
(NEW YORK) — President Donald Trump posted to social media early on Wednesday regarding the ongoing search for a gunman who killed two students at Brown University last weekend, criticizing the university for having so few security cameras on campus.
“Why did Brown University have so few Security Cameras?” the president wrote. “There can be no excuse for that. In the modern age, it just doesn’t get worse!!!”
Students Ella Cook, 19, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, 18, were killed in the shooting, which occurred on Saturday afternoon. Nine other students were injured in the attack.
As the search for a person of interest in the shooting stretched into its fifth day on Wednesday, the Providence Police Department released images of an individual investigators said “was in proximity of the person of interest.” Police said only that they would like to speak to the individual.
During a news conference Tuesday night, Col. Oscar Perez, chief of the Providence Police Department, said the only videos investigators have released so far are from outside the building.
“That’s all we have. Not inside, just outside,” Perez said.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha added that investigators have found no security video of the gunman inside the school’s Barus & Holley engineering building, where the shooting unfolded in a lecture hall.
He said the shooting happened in an old section of the engineering complex.
“There was a major addition put onto that building within the last five years or so. That is a modern building attached to a much older one in the back,” Neronha explained. “The shooting occurs in the old part, towards the back, towards Hope Street. In that older part of the building, there are fewer, if any, cameras in that location. I imagine because it’s an older building.”
Neronha said there are cameras in the newer section of the complex, saying they captured “things like the chaos after the shooting.”
“But what they don’t show is this person of interest,” Neronha said. “So, that’s why we haven’t released those videos. What you do have are videos from a camera outside the Brown building and other cameras from around the neighborhood that the good men and women of law enforcement located and put together in this montage.”
Just after the shooting, which the FBI said occurred at 4:03 p.m. local time, a security video captured the individual emerging onto Hope Street from what investigators described as “lot 42” on the Brown campus, near the Barus & Holley building.
As the individual crossed Hope Street, a police cruiser with its emergency lights flashing was seen less than a block away from him, pulling up and stopping on Hope Street near the scene of the shooting.
Neronha said the Barus & Holley building is on the east edge of the campus, abutting a residential neighborhood.
“It’s not in the heartland of the campus, it’s not the green, and there are several greens. It’s not any of them,” Neronha said. “So, it’s right on the edge of the campus, and where the shooting took place is at the very edge of that building on the edge of the campus.”
Neronha added, “As those of you who know Providence know, you are very quickly into a residential neighborhood, which is why the video footage you are seeing of this person of interest’s movements pre-and post-shooting are in that neighborhood.”
In a statement released late Tuesday night, a Brown University spokesperson said there are more than 1,200 security cameras installed across the campus, specifically in high-traffic areas.
“Brown’s security cameras do not extend to every hallway, classroom, laboratory and office across the 250+ buildings on campus,” the spokesperson said. “For security reasons, it is not prudent to share where cameras are and are not relative to individual buildings and locations.”
The spokesperson added that access to most buildings on campus during the daytime “are open and accessible, while after hours, ID card swipes are required for entry.”
Brown has considerably increased security on campus since the shooting, and the school spokesperson said, “We will do a large-scale, systematic security review of the entire campus.”
On Wednesday, the Providence Police Department said investigators are trying to identify an individual they would like to speak to who “was in proximity of the person of interest.” The police department released three images of the person and asked for the public’s help.
In an update on the conditions of victims who are still being treated at Rhode Island Hospital, officials said one patient remains in critical but stable condition, six others are in stable condition and two victims have been discharged.
Police also released enhanced surveillance images and video of a person of interest and asked the public for help identifying the individual based on movement patterns, posture and body language.
Authorities said they believe the person of interest was in the area from around 10 a.m. on Saturday, hours before the attack. The individual may have been surveying the neighborhood in advance, investigators said.
“We believe that he was actually casing out the area,” Col. Perez said of the person of interest, adding, “We strongly believe that he is a suspect in the incident.”
Police said the gunman fled the campus after the shooting. A person of interest was detained and then released by police on Sunday. No charges have been filed and police have not commented on a possible motive.
The FBI described the person of interest as “a male, approximately 5’8″ with a stocky build.”
Police said reviewing the large volume of video data is time-consuming and that public assistance could help identify key moments.
Officials reported they have received hundreds of tips so far, with nearly 200 considered actionable and still under investigation.
Authorities reiterated that there is no credible or specific ongoing threat related to the shooting, but said increased security measures will remain in place as a precaution while the investigation continues.
ABC News’ Alex Ederson contributed to this report.
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