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New Footage Released in Tragic Brown University Shooting, Officials Redact Graphic Content
Providence, RI – New video footage and audio recordings from the devastating December shooting at Brown University were released Monday, offering a glimpse into the chaotic aftermath that left two students dead and nine others injured. City officials confirmed that the most graphic and violent images have been redacted to protect victims and maintain community trust.
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley emphasized the city’s commitment to transparency while acknowledging the sensitive nature of the release. “It is incredibly important to me that the city of Providence remains fully transparent, accountable and compliant with the state’s Access to Public Records Act,” Mayor Smiley stated. “We also know that the footage and audio we are required to release will likely be harmful and traumatizing for the victims, families and neighbors who are still trying to heal and recover from this incident.”
The release comes after numerous requests from news outlets across the U.S. and internationally for public records, including body camera footage and audio clips, following the mid-December tragedy. Officials delayed the release at the request of victims’ families, waiting until after a memorial service held on Brown’s campus last week.
Among the newly available materials is audio from a campus police officer’s initial call to city police at 4:07 p.m. “This is Brown police.
We have confirmed gunshots at 184 Hope Street,” the officer reported. “We do have a victim but we do not know where they are.”
Just four minutes later, campus police provided an update: “We have a suspect description, wearing all black and a ski mask, unknown travel direction.”
The city also released approximately 20 minutes of heavily redacted body camera footage from the officer leading the initial response. The video depicts a scene of confusion and urgency as officers navigate the building, unsure if the shooter was still present. Attempts to quickly evacuate students to a safe location are evident, alongside glimpses of scattered personal items as officers search for the shooter and potential victims.
“Let’s get these rescues in, where are we staging rescue?” an unidentified officer is heard saying in the footage.
He later issued a caution to fellow officers: “Shooter might still be in the building, so use caution alright.” Significant portions of the video are blacked out or have redacted audio, and at times, the officer’s arms obstruct the camera’s view.
Further audio clips capture officers describing a potential sighting of the shooter on the second floor of another building and a report of a suspect being taken into custody. Communication between responding officers and dispatchers also paints a stark picture of the active shooter situation.
“We’ve got victims in the this building, get some rescues over here,” one officer urged. Another declared, “Be advised this is an active shooter situation.
We have multiple victims in this building.”
The December 13th attack saw 48-year-old gunman Claudio Neves Valente enter a study session in a Brown academic building, opening fire and killing 19-year-old sophomore Ella Cook and 18-year-old freshman MukhammadAziz Umurzokov, while wounding nine others.
A newly released police incident report corroborates earlier accounts of hospitalized victims reacting to photos of the suspected shooter. One victim reportedly “quickly froze, physically pushed back” and began crying and shaking upon confirming the image matched her assailant. Another victim “took a deep breath, shut his eyes, changed his breathing pattern and confirmed that the shooter he saw in the hallway appeared to be the person in the photos presented.”
Authorities have also linked Neves Valente, a former Brown graduate student in physics during the 2000-01 academic year, to the fatal shooting of Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro at his Boston-area home.
Neves Valente, who had attended school with Loureiro in Portugal in the 1990s, was found dead days after the Brown shooting in a New Hampshire storage facility. He had moved to the U.S. in 2017 after receiving a green card through a visa lottery program.
The Justice Department has since revealed that Neves Valente meticulously planned the attack for years, leaving behind videos confessing to the killings but offering no clear motive. The FBI recovered an electronic device containing these videos during their search of the storage facility where Neves Valente’s body was discovered. A crucial tip from an individual who encountered the suspect near Brown University was instrumental in his identification.
Returning Brown students continue to grapple with the aftermath of the shooting. “I still kind of feel numb to it all I guess,” graduate student Garrett Wheeler shared with CBS News Boston. “I am still pretty depressed something like this could happen here.”