Brown University Shooting: Eyewitness Accounts and Ongoing Investigation

On Monday, a student from Brown University recounted the frightening experience of hearing gunfire and the urgent evacuation that followed a tragic shooting incident, which resulted in two fatalities.

Tristan Kaiser Parker shared with CNN News Central that during an economics review session on Saturday, he noticed a “commotion” from a nearby room, roughly 100 feet away. Shortly after, a friend called him urging him to exit the engineering building.

“So, from what I gathered, there was a lot of noise, and then someone shouted that an intruder was present and that everyone needed to leave,” Kaiser-Parker explained. About 20 seconds later, he received that crucial call; his friend was in the lobby and believed he had heard what sounded like a gunshot. The chaos escalated quickly, according to Kaiser-Parker.

“So, we tried to gather everyone, especially the freshmen and others,” Kaiser-Parker continued. “I’m the captain of the car team, so there were a lot of us in that room. We aimed to calmly and swiftly get everyone out through the back door and onto the street.”

The identities of the victims included Ella Cook, who tragically lost her life in the shooting, and Mohammad Aziz Umurzokov, a student, and vice president of the Republican College of Brown University. Authorities are actively searching for the shooter after releasing the initial person of interest on Monday, with nine others injured during the event.

Joseph Oduro, a 21-year-old lecturer at Brown University, recounted how he and 20 other students were hiding behind their desks when the shooting started. They heard the assailant shout something, but Oduro was not entirely certain what it was.

Several hours afterward, Brown University President Christina Paxson expressed that she was still unaware of key information regarding the shooting, like whether the students were engaged in a meeting or an exam at the time of the incident.

Meanwhile, Democratic Providence Mayor Brett Smiley reassured the public, stating there was no immediate threat to the city’s residents, and emphasized that sheltering in place was not necessary.