The Providence police department has released a new video of the person of interest in the Brown University shooting and is calling on the public to pay special attention to the shooter’s posture, gait, and body language in order to identify them.
The newly released footage was captured on the East Side of Providence on Saturday afternoon, about two hours prior to the shooting. In the video, a masked individual wearing a black beanie, green jacket, and black gloves walks in the residential neighborhood by Brown’s campus.
In Tuesday’s press conference, Providence police chief Oscar L Perez said the video shows the individual “casing the area”.
“That’s what criminals do prior to committing a crime,” Perez said.
The manhunt for the shooter has been going on since Saturday, when a person dressed in black killed at least two people and wounded nine others at Brown during final exams. A person of interest was detained then released on Sunday, and FBI director Kash Patel has faced criticism for prematurely declaring the case solved.
At the press conference, Perez confirmed that the investigation was ongoing as hundreds of tips have come in: “We have been receiving hundreds of tips. However, we’re about close to 200 actionable tips that we’re still conducting investigations on, which is incredible and is important.”
Perez also said that police are asking for video footage from any type of camera footage from residents near Waterman Avenue and Hope Street in Providence. He noted that such footage – potentially from equipped vehicles such as Teslas – going as far back as “at least a week” could be helpful in their search.
Rhode Island attorney general Peter Neronha also said during the conference that he believes the investigation is “going really well” and that locals “should take confidence” in law enforcement and prosecutors on the case who are “veterans of what they do”.
“They’re smart, they’re professional and they’re getting the resources from the mayor and the governor that they need, the state police as well, to get this job done and I’m confident they are going to be able to do that. Just need a little bit of patience,” Neronha said.
Brown president Christina Paxson also spoke on Tuesday and emphasized that the university “is deeply committed to the safety and security and well-being of our community, and I’ve been deeply saddened to see people questioning that.”
“We understand that as time goes on, there is maybe a natural instinct to assign responsibility for a tragic event like this,” she said. “Anxiety and fear is very natural, but the shooter is responsible.”
The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information on the shooter.
