Brown University shooting bodycam footage shows urgent search for suspect who slipped through dragnet

The Providence Police Department on Monday released body camera footage showing officers’ response to the Dec. 13 mass shooting at Brown University, along with audio recordings from emergency calls and radio traffic from the incident.

Police said portions of the materials were redacted following public records requests to protect the privacy and dignity of victims and witnesses, remove graphic or highly sensitive content, and comply with exemptions under the Access to Public Records Act.

Audio recordings included in the release show that Brown University Police began communicating with Providence emergency dispatch shortly after 4 p.m., as reports of the shooting first emerged.

At approximately 4:11 p.m., a caller said that officers had a suspect description of an individual wearing all black and a ski mask, with an unknown direction of travel.

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Body camera footage later captures the officer in charge formally advising dispatch at 4:16 p.m., "Be advised, it’s an active shooter situation."

Police then conducted a methodical, floor-by-floor search of the Barus & Holley building in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, directing responding units to look for the suspect and any additional victims.

Two students, Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, 18, and Ella Cook, 19, were shot and killed by Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente inside the building’s Tanner Auditorium, also known as Room 166, during an economics exam review session, according to the newly released Providence police incident report.

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Nine other victims were ultimately transported to Rhode Island Hospital with gunshot wounds.

The report describes the auditorium as having staircases running up both sides with entrances at the top and bottom of the room. Umurzokov was found deceased near the upper entry door, while Cook was found dead on the floor between the aisles.

As the investigation into the shooting unfolded, detectives later showed still images of Neves-Valente taken from surveillance video to several shooting victims.

One victim, who told detectives she had gotten a good look at the shooter, reacted strongly upon seeing the photograph, freezing, physically pushing back and becoming visibly emotional. 

Police noted she began tearing up and shaking before confirming the image showed the shooter.

Two other victims were separately shown the images of the suspect and also identified Neves-Valente as the shooter, according to the incident report.

Investigators said Neves-Valente was a former Brown University student who attended the Ivy League school from 2000 to 2001 as part of a PhD program in physics before formally withdrawing in the fall of 2003.

He was found dead in December inside a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, where FBI SWAT personnel discovered him with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound as officers attempted to locate and arrest him.