Two Victims Named in Brown University Incident as Law Enforcement Persist in Manhunt for Perpetrator.
Both young individuals who died in the recent mass shooting on the university campus were being remembered Monday – as a manhunt for their assailant carried on following the freeing by Rhode Island officials of the sole person questioned in the case.
Honoring a Lost Student
The young woman Ella Cook, a second-year student from Alabama, was called “an incredible, grounded, faithful, bright light”, per the Cathedral Church of the Advent, Birmingham, which paid tribute to her at a gathering on Sunday.
Cook was the vice-presidency of Brown’s chapter of College Republicans of America, the group said. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also shared words of sorrow publicly, remarking: “It's indescribable. Keeping in mind her kin and peers, particularly her mother and father.”
An International Student
The other deceased individual was an Uzbek national named MukhammadAziz Umurzokov, an Uzbek national in his initial year at the Ivy League university, family members said.
His name was officially acknowledged by Uzbekistan’s foreign ministry.
“He possessed remarkable kindness, humor, and intelligence. He harbored grand aspirations of entering the field of neurosurgery and assisting patients,” his sibling Samira said in a tribute.
The Shooting Incident
Nine other people were hurt in Saturday’s attack in the engineering department of Brown’s university in Providence, during the university's examination week.
Authorities said by the end of Sunday that a 24-year-old male taken into custody in a police operation at a hotel about approximately 17 miles from the scene earlier in the day was released from custody.
“There is a killer at large,” declared Rhode Island’s attorney general, Peter Neronha.
He continued, “Sometimes you head in one direction, and then you need to change course and head another way, and that is the current situation over the last 24 hours or so.”
Community Anxiety
Brett Smiley, Brett Smiley, noted: “We know that this is likely to cause renewed concern for our city”.
The assailant began shooting inside a classroom in the engineering facility on over the weekend, firing more than 40 rounds from a 9mm pistol, a police source told the news agency.
Law enforcement that raided the hotel found two handguns and two loaded 30-round magazines when the individual was detained, according to reports.
Those Hurt
Regarding the nine injured, one student was allowed to go home, said Christina Paxson, Christina Paxson. Seven others were in grave but unchanging health, and one was in critical condition, officials reported on Sunday.
An educational institution, a independent school in North Carolina, said Kendall Turner, Kendall Turner, was one of the critically injured.
Additional Memorials
Tributes were paid to Cook at a religious service in Birmingham on Sunday. A pastor commented, “She was an incredible, grounded, faithful bright light not only in her youth... but at Brown University she was a radiant presence in that particular place as well.”
A group leader, Martin Bertao, posted a statement from the group. “Ella was recognized for her bold, brave, and kind heart as she aided her club and peers,” he said.
The US ambassador, Jonathan Henick, said he was “profoundly grieved” by the student's death in a message. “We offer our heartfelt sympathies to the Umurzokov family, companions, and schoolmates and mourn the loss of his potential.”
Wider Picture
Saturday’s killings at Brown, the nation’s seventh-oldest higher education institution with about 7,300 undergraduate and postgraduate students, happened during one of at least nearly 400 mass shootings documented across the United States so far in 2025, according to records. Monday was the 349th day of the year.
