Rhode Island authorities admitted on Wednesday that the Brown University gunman “could be anywhere” after five days of searching for the killer – but insisted they aren’t discouraged about the slow pace of their investigation.
Officials provided what little updates they have during their latest press briefing, during which Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha got defensive at times and the local police chief offered up contradictory information about their probe.
“No one’s discouraged,” said Neronha, pledging that an “enormous amount of energy” is being devoted to the case, and vowing that the still-at-large suspect accused of killing two students “will be caught.”
Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez called the ongoing search for the suspect in Saturday’s mass shooting “the most intense investigation going on in this nation” that will require the public’s assistance as well as “good old-fashioned police work” to crack.
“We are using every resource we have to find this suspect and bring him to justice,” said FBI special agent in charge Ted Docks. “Whether the subject has left the state or even left the country,” he assured.
Reporters peppered Perez with questions about evidence uncovered during the investigation, the chief initially saying they’ve “found no items of interest so far.”
But Perez later said after conducting extensive searches both inside and outside the academic building where the shooting took place “we have both seized and found physical evidence.”
A department spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email from The Post seeking clarification.
Neronha grew combative with a reporter who was pressing him about why some security footage collected from Brown was not made public.
“Footage of students running from the scene doesn’t help advance furthering this investigation. We have video footage of that. That doesn’t help us identify this individual.”
Five days since the shooting and the only leads made public so far are a handful of grainy security camera stills and video showing the apparent suspect walking the streets of Providence both before and after the shooting.
Perez said he may have hidden a jacket or a bag he was seen wearing in some videos and pictures.
He admitted he didn’t know whether a police cruiser the suspect was seen walking by after the shooting in security footage was equipped with a dashcam.
Here’s the latest on the mass shooting at Brown University
Investigators have so far come up empty in the search for the suspect who murdered two Brown University students and wounded seven others.
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said another victim has been discharged, leaving one hospitalized survivor in critical but stable condition and five others in stable condition.
Brown University Vice President for Public Safety and Emergency Management Rodney Chatman told reporters that there was no security posted at the Barus & Holley building when the gunman opened fire, saying the lack of security presence was “typical for that academic space.”
This is a breaking story. Please check back for updates.
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