OAN Staff Sophia Flores
12:05 PM – Monday, December 15, 2025
The Brown University shooter who took the lives of at least two students is still at large, as the detained person of interest has been released by authorities.
Authorities initially detained a person of interest, a 24-year-old man from Wisconsin, early on Sunday, but he was released later that day after evidence indicated that he was not involved. Law enforcement, including Providence police and Rhode Island officials, confirmed the shooter remains at large, with an ongoing manhunt entering its third day.
“There was a quantum of evidence which justified detaining this person as a person of interest,” state Attorney General Peter Neronha said during a Sunday evening press conference explaining why the 24-year-old man who had served as an infantry soldier in the U.S. Army was arrested in the first place.
“That evidence needed to be corroborated and confirmed,” Neronha continued. “That evidence now points in a different direction. So, what that means is that this person of interest needs to be and should be released.”
“It’s fair to say that there is no basis to consider him a person of interest,” Neronha concluded.
During an interview with “Good Morning America” on Monday, Smiley reiterated that “after a review of the evidence that was gathered, it was determined that the person of interest needed to be released.”
Officials in Providence are now asking homeowners and businesses in the area to provide video footage to help retrace the gunman’s footsteps.
The shooting occurred on the Brown University campus at around 4 p.m. local time on Saturday inside of the Barus & Holley engineering building.
Tragically, two students were killed in the shooting, while nine others — who were studying for finals at the time — were wounded. As of the latest reports, the injured students’ conditions range from critical to stable.
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