Two victims identified in Brown University shooting

Colleen Cronin, Boston Herald on Dec 15, 2025

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Two of the victims who were shot and killed at Brown University have been identified while the suspect remains at large.

Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov and Ella Cook were separately identified as the two students killed in a Brown classroom Saturday night at the tail end of a study session for an introductory economics class.

The U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan Jonathan Henick offered Umurzokov’s family his condolences in a message on the embassy’s website.

In a GoFund me for his family, Umurzokov was described as funny, smart, and “my family’s biggest role model in all aspects,” the organizer wrote.

College Republicans of America noted that Cook had been the vice president of Brown’s chapter.

“Ella was known for her bold, brave, and kind heart,” the organization wrote, announcing her death.

The identification of the victims comes as investigators are still trying to unravel who killed them.

Providence Police released additional footage of a “person of interest” in the Brown University shooting that killed two students and injured nine others.

The surveillance video which appears to be taken on Waterman Street just east of campus, shows a person wearing dark clothing around 4 p.m. on Saturday walking on a sidewalk.

Police said Monday they would release additional footage as the continue to investigate they shooting. Authorities initially detained a person of interest in the case Sunday morning but announced they were releasing the person by Sunday night.

“Sometimes you head in one direction and then you have to regroup and go in another, and that’s exactly what has happened over the last 24 hours or so,” R.I. Attorney General Peter Neronha said at the press conference.

Anyone with information is encouraged to reach out to the federal tip line or call 401-272-3121.

Members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Evidence Response team combed through the snow Monday afternoon, tracing the path footage showed the person of interest taking, walking through people’s yards and into the parking lots of local businesses.

Investigators picked up some items during the search and placed them in evidence bags while a drone flew overhead.

Providence Police also announced that they would hold a press conference at their headquarters at 5 p.m. to provide updates on the case.

Students who spoke to the Herald said the news Sunday night that police had released a person of interest provoked fear in those left on campus. With classes and final canceled for the semester, many students have already gone home. Last Sunday night, several people around the university heard a loud noise they believed could be gunshots, and through a series of anonymous social media posts and text threads, many students followed a self-imposed shelter-in-place order.

The reports of gunshots turned out to be false, but the incident, along with the release of the person of interest, had several students on edge.

“You don’t really know who the real culprit is,” a freshman Rassul, who asked to only use his first name, said.

Brock Owen, a junior on the football team, said he’d stayed up late listening to the police scanner wondering if something else might happen.

Owen said he wasn’t very close with anyone at the shooting, but at a small school like Brown with about 6,000 undergraduates, he was one or two people removed from the victims. Owen had just left Brown’s Science Library when violence erupted less than a block away Saturday night.

He said he feels frustrated that investigators seem to follow the wrong leads.

“It’s like what the heck,” Owen said. “This guy could have more time to escape.”

“It’s been a lot of ups and downs,” one Brown upperclassman carrying his suitcase, who asked not to be named, said of the last 48 hours. At moments, he said he’d felt safe, and at others, like when he heard a loud noise this morning and thought it was more gunfire, he’s realized he’s still processing what happened.

“We’ll have to see how it goes next semester,” he said, before hustling off to catch his ride to get home.

Police presence on campus was still highly visible, if slightly subdued, on Monday. Instead of having cruisers blocking off streets, they made laps around Brown’s open campus while members of the university’s department of public safety walked around in the freezing temperatures.

Federal authorities could be seen walking in and out of Barus and Holley, the engineering building where the shooting occurred Saturday. Several people wore gloves and booties, carrying equipment inside to the crime scene.

The memorial at the front of the building had grown larger from the day before. Wind had scattered bright yellow flowers that matched the police tape still gracing the perimeter.

A pink card with a dove said, “Stop Guns Now.”

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