danger, no threat to the public.....carry on, nothing to see here...
For all we know this guy could be local, living right there in Providence, blending in.
If my kid was still at Brown, I would insist she come home...like yesterday.

I think there is a distinction between what you wrote and what was actually said.

LE and other officials tend to use very specific language in situations like this - ie. no known credible threat, no specific threat, no information about additional threats. What they are saying is that the primary incident appears over and they don't have any evidence (ex. a target list, a manifesto, videos, continued shooting) to suggest it is the beginning of something that will continue imminently.

If they don't know anything else and the perp isn't captured or killed, that's about all they can say.

 

[StarryStarryNight]

LE typically comes out very early to declare something a targeted killing.
That hasn’t happened here, so at this moment, it appears LE does not know the motivation.

 

[thebedbug]

What I absolutely cannot understand is the 'lack' of camera footage. This is an area with TONS of cameras, not just the cameras on Brown's campus in other academic and residential buildings. Nearly every stoplight in that couple block radius has a camera. Not to mention the other schools in the area (Wheeler School, Moses Brown, RISD, etc.)... plus it is a highly trafficked RIPTA route (the local public bus) with 10+ stops nearby and the bus has cameras. All of the businesses nearby, Tesla (and other cars similar), multi-family homes with Ring (or other) doorbell cameras...

I wouldn't think there is a lack of camera footage. I would assume LE is/has been collecting it and looking through many sources over various periods of time.

Are you asking why they haven't released more to the public? I would just go with "for investigative reasons" as the answer. I'm a little surprised we haven't seen more "bystander footage" make it to social media.

 

[ReadySet]

Maybe they have some evidence that it was a targeted attack? That's really the only explanation I can think of that would genuinely mean there was probably no threat to the wider public

Wondering the same. We have heard that the shooter shouted something when he came into the classroom. Maybe those in the room were able to recall it and it indicated that a person in the room was the target. So they know it was targeted and directed very specifically to them, they might have pieced together the situation involving them and have an eye on the shooter.
ETA: I know they often come out early to say if it was targeted, but maybe they don't want the suspect to know at this point.

 

[Serononin]

Wondering the same. We have heard that the shooter shouted something when he came into the classroom. Maybe those in the room were able to recall it and it indicated that a person in the room was the target. So they know it was targeted and directed very specifically to them, they might have pieced together the situation involving them and have an eye on the shooter.
ETA: I know they often come out early to say if it was targeted, but maybe they don't want the suspect to know at this point.

BBM

Plus I'd imagine (hope!) they're being extra cautious about releasing any information after the debacle with the last POI-who-wasn't

 

[Synergizer Bunny]

Back to square one. No word on what ultimately cleared him, but it is clear they know he is NOT the guy.

This really is like the Boston bombings all over again.

I thought about one of your posts where you said something like this guy will not be easy to find...What I thought after the release was...MassGuy was right again...

JMO.

 

[justtrish]

LE typically comes out very early to declare something a targeted killing.
That hasn’t happened here, so at this moment, it appears LE does not know the motivation.

A couple things to consider here about targeted vs not targeted.

I wonder if their statement of going in a different direction now means they do think it was targeted.

I would guess they need to interview every person in that room or who was supposed to be there, but wasn't. Some of those who were shot might not be awake and/or able to talk yet to get an idea of they could be the target.

If they believe it was targeted and that person isn't dead, that person could still be in danger with the perp on the loose.

I would guess if they did believe it was targeted, they might have an idea of who it is, but just not have any evidence to support it other than maybe a person saying they were being stalked, had a crazy ex who wouldn't leave them alone, was being bullied or something like that.

IMO

 

[flowershop]

I just thought I would add this info to the discussion.

Engineering design exams were underway. Outer doors of the building were unlocked but rooms being used for final exams required badge access, Smiley said.

Authorities release person of interest detained in Brown University shooting

The disclosure, made at a hastily convened late night news conference, represents a dramatic setback in an investigation into killings that set off hours of chaos on the Ivy League campus.

www.pbs.org

 

[Inthedetails]

A couple things to consider here about targeted vs not targeted.

I wonder if their statement of going in a different direction now means they do think it was targeted.

I would guess they need to interview every person in that room or who was supposed to be there, but wasn't. Some of those who were shot might not be awake and/or able to talk yet to get an idea of they could be the target.

If they believe it was targeted and that person isn't dead, that person could still be in danger with the perp on the loose.

I would guess if they did believe it was targeted, they might have an idea of who it is, but just not have any evidence to support it other than maybe a person saying they were being stalked, had a crazy ex who wouldn't leave them alone, was being bullied or something like that.

IMO

If targeted, it had to have stalking elements because it was a study session. That's not a well-known, obvious place to find someone, in a Saturday-afternoon study session which probably isn't mandatory to attend.

Did he plan to attack THAT room at THAT time?

Most people outside of Brown, and maybe even outside of that department, wouldn't know a lecture hall would be open, let alone have people in the room, on a Saturday afternoon. If you wanted to hit a group of random students, a weekday seems like the more obvious choice.

jmopinion

 

[Lebowski]

so, do we have any publicly available witness descriptions of the shooter?

all i'm seeing is he was male and wore dark clothes. that's nothing. an entire class was attacked, and while i realize the trauma can distort perceptions and memories, the witnesses must have provided more information than that. tall? short? skinny? fat? what did he look like? was his face covered? did he not have one?

i get that law enforcement usually knows more than the public and often has good reasons to not just put all their cards on the table. but when you have a mass shooter on the loose and you can't find him, i feel like the standard move is to put out a description and ask the public to be on the lookout.

 

[JennieM]

10 min ago

Police are back to initial investigations and sorting “a lot of leads" in Brown University mass shooting, Providence police official says​

From CNN's Brian Todd

Law enforcement authorities are back to early stages in the manhunt for the Brown University mass shooter, the commanding officer of the Providence, Rhode Island, Police Department’s Investigative Division said.

“We have a lot of leads,” Major David Lapatin told CNN on Monday.
The people that are now being looked at as part of the investigation are not hard suspects, he said, and initial inquiries into them are “based on tips from the public.” He did not say how many people are now on law enforcement radar.

After officials on Sunday night announced a person of interest was being released, investigators are working very hard to find the shooter, Lapatin told CNN.

“We’re continuing with a plan. We’re hitting the streets. We’re on it,” he said. “We’re collecting evidence now, seeing if it will lead to a possible arrest.”

Lapatin could “not get into” whether more video evidence has been collected beyond a short clip of a person dressed in dark clothes on a sidewalk.

That image is the “clearest picture we have of the individual we believe to be responsible. But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t other evidence,” Providence Mayor Brett Smiley told CNN on Monday morning.

Still, “We haven’t identified him,” Lapatin said. “We don’t know who he is. How would we know where he is?”

CNN’s Veronica Stracqualursi contributed to this report.

https://edition.cnn.com/us/live-news/brown-university-shooting-manhunt-12-15-25

 

[Lebowski]

If targeted, it had to have stalking elements because it was a study session. That's not a well-known, obvious place to find someone, in a Saturday-afternoon study session which probably isn't mandatory to attend.

Did he plan to attack THAT room at THAT time?

Most people outside of Brown, and maybe even outside of that department, wouldn't know a lecture hall would be open, let alone have people in the room, on a Saturday afternoon. If you wanted to hit a group of random students, a weekday seems like the more obvious choice.

jmopinion

if it was targetted, it seems like this shooter was either targetting a bunch of people in a very odd target group (based on membership in a specific session for a specific college class?), or was possibly targetted just one or two people, but happy to shoot a bunch of bystanders along with the target(s). how common is either of those with targetted shootings??

if he was targetting people because they were in that class, the most obvious possibility was he had also been in the class or was somehow associated with it. but if that's the case, you'd think people would have recognized him, and LE wouldn't have wasted time on the wisconsin POI.