Authorities have released images of a second suspect who was ‘in proximity’ to the Brown University gunman in the ongoing manhunt for the at-large killer.
Investigators said Wednesday they are actively seeking a second individual in connection with the shooting that unfolded Saturday at the Rhode Island college, where two people were killed and nine others injured.
Officials showed pictures of a tall, slender man wearing a blue jacket, grey hoodie, and a light colored satchel slung over his right shoulder, who they say ‘was in proximity of the person of interest’ at the time of the shooting.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the tip line at 401-272-3121.
The announcement comes as the manhunt for the killer stretches into its fifth day, with authorities coming under mounting pressure following a series of mishaps during the investigation.
Authorities say they are urgently trying to speak to the second individual for information about the suspected gunman, who remains at large and has only been seen in grainy surveillance footage that has not led to an identification.
In previously released surveillance images, the suspected gunman is seen with a heavyset build standing around 5’8″, wearing dark clothing, a black mask, and an apparent limp in his gait.
Investigators have not elaborated on how the second suspect may be connected to the case, beyond saying he was ‘in proximity’ to the gunman.
The ongoing nature of the manhunt and looming questions over the investigation have brought scrutiny on officials in the days following the tragedy.
On Sunday, police faced backlash after releasing a ‘person of interest’ who was detained following the shooting, conceding that they had taken the wrong person into custody.
The fiasco put the investigation back at square one, and on Tuesday officials seemingly admitted they had nothing as they appealed for ‘even an incidental detail’ from the public that could point to the gunman’s identity.
On a timeline of the suspect’s movements after the shooting, the stocky gunman was seen walking on a street in the Providence, Rhode Island community minutes after the shooting at 2:08pm on Saturday.
Ring camera and surveillance footage then showed the gunman slowly strolling on the sidewalks over the next half an hour, as observers analyzed the suspect’s gait, including an apparent limp on his left leg and walking with his hands behind his back.
Victims of the horror shooting have been named as Brown University students Ella Cook, 19, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, 18.
The horror shooting spree on Saturday saw the gunman target a single classroom in Brown University’s Barus & Holley engineering building, as students prepared for an upcoming exam.
Law enforcement experts have said the choice to shoot up that classroom, which was on the seventh floor of the building, indicates the gunman had picked that room specifically.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha admitted at a press conference on Tuesday that officials have ‘nothing new’ and were clueless as to ‘any kind of motive.’
Over 1,200 surveillance cameras are situated on the Brown University campus, but images of the suspected gunman so far show only vague, fuzzy glimpses of a heavyset man wearing dark clothing and a mask.
President Trump led criticisms of a lack of surveillance evidence, writing on Truth Social: ‘Why did Brown University have so few Security Cameras? There can be no excuse for that. In the modern age, it just doesn’t get worse.’
Neronha blaming the outdated systems in the building where it happened for the lack of security cameras, saying it unfolded in an older section of the building and admitted that the inconclusive images the public has already seen are all we may get.
‘There is video inside the building, there are cameras inside the building. What we have released to you are videos of this person of interest,’ the prosecutor said.
‘I want to be clear because later on, there may be other videos that get released in the course of a prosecution, likely will be at some point, they show things like chaos after the shooting. But they don’t show, is the, is this person of interest?’
In a shocking update on Tuesday, investigators revealed new surveillance footage that showed the suspect casually strolling past police officers as they worked the scene.
The gunman appeared in no rush as he walked by the cops, bringing renewed scrutiny on how law enforcement allowed the killer to slip through the net.
Cops said that in the chaotic moments after the shooting, the gunman was able to escape out of an exit door to the engineering building and onto a street outside.
By the time cops arrived on the scene and swept the building, the shooter was already making a break for it, and little forensic evidence has been shared that could point to a suspect.
