PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Additional police were sent to Providence schools on Tuesday to reassure worried parents that their kids will be safe with the Brown University shooter on the loose and no indication yet that investigators have zeroed in on a specific suspect.
Authorities on Monday released several new videos of the man suspected in Saturday's mass shooting inside of a Brown classroom, which killed two students and wounded nine others. After releasing a person of interest in the case Sunday because the evidence pointed elsewhere, they once again pleaded with the public for any tips that might help them catch the attacker.
Tensions remain high in Providence. With the investigation in its third day Monday, officers were still knocking on doors and poring through dumpsters and backyards near the Ivy League campus in search of additional video evidence or other clues.
But some locals expressed defiance.
“Of course it feels scary. But at the same time, I think that if the person really wanted to scare us, we shouldn’t allow him or her to win," said Tatjana Stojanovic, a Providence parent who lives next door to the university campus. "Despite all of that, we should just go about our lives. I mean, obviously, you cannot forget this. But I think we shouldn’t cower and just sort of stop living despite what has happened.
In the five videos authorities have released of the suspect, he was wearing a mask or his face was turned. The FBI described him as about 5 feet, 8 inches (173 centimeters) tall, with a stocky build.
The attack and the shooter's escape have raised questions about campus security, prompting criticism about lack of security cameras and leading some to call for better locks on campus doors. Others pushed back, though, saying such efforts do little to address the real issue.
“The issue isn’t the doors, it’s the guns,” said Zoe Kass, a senior at Brown. “And all of this, like, ‘Oh, the doors need to be locked.’ I get it, parents are scared. But any of us could have opened the door for the guy if the doors had been locked.”
After spending of her life in schools where every door was locked and school shootings continued to persist, Kass said such security measures only created “the illusion of safety.”
Meanwhile, details have begun to emerge about the victims, who were in the first-floor classroom in the school's engineering building studying for a final.
Only one of the wounded students had been released as of Sunday, Brown President Christina Paxson said. One was in critical condition and the other seven were in critical but stable condition. Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said Monday that none of their conditions had worsened, but that he didn’t have further information.
One of the wounded students, 18-year-old freshman Spencer Yang of New York City, told the New York Times and the Brown Daily Herald that there was a mad scramble after the gunman entered the room. Many students ran toward the front, but Yang said he wound up on the ground between some seats and was shot in the leg. He expected to be discharged within days.
Ella Cook, a 19-year-old sophomore who was one of the two students killed, was vice president of the Brown College Republicans and beloved in her church in Birmingham, Alabama.
In announcing her death Sunday, the Rev. R. Craig Smalley described her as “an incredible grounded, faithful, bright light” who encouraged and “lifted up those around her.”
The other student who was killed was MukhammadAziz Umurzokov, an 18-year-old freshman from Brandermill, Virginia, who was majoring in biochemistry and neuroscience. His family immigrated to the U.S. from Uzbekistan when he was a kid.
As a child, Umurzokov suffered a neurological condition that required surgery, and he later wore a back brace because of scoliosis, his sister Samira Umurzokova told The Associated Press by phone. He knew from an early age that he wanted to be a neurosurgeon to help others like himself.
“He had so many hardships in his life, and he got into this amazing school and tried so hard to follow through with the promise he made when was 7 years old,” she said.
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Contributing were Associated Press journalists Jennifer McDermott and Matt O'Brien in Providence; Brian Slodysko in Washington; Michael Casey in Boston; Patrick Whittle in Portland, Maine; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; and Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas.