Person of interest in Brown University shooting is being released – NBC Los Angeles

Authorities say a person of interest who was in custody in connection with Saturday’s Brown University mass shooting is being released.

“Shortly, we will be releasing the person of interest who had been detained earlier today,” Providence Mayor Brett Smiley announced.

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said there was some degree of evidence that pointed to the individual that was taken into custody, obviously, but now that evidence points in a different direction.

“There is no basis to consider him a person of interest so he’s being released,” Neronha said on Sunday.

This person of interest needs to be and should be released, Neronha said.

“I think what’s really unfortunate is this person’s name was leaked to the public. It’s hard to put that back,” he added.

The 24-year-old man was detained Sunday morning, three senior law enforcement officials told NBC News. By Sunday night, authorities said there was no longer a basis to hold him in connection with the shooting, which killed two students and wounded nine others at the Ivy League school.

Previous information on this story:

Sunday morning Col. Oscar Perez, the chief of police in Providence, said that the person of interest was a man in his 20s, not in his 30s as police had previously reported.

Perez added that the “investigation continues to progress extremely fast,” crediting detectives with working all through the night following yesterday’s shooting. He declined to answer any questions about the identity of the person of interest who has been detained.

Providence Mayor Brett Smiley also said he couldn’t confirm or comment on ongoing speculation about the person’s identity.

“In the years that I have in this police department, we stand on grounded facts, not a speculation,” he said, adding that officials hope to update the public once they have “the appropriate and accurate information.”

“My goal is that we’re able to have that information as soon as possible,” Smiley told reporters. “But again, I tell you that respectfully, I have the responsibility to respect the integrity of this investigation.”

Providence Police say they were able to find and take a person of interest into custody within 24 hours of a fatal shooting on the campus at Brown University. Here’s what we know.

Law enforcement officials told NBC News that the man had a unique characteristic on his firearm, which was found when he was taken into custody.

Perez told NBC News following Sunday’s press conference that charges could be filed against the person of interest within the next few hours.

He said the investigation remains ongoing but that police are confident that the man in custody is the suspected gunman. He added he wanted to ensure that all legal requirements are met before charges are brought.

“We’re going to work with the attorney general’s office to make sure that we have the right legal requirements for the charges,” Perez said. “And this is, it’s just complex. There’s a lot of evidence, there’s a lot of witnesses, and so we have to make sure that we have it all tight. And to make sure we have a good case.”

Perez said police cannot hold the person of interest beyond Monday if charges are not filed. He said he is hoping an arraignment will take place “sooner rather than later.”

FBI Director Kash Patel said in a post on X earlier Sunday that the person of interest was taken into custody early Sunday morning at a hotel room in Coventry, Rhode Island, by the FBI Boston’s Safe Streets Task Force, with assistance from U.S. Marshals and Coventry police, based off a lead by Providence police.

WJAR reported that the location was a Hampton Inn on Centre of New England Boulevard. They saw caution tape blocking the hallway and agents from the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Coventry police there.