US officials have identified a suspect in the Brown University shooting that killed two students and injured nine others, marking a major breakthrough in the case, US media reported Thursday.
"Investigators believe they have identified a suspect in the Brown University shooting, according to two law enforcement officials familiar with the case," CNN reported. CBS News also confirmed similar information.
Authorities have issued a warrant for the suspect’s arrest following a nearly week-long manhunt. The perpetrator, whose name has not been publicly released, managed to elude authorities after opening fire inside a classroom on Saturday before escaping into the surrounding streets of Providence, Rhode Island.
Multiple grainy surveillance images of the possible suspect were released during the search, but investigators struggled to obtain a clear image of the gunman’s face. “He could be anywhere,” Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez said on Wednesday. “We still don’t know who the person is or where he is.”
The manhunt followed the fatal shooting of students Ella Cook, 19, a sophomore from Alabama, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, 18, an Uzbek American freshman. The university’s over 1,200 security cameras cover much of its 145-acre campus, but none were installed in the section of the Barus & Holley building where the attack occurred.
Investigators are also probing potential ties between the school shooting and the slaying of Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno Lourerio two days later, according to sources. The two elite colleges are less than 50 miles apart.
Campus security and local police faced criticism in the days following the shootings as their search for a suspect initially came up empty, highlighting gaps in surveillance and response.
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