UPDATE: Providence police released the following new video of person of interest in Saturday’s mass shooting at Brown University on its Facebook page Monday that can be watched here at a 5 p.m. live press conference.
In a late night press conference Sunday in Providence, R.I., Mayor Brett Smiley announced the person of interest in the Brown University mass shooting Dec. 13 in which two students were killed and nine wounded would be released from custody.
Smiley said he understands the announcement may cause fresh anxiety, but what was said then a day and a half ago remains true.
“We have not received any credible or specific threats to the Providence community so the status of the safety in our community remains unchanged,” Smiley said, adding people remain “safe in our community.”
He said there would remain a heightened police presence in the city and at Brown University as the investigation continues and encouraged anyone with relevant information to report it to authorities.
On the Providence police Facebook page, authorities said: “As the investigation continues, we are asking anyone with relevant information, including video or photo evidence, to submit it by phone or through the FBI tip line. Police Tip Line: (401) 272-3121
FBI: https://tips.fbi.gov/digitalmedia/614ee3a4a073699.”
Unlike previous press conferences on the shootings, there were no members of the federal law enforcement community present.
Before Providence police released information that a person of interest was in custody, FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X, formerly Twitter a photo showing FBI officers in the foreground and Coventry and Providence police slightly in back, all facing backwards.
It highlighted the work of federal agents and said the person of interest was taken into custody at a Coventry, R.I. hotel. The post prompted The Daily Beast to call the FBI director “Keystone Kash” in the headline of a story about the release.
On Monday morning, Patel’s FBI account on X didn’t update the fact that the person of interest was being released.
Providence officials said the investigation is going in a “different direction.”