Authorities in Providence, Rhode Island, held another press conference on Tuesday afternoon to provide an update on the investigation into the Saturday shooting on Brown University's campus, which left two students dead and at least eight others wounded. What emerged from Tuesday's pressers were scant new details and the sense that the officials conducting the presser aren't particularly authorities on much of anything.
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley opened the press conference by referencing a newly released video and then turning the podium over to Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez. The newly released video is essentially a compilation of surveillance videos from multiple cameras in and around the area of the shooting, pieced together. It shows the same individual depicted in the featured image of this article — what appears to be a man in a dark stocking cap, zip-up jacket, dark pants, dark gloves, and a mask, and who appears to be carrying extra weight in his mid-section. The individual is seen strolling in the area from several different camera angles.
Rhode Island AG Responds to Questions Over Lack of Hallway Cameras at Brown University
— News is Dead (@newsisdead) December 16, 2025
Questions over surveillance coverage at Brown University intensified after a reporter pressed state officials on how a multi-billion-dollar institution could lack hallway cameras in the area… https://t.co/QC3CtHcr6v pic.twitter.com/u01e7WX6ix
Per Perez, their goal in releasing this additional, enhanced video is so that the public can see the person's body movements, posture, and way they carry their weight in order to help with the identification of the individual. Perez invited anyone in the area with a camera system, including Teslas, to look and see if they have any pertinent footage going back at least a week. He explained that after the shooting, they discovered that the individual was in the area at 10:30 that morning, so they want to see if he was casing the area even before then. They do believe that is what he was doing in that earlier footage.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Ted Docks (from the Boston field office) reiterated that they are assisting local and state police. Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha stated that the investigation is "going really well," noting the dozens of agents/detectives/prosecutors working to put the case together, and stating that they "just need a little patience" (from the public).
Rhode Island Governor Daniel McKee and Brown University President Christina Paxson also spoke but shed virtually no light on anything.
READ MORE: Is It Me, or Is There Something Seriously Off About the Brown University Shooting Investigation?
Murdered Brown University Students Were Bright Lights and Upstanding Community Members Lost to Us
Mayor Smiley returned to the podium to affirm that they continue to have enhanced police presence throughout the city to bolster confidence. He noted that he had been visiting area schools and somehow managed to make the fact that he saw a little boy — a second grader — skipping during one of his visits (blessedly oblivious to the situation) sound oddly sinister. Smiley did provide an update on the conditions of the survivors, noting that of the eight hospitalized, one has been discharged, one remains in critical condition, five are in critical but stable (and improving) condition, and one is in stable condition.
There was some confusion when Chief Perez was asked if they only had video from outside the buildings. AG Neronha repeatedly stepped in to "clarify" the information. He acknowledged that there is video from inside the building as well, but they are not releasing that as it does not show the person of interest, but instead, only shows the chaos of the students fleeing from the shooting. He further explained that there was a major addition put on the building where the shooting took place in the last five years, with the newer portion of the building in front, attached to the older portion in the back. There are cameras in the new part of the building, but few, if any, in the older part, and that is where the shooting took place. He maintained that the only video of the person of interest is from the exterior cameras, insisting they would release any footage they believed would be helpful in identifying him.
Perez was asked whether the two students killed were targeted and stated that they are still investigating that.
The biggest takeaway from the latest press conference, aside from the distinct impression that we're being treated to a modern-day version of the Keystone Cops, is that they've been able to piece together enhanced video (all from exterior cameras) of the person of interest who appears to have been casing the area prior to the shooting and are hoping someone will recognize him. We still don't know how he accessed the building, what weapon he used, whether any of the victims were targeted, what the shooter purportedly yelled during the shooting, etc. But they're working on it.
Let's hope, for the sake of the victims and the community, they're able to figure it out.
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