Investigators report discovery of unused bullets at Brown University shooting site: Sources

Paul Mauro said unfired rounds could hold the shooter’s DNA, which officers could use to match relatives through genealogy databases and get new leads
PUBLISHED DEC 18, 2025
Paul Mauro emphasized that familial DNA techniques could help trace relatives, offering investigators a way to narrow the manhunt for the Brown University shooter (Fox News/YouTube, Getty Images)
Paul Mauro emphasized that familial DNA techniques could help trace relatives, offering investigators a way to narrow the manhunt for the Brown University shooter (Fox News/YouTube, Getty Images)


PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND: The recent shooting at Brown University is a constantly evolving story. With the shooter still at large, law enforcement has asked the civilians to keep an eye out.

As details of the shooting and its investigation come to light, Fox News contributor and former NYPD cop Paul Mauro revealed on 'Fox and Friends', on Thursday, December 18, that his sources told him that live ammunition was found at the crime scene.

He also said that the same could help police find a DNA match even if the suspect was not in the system.

(FBI Boston/x)
Manhunt for Brown University shooter still ongoing (FBI Boston/x)

Paul Mauro sees ‘hopeful sign’ in Brown University DNA evidence 

During his latest appearance on ‘Fox and Friends’, Paul Mauro stated that there were unfired live rounds found at Brown University.

He added that it mattered because live rounds were undetonated; the perpetrators would have used his fingers and hands to insert those bullets into the magazine of his gun.

Mauro added that since they had a suspect handling rounds that did not explode, it was a “hopeful sign for getting usable DNA” even if the suspect wasn’t in the police database.

Brown University student Jaden Anselmo sends a text message to his mother as live shooting unfolded on campus. Two confirmed dead, eight injured, and the suspect is still at large (@Rep. Nancy Mace/X)
Brown University student Jaden Anselmo sent a text message to his mother as live shooting unfolded on campus (@Rep Nancy Mace/X)

Paul Mauro explained that even if the shooter was not in the database, the police would use the “familiar DNA technique,” which could get the police department a step closer to finding the shooter by identifying a “cousin” or another family member and “work back from there.”

He added that the discovery was a “positive” sign for the investigation. 

This undated file image shows Ella Cook, a Brown University student who was killed in a mass shooting on campus in Providence, RI, Saturday, December 13, 2025 (Instagram/elinacoutlakis)
This undated file image shows Ella Cook, a Brown University student who was killed in a mass shooting on campus in Providence, RI, Saturday, December 13, 2025 (Instagram/elinacoutlakis)

Criminal profiler says suspected shooter likely a ‘loner’

Criminal profiler John Kelly also chimed in on the suspected shooter responsible for wounding nine students and killing two at Brown University.

While speaking to Fox News on Thursday, he provided a profile for the shooter and said he was likely “extremely angry” and “lonely.”

Commenting on why the shooter scoped out the area beforehand and prepared an escape route, Kelly stated that he was “scared of getting caught.” 

Mayor Brett Smiley speaks to reporters during a Brown University news conference, in Providence, R. I., Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Kimberlee Kruesi)
Mayor Brett Smiley speaks to reporters during a Brown University news conference in Providence, RI, Sunday, December 14 (AP Photo/Kimberlee Kruesi)

He explained that the shoot-out did not seem like something the killer believed was worth dying for, but something that he was angry about.

He also said that the shooter was likely to be confined to a “private place online,” assuming that he was watching everything about himself on the news, because “all these guys have a certain amount of paranoia.” 

“I believe this guy is no different. He wants to kill kids but he’s scared of doing the time for it,” he added.

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