Investigators in Providence, Rhode Island, recovered physical evidence — including live ammunition and DNA — from the scene of the mass shooting at Brown University, where two students were killed, and nine others were wounded.
Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez confirmed to Fox News on Wednesday that investigators are “in the process of examining that evidence,” adding, “And yes, we have some DNA that we manipulated and so it just progresses every day.” The development marks a major step in a case that has frustrated the public over the lack of information and footage on the person of interest.
Perez told Fox News that the investigation “progresses every day with forensics, it progresses every day with witness statements, and so yeah, we’re just trying to find out, and we are going to do our best.” But at a press conference on Wednesday, the police chief admitted that the gunman “could be anywhere.”
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Providence police and the FBI initially released grainy images and videos of a person of interest in connection to the shooting, sparking criticism from the public over the lack of security footage on campus. Authorities then released “enhanced” videos of the person of interest on Tuesday. The videos and photos show a person wearing a mask and a coat walking down streets in Providence before the shooting. Police also released a map showing the streets where the person of interest “is confirmed to have been present on the day of the incident.”
ENHANCED VIDEO: We are releasing an enhanced video of the person of interest in the Brown University incident. Footage was captured on the East Side of Providence on Saturday afternoon before the incident.
Please share widely and contact the official tip line if you have… pic.twitter.com/mewBSflOiO
— Providence Police (@ProvidenceRIPD) December 16, 2025
On Wednesday, Providence Police released images of a second person who they say “was in proximity of the person of interest” and asked the public for any information on the second person.
Investigators are asking for the public’s help in identifying and speaking to the individual shown in these photos who was in proximity of the person of interest.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the tip line at 401-272-3121. pic.twitter.com/DJ26rruuc9
— Providence Police (@ProvidenceRIPD) December 17, 2025
Students Ella Cook, a 19-year-old University College Republicans vice president from Alabama, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, an 18-year-old from Uzbekistan, were killed while they studied in a first-floor classroom in Brown’s Barus & Holley building. Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said that the older building has “fewer, if any, cameras” compared to other buildings on campus because of its age.
“So, there’s the back part of the building, the old part, and the front part, the new part,” Neronha said. “The shooting occurs in the old part towards the back.”
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