STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Police in Providence, Rhode Island, released new images of the person they suspect to be the gunman in a mass shooting at Brown University.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
They're asking for the public's help in identifying the person who killed two students and injured nine others, and the FBI is now offering a reward. In a few moments, we'll speak with Rhode Island's attorney general. First, let's get to the facts.
INSKEEP: This is one of many moments when it's useful that NPR has local stations to keep us up to date. And they include Ocean State Media in Rhode Island, where reporter David Wright has been following the case. David, good morning.
DAVID WRIGHT, BYLINE: Morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: Are these new images any better than the one image people had seen?
WRIGHT: A bit. You know, police have been going door to door in the neighborhood around the engineering building at Brown where the shooting took place, asking people for their doorbell camera footage. And some of these new images were taken hours before the shooting, just a few blocks away. The previous footage showed a person in dark clothes, mostly from behind. And in these new images, assuming it's the same guy, you can see a little more detail. He wears a mask, but you can see his eyes and you can tell his build. I'd describe him as a bit stocky. Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said that he hopes that somebody out there will recognize him.
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PETER NERONHA: These investigations are like threads that you pull on a garment. And some of them you pull and the garment doesn't open up, and other ones you pull and the garment comes undone. I think the sooner we can identify that person, the sooner we can, I think, blow this case open.
WRIGHT: That's their hope, anyway. If they have any more to go on than this, they're not saying. And of course, this after a weekend where they did take somebody into custody, only to release them a few hours later.
INSKEEP: A Martínez mentioned something about an FBI reward.
WRIGHT: Yep. The special agent in charge of the Boston office, Ted Dox, put some reward money on the table yesterday.
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TED DOX: The FBI is now offering a reward of $50,000 for information that can lead to the identification, the arrest and the conviction of the individual responsible, who we believe to be armed and dangerous.
INSKEEP: Armed and dangerous. Do they think he's still in Rhode Island?
WRIGHT: Frankly, they don't know. The mayor said as much, and it's kind of leading to some mixed signals. On the one hand, they're warning the public that this guy is out there, armed and dangerous, and at the same time, local officials are trying to reassure people. This is a very shaken community, doesn't have a whole lot of experience with mass shootings, and they're trying to tell people the streets are safe. Here's Providence Mayor Brett Smiley.
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BRETT SMILEY: My sense of the community right now is that this is starting to get very real and very personal. You know, we're all 2 degrees of separation from one another, which is hard, but we're here for one another. That's the scary side. The upside is that this is a tight-knit community that looks out for one another.
WRIGHT: Some parents have been keeping their kids home from school out of caution. And the mayor urged them to send their kids back to school, promising that a stepped-up police presence will be there to protect them.
INSKEEP: What more are you learning about the victims in this case, David?
WRIGHT: Well, nine injured - as of Monday afternoon, one still critical, most of the others critical but stable, one discharged. And of course, two dead. The first name that we learned of the dead is Ella Cook, a 19-year-old sophomore from Alabama, apparently a leader of the College Republicans, also active in the campus Catholic community. The other victim was Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, an 18-year-old freshman born in Uzbekistan. His family lives in Virginia now. He was a scholarship student. According to his family, he was diagnosed with a medical condition that required brain surgery when he was a kid, and the success of that treatment inspired him to pursue a career in neurosurgery. But of course, it's a dream he sadly will never get a chance to fulfill.
INSKEEP: David Wright, correspondent of long experience. Glad you can apply it here. Thanks so much, sir.
WRIGHT: Thanks, Steve. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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