Police investigating potential links between Brown shooting and murder of MIT professor
Police are reportedly investigating a potential link between the shooting of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor and the shooting on Brown University’s campus.
Two students were killed and nine were injured Saturday in a shooting on Brown University’s Providence, Rhode Island, campus. Two days later, 47-year-old MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro was fatally shot at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts. Brookline is about 50 miles northeast of Providence.
A law enforcement official close to the investigation told CNN that police are looking into a potential connection between the two shootings, based on information received in the last 24 hours. The source stressed the link is not definitive, according to the outlet.
The Independent has the Providence Police Department for comment. The Brookline Police Department directed questions to the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office, where a spokesperson declined to comment, citing the “active and ongoing” investigation.
Loureiro was shot “multiple times” in his home Monday night, and died Tuesday after first responders rushed him to the hospital, investigators said. Police have said they’re investigating his death as a homicide.
Meanwhile, law enforcement have identified a person of interest in the Brown University campus shooting, CBS News reported Thursday. Authorities have signed a warrant for the individual’s arrest and are now trying to find them.
Police initially said they had detained a person of interest just hours after the shooting. However, he was released Sunday night after a law enforcement official said that “the evidence now points in a different direction.”
As the search continues, community members are mourning the two students killed on the Ivy League campus: Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov.
Cook, a 19-year-old from Alabama, was the vice president of the Brown University College Republicans. She was also a parishioner at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham.
Reverend Craig Smalley described Cook as an “incredible, grounded, faithful bright light,” according to AL.com. The College Republicans of America said Cook was known for her “bold, brave and kind heart as she served her chapter and fellow classmates.”
Umurzokov, an 18-year-old from Uzbekistan, was studying to become a neurosurgeon, according to a GoFundMe campaign launched by his family. He was described as “incredibly kind, funny and smart,” and his family’s “biggest role model.”
“He always lent a helping hand to anyone in need without hesitation, and was the most kind-hearted person our family knew,” the GoFundMe reads. “Our family is incredibly devastated by this loss.”
