Providence, R.I. — A wave of tense law enforcement activity that spilled into Salem, New Hampshire, has renewed focus on the ongoing manhunt for the person believed responsible for the December 13 mass shooting at Brown University — a tragedy that claimed the lives of two students and wounded nine others as they prepared for finals in an engineering classroom.
Late Thursday afternoon, multiple law enforcement sources told local media that police presence in Salem was connected to the search for the Brown University shooting suspect, with activity centered around what witnesses described as a storage facility. Rumors and unverified images circulating online suggested that the Extra Space Storage location had become surrounded by tactical units, but authorities have not confirmed any arrests, identities, or that the individual pictured is linked to the Brown case or the separate killing of an MIT professor in Brookline, Massachusetts.
At the heart of the broader investigation is a person of interest whom officials have quietly identified and for whom a warrant is reportedly active. Sources say this individual is connected to a vehicle law enforcement believes may have been present both near Brown University on the day of the shooting and in Brookline around the time MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro was shot and killed at his home on December 15. Although the FBI initially stated there was no link between the Brown and Brookline shootings, authorities are now exploring that possibility as they follow leads into multiple states.
Inside Brown’s tight-knit community, the pain is still raw. Students and faculty have gathered at memorials honoring Ella Cook, 19, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, 18, the two victims killed in the attack, while the nine survivors recover from injuries sustained when a gunman opened fire in the Barus & Holley Engineering Building during a final exam review session. The university canceled the remainder of its fall term and scrambled to provide counseling and support as the investigation stretched through the holiday week.
Despite the amplified search, authorities are careful to urge the public not to jump to conclusions based on unverified images or social media claims, warning that such speculation can jeopardize innocent people and hinder investigative work. A woman claiming to be related to the manager of the Salem storage facility described her brother being wrongly detained at gunpoint during Thursday’s activity, but law enforcement has made no official comment on that account.
In Providence, police have released still images and surveillance video showing a masked figure believed to be the shooter and offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to identification and arrest. Investigators are combing through doorbell footage, residential cameras, and tips as they broaden their search to include locations beyond Rhode Island in hopes of finding the person they’re seeking.
With no confirmed motive and the suspect still at large, families of the victims and communities across New England wait anxiously for closure. Officials continue to emphasize that verified leads should be reported only through official law enforcement channels as this complex and heartbreaking investigation unfolds
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