Brown University shooting probe faces hurdles after campus empties out as witnesses scatter: former FBI agent

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Brown University shooting probe faces hurdles after campus empties out as witnesses scatter: former FBI agent

Brown University shooting investigation faces challenges after students sent home for winter break, former officials warn about witness availability

Adam Sabes

Ashley Papa Fox News

Published

December 17, 2025 8:00am EST

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Former FBI investigator says Brown University's decision to send students home creates 'challenge'

Former FBI investigator Bill Daly told Fox News Digital that Brown University's decision to send students home after the shooting creates a "challenge" for investigators.

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The investigation into the Brown University shooting faces hurdles after students were allowed to go home for winter break, former law enforcement officials said.

The shooting at Brown University happened around 4 p.m. Saturday at the Barus and Holley engineering building. A person of interest was taken into custody early Sunday morning, but was later released.

Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov were both killed in Saturday's shooting. Cook, 19, served as the vice president of the Brown University College Republicans.

Following the shooting, Brown University canceled all exams, classes and any other projects that were scheduled. Students were told they could go home for winter break.

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Police gather outside an entrance to Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Police gather outside an entrance to Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

"This choice was made out of our profound concern for all students, faculty and staff on our campus. In the immediate aftermath of these devastating events, we recognize that learning and assessment are significantly hindered in the short term and that many students and others will wish to depart campus," Brown University Provost Francis J. Doyle III wrote in a message to the campus community. "Students are free to leave if they are able."

Former FBI investigator Bill Daly told Fox News Digital that the decision by Brown University administrators to send students home could slow down the investigation.

"I think one of the softest aspects of this investigation is the fact that the students and some of the faculty members or assistant teaching staff who were either in the building or in the room where the shooting took place have now left to go home, maybe left the campus and are not necessarily generally available for interviews," Daly said. "It's certainly preferred when you have a crime occur is that you immediately segregate those people who may be witnesses so that there's no kind of cross pollution of what people heard or saw."

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This undated file image shows Ella Cook, a Brown University student who was killed in a mass shooting on campus in Providence, R.I., Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. (Instagram/elinacoutlakis)
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This undated file image shows Ella Cook, a Brown University student who was killed in a mass shooting on campus in Providence, R.I., Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. (Instagram/elinacoutlakis)
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File photo of Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, who is reportedly one of the victims in the mass shooting incident at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, Dec. 13, 2025. (GoFundMe)
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File photo of Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, who is reportedly one of the victims in the mass shooting incident at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, Dec. 13, 2025. (GoFundMe)

"That opportunity has kind of passed by," he said. "Right now, the best thing that's possible is for these students and maybe some of the faculty, assistant teachers, et cetera, who are there, to have these virtual discussions with the police, document what they believe they've either heard or saw."

Daly said it's very important for investigators to get in touch with students who were at the crime scene.

"I still think it's a very important part of this investigation to have any of those people, any of the other students, any of faculty, the assistant teaching faculty who were there," he said. "So the fact that they're now kind of gone to all kind of corners of the country, this creates more of a challenge."

The University of Idaho canceled classes for a shorter period of time after four students were killed in November 2022, though some students went home early for fall break after the shooting.

Michael Balboni, former homeland security advisor for New York State, told Fox News Digital the eyewitness accounts of the crime become harder to get since students were told they could leave.

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Surveillance camera footage of alleged Brown University shooter

FBI Boston released a timeline of surveillance camera footage that captures a person of interest in the Brown University shooting. (FBI Boston via X)

"It's very difficult to try to get eyewitness accounts, everything from how did the individual walk into the room where the shooting was done," Balboni said.

Balboni, however, said that Brown administrators were forced to make a "very difficult decision" in canceling exams and letting students go home.

Adam Sabes is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to Adam.Sabes@fox.com and on Twitter @asabes10.

Brown University shooting probe faces hurdles after campus empties out as witnesses scatter: former FBI agent