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Where the search for the Brown University shooter stands, as it enters its sixth day
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This week we're getting a merciful break from our coldest start to December in nearly two decades. But it comes with a trade-off: potentially damaging wind and rain blowing in tonight. So you may want to take a minute to secure any outside holiday decorations.
But first, the news:
Still searching: The search for the Brown University mass shooting gunman is beginning to feel more desperate as it enters its sixth day today. Police are now asking for help identifying a person who was seen near the "person of interest" in the shooting, which killed two students and injured nine others. Officials released several photos of the adjacent person yesterday, as well as a map of the streets where the primary "person of interest" was seen before and after the shooting, in the hopes footage from a neighbor's home security system or phone might help. One former investigator described the rare move to The Associated Press as "grasping at straws."
- What we know about the suspect: Investigators say the person they're looking for is 5 feet, 8 inches tall, and stocky. But they've yet to turn up any clear facial images. In the publicly released videos, the suspect's head is turned or is wearing a mask. Officials say they have not found evidence of a motive or that anyone was targeted in the attack.
- Why is there so little video? President Trump accused Brown yesterday of being unprepared, questioning why the Ivy League school had "so few" security cameras. According to Brown, there are 1,200 cameras on campus. But the attack took place in an older engineering building that did not have many (if any). And as The Associated Press reports, investigators believe the shooter entered and left through a door that faces a residential street bordering campus, which also might explain why Brown's cameras didn't get much footage.
- Issues online: University officials asked people yesterday to stop spreading unconfirmed speculation, after a Brown student some said looked like the shooter was doxed. Providence police chief Oscar Perez also asked the public to stop circulating an AI-generated attempt to unmask the shooter.
- What's next: The timing of the attack — right before winter break — could make things additionally tricky for investigators, since many students have already gone home. But Perez said they'd received 200 tips that they're trying to chase down. "We’re all over the place. If a tip tells us we need to go down to Connecticut, we’re going down to Connecticut," he said. "If a tip comes in and tells us that we got to go to Boston, we’re going to Boston."
- Listen: Providence Mayor Brett Smiley spoke last night to NPR's All Things Considered about the search and the frustration a suspect hasn't been found.
- Meanwhile: The FBI said yesterday there's no apparent connection between the Brown shooting and the murder of an MIT professor Monday night in Brookline. That search is also still underway, with no publicly identified suspects.
Last night, the Boston School Committee voted to approve the district's plan to close three schools: the Lee Academy, the Community Academy of Science and Health (both in Dorchester) and a preparatory high school in Hyde Park called Another Course to College. The closures will take effect ahead of the 2027-2028 school year.
- Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper said she recommended the closures because the school buildings are aging and enrollment is down."We now have, as a reality, far more seats than students, leaving many classrooms and buildings underutilized," she said. "We have too many students enrolled in schools that want to offer a high-quality experience, but they simply don't have the enrollment, the building and the resources to do it." The decision comes after the committee voted in March to close four schools and merge several others at the end of this school year as part of the district's long-term facilities plan.
- The newly approved plan also includes reconfiguring grade levels at three other schools: the Henderson K-12 Inclusion School in Dorchester, the Tobin K-8 School in Roxbury and the Russell Elementary School in Dorchester. In total, the district estimates about 2,300 students are affected.
On Beacon Hill: It's a tax relief standoff. WBUR's Chris Van Buskirk reports that top Massachusetts House Democrats indicated yesterday they have no immediate interest in taking up a pair of bills from the state Senate that attempt to address big spikes in residential tax rates. The two bills came in response to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s push to shift more of the city's tax burden onto commercial property owners to ward off increases for homeowners. Proposed by Sens. Nick Collins and William Brownsberger, the legislation would allow cities and towns to offer more narrowly tailored credits or rebates in years with big residential property tax spikes.
- The Senate began to advance the bills earlier this month, after (again) declining to take up Wu's proposal. However, House Speaker Ron Mariano suggested they pump the brakes. "These guys pulled these bills right out of their back pocket," he said. "So I think that, you know, we need to understand what their bills do."
P.S.— Our seasonal joy newsletter, The Pick Me Up, returns in the new year to brighten your cold, dark winter Mondays. Want to help us spread some post-holiday cheer? Fill out this form to share what's bringing you joy — in big ways or small.
