Law enforcement officials in Providence, Rhode Island, continued their hunt Wednesday for a suspect in the Brown University shooting, after releasing a map of the area where they say a person of interest had been. Officials are expected to hold a news conference at 4 p.m. ET with the latest updates on the investigation.
As the search entered its fifth day, authorities have so far been unable to identify a person of interest in the shooting that killed two students and wounded nine others over the weekend. Two of the wounded victims have so far been treated and released from the hospital, according to Providence Mayor Brett Smiley. One person remains hospitalized in critical but stable condition, and five others are in stable condition. The ninth victim suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Police on Wednesday asked for the public's help in identifying someone who they say was seen in the area near the person of interest so they could speak to him. Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez said the person investigators want to speak to appeared to have come near the person of interest at the corner of Benevolent and Cooke streets. In a video released by police, the person of interest appeared to suddenly stop and turn around as he approached the corner.
"I want to urge you, the public, not to rely on AI generated images that are currently being shared on social media," Perez warned at a news conference on Wednesday. "The updates and information you're getting will be provided exclusively through this department's social channels."
In order to avoid any misinformation, Smiley said police have created a page on the department's website where all the digital evidence is currently published.
Providence Police on Wednesday also released a map showing the streets where they say a person of interest is confirmed to have been on Saturday, the day of the shooting.
Providence Police released a map showing the streets where the person of interest in the Brown University shooting is confirmed to have been present on the day of the incident.
Providence Police
Police said they are combing the blue area for possible images and videos that could aid in their investigation.
Several videos of a person of interest in the case were released earlier this week. They show what police say are "enhanced" images captured on the East Side of Providence on Saturday afternoon, approximately two hours before the shooting.
The person of interest is seen walking on a sidewalk and looking around. The person is wearing a face covering.
ENHANCED VIDEO: We are releasing an enhanced video of the person of interest in the Brown University incident. Footage was captured on the East Side of Providence on Saturday afternoon before the incident.
Please share widely and contact the official tip line if you have… pic.twitter.com/mewBSflOiO
Some of the footage released Tuesday by the Providence Police Department on social media appeared to be digitally enhanced versions of previously released videos. Police urged anyone with information to contact the FBI tip line online or at 401-272-3121.
"Even small details may be critical to this," police said.
An image released earlier Tuesday, though blurry, was the clearest picture of the person of interest released so far since the shooting on Saturday. The FBI said the man is about 5-foot-8 with a stocky build.
The FBI shared a timeline of when the videos were captured, including some videos that appear to have been obtained from residents' private cameras. The person of interest is seen from about 2 p.m. on Saturday until just after 4 p.m., around the time the shooting took place.
Police said the individual was walking near Hope and Benevolent streets, just down the block from the Barus & Holley engineering building where the gunman opened fire. Authorities said Monday they had no information about a motive at this point.
Police also asked for the public's help in identifying someone who was seen in the area near the person of interest so they could speak to him.
The FBI has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of the gunman.
Amid growing questions about campus security measures and the lack of better surveillance video, the university released a statement Wednesday saying that while Brown has "an expansive network of security cameras," the cameras "do not extend to every hallway, classroom, laboratory and office across the 250+ buildings on campus."
"Brown has heightened security on campus considerably in recent days, and we will do a large-scale systematic security review of the entire campus. We know we live in a different time," the statement said.
Laura Geller contributed to this report.
