Video trail of Brown University shooting suspect hit dead end due to campus layout, mayor says

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND: In the days after the Brown University shooting, many are wondering how a person could carry out a mass shooting and then seemingly walk away without a trace.

Investigators say the answer may be less mysterious than it appears and has more to do with geography than luck.

Federal and local authorities have been working to piece together the movements of a person of interest seen leaving the area after the shooting at the Barus-Holly engineering building. While the FBI managed to assemble a detailed visual trail, the available video evidence has its limits, especially once the suspect stepped off campus. 

Mayor explains how Brown University’s campus layout hindered surveillance

Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said the limited on-campus footage has a lot to do with Brown University’s unusual footprint.

“Brown is different than maybe some universities in that it is very much integrated with a residential neighborhood,” Smiley said. “This building is on the literal edge of the campus, and the person of interest walked out the door (and) as soon as he stepped onto the sidewalk, was no longer on campus.”

Once that happened, the university’s security camera system could not track the suspect any further. The mayor stressed that this is why investigators have leaned so heavily on the public for help.

“It’s part of the reason we keep asking for the community’s help so much, is because even though this occurred on campus, the route of travel and all of the video evidence you’ve seen other than that very first video has been video from off campus,” Smiley said.

“The path that we’re following for this person of interest is actually off campus,” he added.

Why FBI altered the suspect video timeline

As part of the investigation, the FBI prepared materials for the broader law enforcement team, including an “enhanced” still image of the person of interest walking down the street.

Investigators also assembled a video timeline with maps showing the suspect’s walking route and the precise locations where each image was captured.

That timeline did not remain public for long.

Sources said the FBI later pulled down that version of the video to protect information about which address had cooperated by providing video footage. In its place, authorities released a revised version that followed the suspect’s walking trail through Providence.

The new format showed a wide shot of the route, with close-up video playing in a box alongside it. The goal was not only to help investigators understand the person of interest’s movements, but also to generate clearer, more useful images that might help the public recognize the individual.

Why campus surveillance missed the person of interest

As the investigation unfolded, reporters pressed authorities on why nearly every piece of probative video evidence came from off-campus cameras.

That raised obvious questions about why no footage of the person of interest had been recovered from inside the Barus-Holly engineering building, where the shooting took place. 

Investigators said video was recovered from multiple cameras inside the building. Those recordings captured students running, along with the chaos during and after the shooting. However, the person of interest appeared to have moved through an older section of the structure, which has little or no camera coverage.

Officials warn against online speculation after Brown shooting

As authorities continue the search, Brown University officials say the aftermath of the shooting has created another problem.

The school said it has seen “harmful doxxing activity” targeting at least one person at the Ivy League institution since Saturday’s shooting. University officials warned against what they called “irresponsible, harmful, and in some cases dangerous” speculation on social media about the identity of the shooter.

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha called rushed assumptions a serious risk. “Really dangerous road to go down,” Neronha said, cautioning the public against jumping to conclusions.

He added that if any of the names circulating online were relevant to the case, authorities would be acting on them. “If that name meant anything to this investigation, we would be out looking for that person, we would let you know we were looking for that person,” Neronha said at a Tuesday news conference.