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Brown University was ‘soft target’ for shooter who remains at large, criminal profiler says
By Michael Ruiz, Greg Norman
Published December 15, 2025
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Brown University offered a "soft target" to the "psycho killer" who opened fire during a weekend study session, according to a criminal profiler, who cited unsecured doors, limited cameras and the fact that the gunman remained at large Monday.
The unidentified gunman barged into a lecture hall at the campus in Providence, Rhode Island, around 4 p.m. Saturday, according to authorities, killing two students and injuring nine more.
"College was a soft target — doors open and no security," said John Kelly, a criminal profiler and the president of STALK Inc. "The killer was familiar with the area, enraged, probably at the college or engineering program. Organized. Dressed for the occasion — and very comfortable with a semiautomatic."
ELITE IVY LEAGUE CAMPUS LATEST TO GRAPPLE WITH MASS SHOOTING AS VIOLENCE ERUPTS AT BROWN UNIVERSITY
Students are escorted by law enforcement officers to a building at Brown University after a shooting, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Authorities have said there were few security cameras in the Barus and Holley building, where the shooting took place.
The FBI released surveillance video showing a person of interest wearing dark clothes at an intersection to the northeast of the crime scene. He remained at large Monday afternoon, after police questioned but released someone else in connection with the incident.
FBI agents canvass a neighborhood near Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, on Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. A gunman killed two students and injured nine more during a finals week study session on Saturday. (Greg Norman-Diamond/Fox News Digital)
"They don’t know if he’s 500 miles away or five doors down the street," Kelly told Fox News Digital. "What they do know is he’s a psycho killer and mass shooter. If they don’t get him, there is a lot of fear for people living there, and there will be a lot of scared kids returning to campus."
BROWN UNIVERSITY STUDENT DESCRIBES HARROWING HOURS-LONG LOCKDOWN AFTER DEADLY CAMPUS SHOOTING
A map showing the Barus and Holley Building at Brown University, where a gunman killed two and wounded nine Saturday, as well as the intersection where a dark-clad person of interest was seen on surveillance video. (Google Maps, Fox News Digital)
Police and federal agents were seen canvassing a wider area, including the neighborhood surrounding the Terrence Murray Baseball Stadium about five blocks to the northeast.
Forensic investigators wearing Tyvek suits were seen combing through a dumpster outside the Barus and Holley building.
File photo of Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, who is reportedly one of the victims in the mass shooting at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, Dec. 13, 2025. (GoFundMe)
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The two victims who died were identified as Ella Cook, a 19-year-old from Alabama, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, originally from Uzbekistan but a naturalized U.S. citizen from Virginia.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/brown-university-soft-target-shooter-who-remains-large-criminal-profiler-says