Investigators Probe Possible Link Between Brown University Shooting and MIT Professor’s Death
Authorities have identified a person of interest in the fatal shooting at Brown University and are investigating a possible connection to the killing of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor, according to officials familiar with the case.
Law enforcement agencies are actively searching for the individual and a vehicle believed to have been rented by the person of interest. Investigators say the car matches the same make and model as a vehicle previously tied to the shooting death of an MIT professor in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Although no suspect has been publicly named in either case, police issued an alert to departments throughout the Boston area, instructing officers to be on the lookout for the vehicle. The bulletin warned that anyone inside the car could be armed and dangerous and is wanted in connection with the Brookline homicide. The alert did not explicitly reference the Brown University shooting.
The Brown University attack occurred shortly after 4:00 p.m. Saturday when a masked individual dressed in black entered a lecture hall inside the Barus and Holley Science Building during a student review session for final exams. Witnesses reported the gunman shouted something unintelligible before opening fire.
Two students were killed in the attack: 18-year-old MukhammadAziz Umurzokov of Virginia and 19-year-old Ella Cook, a sophomore from Alabama. Nine others were injured, and as of Thursday afternoon, six remained hospitalized in stable condition.
The shooting triggered a massive law enforcement response, with roughly 400 officers from multiple agencies deployed across the Brown campus and surrounding East Side neighborhood.
