FBI Offers $50,000 Reward in Brown University Shooting Manhunt

Deadly Attack Rocks Ivy League Campus

A gunman opened fire during final exams at Brown University's engineering building on Saturday afternoon, killing two students and injuring nine others in what authorities describe as a targeted attack on the Providence, Rhode Island campus. The shooting occurred at around 4 p.m. ET at the Barus & Holley engineering and physics building in an economics class as students were taking their final exams.

The two victims were identified as Ella Cook, a Birmingham, Alabama native and leader of the College Republicans at Brown, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, a freshman who was studying to become a doctor. Cook, of Alabama, was a sophomore at Brown, and Umurzokov, a U.S. dual citizen from Uzbekistan, was in his first semester. Umurzokov "wanted to be a neurosurgeon 'cause when he was 10 he had a very serious eight-hours-long brain surgery."

Seven patients injured in the shooting remain at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, one in critical condition and five in critical but stable condition. The attack sent hundreds of students and faculty into lockdown during what should have been a routine exam period at the prestigious Ivy League institution.

Manhunt Intensifies with Federal Reward

The FBI has issued a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the alleged gunman as the search enters its fourth day. The FBI released a poster with three images of a person whom they're seeking, calling them an "unknown suspect" and including a short description: "The suspect is described as a male, approximately 5'8" with a stocky build."

Federal authorities have released new surveillance footage showing a person wearing a black mask walking near the campus approximately two hours before the shooting. New video shared by the FBI shows a timeline of the movements of the person of interest on Saturday, both before and after the shooting, tracking their path through various streets near the campus.

The investigation took a significant turn when a person of interest detained earlier was released from custody late Sunday after ballistics evidence showed that one of the guns found with the man did not match the ballistics recovered at the scene. Providence officials said they have received hundreds of tips so far, with nearly 200 still being investigated.

Campus Community in Crisis

The shooter "definitely targeted Brown University," and investigators are looking into a possible motive, the Providence police chief said. The attack has fundamentally altered the academic calendar, with Brown canceling final exams and classes for the rest of the fall semester. Even the University of Rhode Island canceled in-person classes for the day, though there is no known threat to that campus 30 miles south of Brown's Providence location.

Students described scenes of terror as they hid under desks and barricaded themselves in classrooms. Chiang-Heng Chien, a doctoral engineering student who was working at a campus lab, said people hid under their desks as shots rang out. "We decided to turn the lights off and close all the doors and hide under our desks." The engineering building, which usually requires ID card access, had doors propped open on Saturday as students gathered for weekend studying.

The tragedy has prompted Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee to order a sweeping review of school safety measures and commit "every resource available" to assist Providence and Brown University as the manhunt continues. As the Brown community grapples with this unprecedented violence, the investigation continues with federal resources deployed and a substantial reward now incentivizing public assistance in bringing the perpetrator to justice.