Police have identified a person of interest in relation to a fatal mass shooting at Brown University that killed two people and injured nine others, sources familiar with the investigation told the BBC’s US partner, CBS News.
Authorities are now searching for the individual, the sources told CBS. No information has been released about the identity.
The development comes as the search for a suspect in the shooting on Saturday enters its sixth day, with investigators knocking on doors, asking for home-security videos, and appealing to the public for tips.
On Wednesday, authorities released a photo of an individual they believe was in close proximity to their primary person of interest.
Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez said they wanted to speak with the person, “who may have information relevant to the investigation”.
A day earlier, police had shown footage of a person of interest that appeared to be stitched together from home-security cameras.
In it, a man can be seen walking around the university campus. He is wearing a black mask over his mouth and a black hat on his head.
Perez said at the time that the person appeared to be “casing” the area before the crime.
“That’s something criminals do,” he said.
Members of the public have expressed frustration that the investigation has appeared to yield little progress so far. In response, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said he believed the shooter would be caught “and it is just a matter of time before we catch him”.
The FBI has offered a $50,000 (£37,350) reward for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of the person responsible for the attack.
The shooting occurred at Brown University’s Barus & Holley engineering building during final exams.
Authorities identified the two students killed as Ella Cook, a sophomore from Alabama, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, an Uzbek-American freshman student.
