FBI experts on Tuesday combed the area near a weekend mass shooting at elite Brown University that left two students dead, as the manhunt for the gunman entered its fourth day.
Images posted by the bureau on social media showed laboratory experts and evidence response teams conducting forensic searches on the snow-covered ground outside the campus in Providence, Rhode Island.
The shooting occurred on Saturday when a man armed with a rifle burst into a campus building where exams were being conducted and opened fire before fleeing.
Providence officials played a new timeline of video during a news conference Tuesday that appeared to show the suspect walking through a residential area of the town.
“There is enhanced video footage, so we’re asking the public to look at body movements, body postures… that may help you identify this individual,” said Col. Oscar Perez, the town’s police chief.
Perez reiterated his appeal to the public who own homes and vehicles equipped with cameras to provide police footage.
Investigators have received two hundred actionable tips, he added.
Authorities initially detained a man in connection with the shooting but later released him, saying he was not involved.
The FBI offered a $50,000 reward for the suspect’s capture, saying he should be considered “armed and dangerous” and describing him as “approximately 5 feet 8 inches tall and stocky.”
On Tuesday, Brown University asked students who may have been in the area of the shooting on Saturday to schedule interviews with police.
Later in the day, the school also issued a statement condemning “allegations, speculation and conspiracy” on social media against a student.
“If this individual’s name is in any way relevant to the current investigation, they will actively seek to identify this individual and make the information publicly available,” the school said.
– Tribute to the victims –
The two students killed were Ella Cook, vice president of the Brown Republican Association, and Mohammad Aziz Umurzokov, who was from Uzbekistan and had hoped to become a neurosurgeon.
“Ella comes to Brown from Mountain Brook, Alabama, as a passionate and intellectually curious member of our community with an interest in French and French studies,” said Brown President Christine H. Paxson.
“Mohammed… was known for his drive, commitment and discipline, especially as he pursued his lofty ambitions to become a neurosurgeon and make a positive impact on the world.”
The attack was the latest mass shooting in the United States, where attempts to restrict gun access face political gridlock.
There have been more than 300 mass shootings in the United States so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as four or more people shot to death.
At a Christmas event at the White House on Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump briefly addressed the shooting, saying “things can happen” and wishing the injured “a speedy recovery.”
Brown University, which has about 11,000 students, issued an emergency alert on Saturday after reports of shootings near its engineering and physics departments. Two exams were scheduled at that time.
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