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

The probe into the Brown University shooting faces hurdles aft students were allowed to spell location for wintertime break, erstwhile instrumentality enforcement officials said.

The shooting astatine Brown University happened astir 4 p.m. Saturday astatine the Barus and Holley engineering building. A idiosyncratic of involvement was taken into custody aboriginal Sunday morning, but was aboriginal released.

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

Following the shooting, Brown University canceled each exams, classes and immoderate different projects that were scheduled. Students were told they could spell location for wintertime break.

ELITE IVY LEAGUE CAMPUS LATEST TO GRAPPLE WITH MASS SHOOTING AS VIOLENCE ERUPTS AT BROWN UNIVERSITY

Police stitchery extracurricular an entranceway to Brown University successful Providence, R.I., connected Saturday, during the probe of a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

"This prime was made retired of our profound interest for each students, module and unit connected our campus. In the contiguous aftermath of these devastating events, we admit that learning and appraisal are importantly hindered successful the abbreviated word and that galore students and others volition privation to depart campus," Brown University Provost Francis J. Doyle III wrote successful a connection to the field community. "Students are escaped to permission if they are able."

Former FBI researcher Bill Daly told Fox News Digital that the determination by Brown University administrators to nonstop students location could dilatory down the investigation.

"I deliberation 1 of the softest aspects of this probe is the information that the students and immoderate of the module members oregon adjunct teaching unit who were either successful the gathering oregon successful the country wherever the shooting took spot person present near to spell home, possibly near the field and are not needfully mostly disposable for interviews," Daly said. "It's surely preferred erstwhile you person a transgression hap is that you instantly segregate those radical who whitethorn beryllium witnesses truthful that there's nary benignant of transverse contamination of what radical heard oregon saw."

BROWN UNIVERSITY SHOOTING: TIMELINE OF TERROR THAT LEFT 2 DEAD, 9 INJURED

"That accidental has benignant of passed by," helium said. "Right now, the champion happening that's imaginable is for these students and possibly immoderate of the faculty, adjunct teachers, etc, who are there, to person these virtual discussions with the police, papers what they judge they've either heard oregon saw."

Daly said it's precise important for investigators to get successful interaction with students who were astatine the transgression scene.

"I inactive deliberation it's a precise important portion of this probe to person immoderate of those people, immoderate of the different students, immoderate of faculty, the adjunct teaching module who were there," helium said. "So the information that they're present benignant of gone to each benignant of corners of the country, this creates much of a challenge."

The University of Idaho canceled classes for a shorter play of clip aft 4 students were killed successful November 2022, though immoderate students went location aboriginal for autumn interruption aft the shooting.

Michael Balboni, erstwhile homeland information advisor for New York State, told Fox News Digital the eyewitness accounts of the transgression go harder to get since students were told they could leave.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

FBI Boston released a timeline of surveillance camera footage that captures a idiosyncratic of involvement successful the Brown University shooting. (FBI Boston via X)

"It's precise hard to effort to get eyewitness accounts, everything from however did the idiosyncratic locomotion into the country wherever the shooting was done," Balboni said. 

Balboni, however, said that Brown administrators were forced to marque a "very hard decision" successful canceling exams and letting students spell home.