Two students are dead and nine others wounded after a gunman opened fire during a final exam review session at Brown University’s Barus and Holley Building on Friday afternoon, sending the Providence campus into lockdown as the shooter remains at large.
The shooting, which occurred on December 13, 2025, claimed the lives of Ella Cook, vice president of Brown’s College Republicans, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, an Uzbek American who recently graduated from Midlothian High School in Virginia, according to authorities. As of Monday, December 16, the suspect has not been identified despite a $50,000 reward offered by the FBI for information.
“This is a deeply tragic day for Brown, our families and our local community,” the university president wrote in a message to families. “There are truly no words that can express the deep sorrow we are feeling for the victims of the shooting that took place today at the Barus & Holley engineering and physics building on our campus today.”
Chaos During Finals Week
The violence erupted during what should have been a routine study session. Providence police chief Col. Oscar Perez confirmed the shooter used a 9mm firearm in the attack, which sent nine wounded students to area hospitals. Eight of those victims were listed in critical but stable condition, according to university officials.
Campus alerts blared across the Ivy League university at 4:22 p.m., instructing students and faculty to shelter in place. “We immediately informed our community to shelter in place by locking doors, silencing phones and staying hidden until further notice,” the university president stated in the campus-wide communication.
What followed was hours of confusion and fear. In the immediate aftermath, authorities briefly detained an individual who was later cleared of involvement, leaving the campus community on edge as the actual shooter remained unidentified.
Victims Remembered
Cook, one of the deceased victims, was known on campus for her involvement with the College Republicans and was also a parishioner at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham, Alabama. Umurzokov had only recently begun his academic journey at Brown after graduating from Midlothian High School in Chesterfield County, Virginia.
The shooting has devastated the tight-knit campus community just as students were preparing to head home for winter break. Instead of celebrating the end of the semester, many now face trauma and grief.
How did this happen at one of America’s most prestigious universities? That’s the question haunting campus security experts and law enforcement alike as the investigation continues.
The FBI’s substantial reward announcement suggests authorities may be struggling with leads in the case. The $50,000 figure represents one of the larger rewards offered in recent campus shooting investigations.
For now, the Brown University community remains in a state of heightened alert and mourning, with counseling services mobilized and security increased across campus — a campus where two empty seats in future classes will serve as stark reminders of a tragedy that arrived without warning on a December afternoon.
