Enhanced video of Brown shooting person of interest

Authorities at the microphones, and they're beginning the briefing. Let's please tune in. Another update today-- in just a moment, Colonel Perez will give an update on the investigation, including a video that was released. That video was released just a little while ago. If you are here and do not have that video, you can see Camille or Julie, and they can send that to you while we're reporting. Additionally, Camille and Julie are your contact to be on the press distribution list to be advised of future announcements. At this time, I'll introduce Providence Police Chief Colonel Oscar Perez. Thank you, Mayor. So as the mayor stated, we're about to show you a video, if we can have the IT officer play it. [SCREEN WHIRRING] Thank you, Joe. So as the Mayor stated, if you don't have these videos, please let us know. And the reason we have shown these videos, there's a purpose, right? So as you can see, they are enhanced photos. There's enhanced video footage. And so we're asking the public to ensure that they can see them. They can see here that you want to focus on the body movements, the way the person moves their arms, the body posture, the way they carry their weight. I think those are important movement patterns that may help you identify this individual, which is extremely important. Another thing that we're going to ask the public is if you have any type of camera system, including Teslas, in your property, in this video that you saw behind me is all-- it all comes from the residential block of Waterman Avenue, Power, Ives, and Hope Street. And it's those residential areas that we're asking the public to look. If you have any camera systems or any Teslas, like I mentioned, that you look at that footage, and that you can reach out to us and please provide us anything that you have. And we're asking you to go back at least a week to do that. And the reason for that is because on Saturday night, the day of, we actually learned that this individual was in that neighborhood at around 10:30 in the morning. We also know in this profession that many criminals who case out an area weeks and days prior, and so it's important for us to ensure that we can have you look at that and help us. And the reason for that is because our offices, our agents are looking at terabytes of data, and we're looking for a moment that is shorter than somebody taking a breath. It's incredible hard work to do that, and so we're asking the public to assist us with that. The other thing is the tip center. We have been receiving hundreds of tips. However, we're about close to 200 actionable tips that we're still conducting investigations on, which is incredible and is important. Again, keep in mind that this video footage is extremely important to us. And one more thing here. As a reminder, please remember that the number that we need you to call is 401-272-3121, as well as the link that the FBI provided, which is fbi.gov/brownuniversitystudents. Thank you very much. Thank you, Colonel. Now, we'll hear from FBI Special Agent In Charge Ted Docks. Thank you, Mayor, and good evening. My name is Ted Docks. I'm the Special Agent in charge of FBI Boston. On the heels of this tragedy, the strength and resilience of the people of Providence is a powerful reminder of the bonds that unite us. The men and women of the FBI, along with the law enforcement team standing before you, carry the victims with us, as we work around the clock to bring the individual responsible for their injuries and deaths to justice. Today, the FBI is working with Brown University to do everything we can to provide services to those impacted by this horrific shooting. The FBI has almost 30 victim specialists, special agents and analysts from all over the country who are here in Providence to support our survivors, the victims, and their loved ones. The FBI Victim Services Response Team is one of the many specialized FBI assets that have been deployed here to assist. The toll this type of tragedy takes on victims and their families is immeasurable, and we ask everyone to respect their privacy at this difficult time. Thank you. Thank you, Special Agent. Next, Attorney General Peter Neronha. Thank you, Mayor. I don't have a lot to add, other than that from my perspective, I think the investigation in a case like this, which is a challenging one, is going really well. On the third floor of this building, there are dozens of agents, detectives led by Providence Police. Prosecutors from my office are working to put together-- and what you're seeing is just a portion of what they're working on right now. So they are literally, because I have seen at least part of it, the shift changes late at night. I think Rhode Islanders should take confidence in their work. They are veterans of what they do. They're smart, they're professional, and they're getting the resources from the mayor and the governor that they need, the state police as well, to get this job done, and I'm confident they're going to be able to do that. We just need a little bit of patience, as hard as it is to say that in this really horrible context. Thank you. Thank you, General. Governor Dan McKee for an update now. Thanks, Mayor. And right off the top, we're just making sure that the state is supporting Providence and Brown University and then working with the FBI, as well as our state police and the attorney general to continue to provide information to the people in the state of Rhode Island. My information is that recently, this morning today, we met with all the university presidents in the state of Rhode Island. We know that we want to start a working group that we'll talk about enhancing safety issues. And you'll see shortly that we'll be doing the same thing in terms of the mental health issues. And I think that's important. As I'm out and about, we're hearing a great deal of anxiety coming from families, and students, and the general public. And that's one of the reasons why our state police have supported the Providence schools with presence as school begins and school ends, in support of the mayor and his efforts to support the schools. Thank you, Governor. We're also joined tonight by Brown University President Christina Paxson. Thank you, Mayor. I want to begin by thanking the many law enforcement agencies who continue to work around the clock on this case. It's very impressive. I also want to thank the mayor and the governor for their continued support. The primary point that I wanted to address before we get to questions is that Brown is deeply committed to the safety and security and well-being of our community. And I've been deeply saddened to see people questioning that. We understand that as time goes on, there is maybe a natural instinct to assign responsibility for a tragic event like this. Anxiety and fear is very natural, but the shooter is responsive. Horrific gun violence took the lives of these students and hospitalized others. And it's deeply sad and tragic that schools across the country are targets of violence. Brown is no exception. We are cooperating fully with law enforcement. And again, we thank the multiple agencies that have been working so hard, day and night with increased patrols, to keep our campus safe and to investigate this horrific shooting. Thank you. Thank you, President Paxson. I'll give a couple updates on behalf of the city, and then we'll take your questions. First, as has been discussed many times, we continue to have enhanced police presence throughout the city of Providence to help bolster the confidence and provide a sense of additional security to our residents. Today, we were aided by neighboring municipalities in Central Falls and North Providence with supplemental officers. We're grateful to our neighbors for sticking up and standing up with Providence. The State Police continues to be an incredible partner, and I thank the Governor and Colonel Weaver for their partnership. Providence Public Schools remain in session. Friday is the last day of school before winter break. Spent some time at our schools again today. As has been the case in the past, the schools in the area of Brown are having regular police presence. And because of the assistance of the Rhode Island State Police, we've been able to provide additional police presence and coverage to other schools in Providence, and we thank them for that. When I was at one of our elementary schools this morning, the faculty were having a brief meeting before kids started to arrive. And in discussion with some of the teachers, I asked how they were doing, and one of the teachers said what I think a lot of us are feeling. She said, you know, it's hard, but I'm putting on a good face for the kids. We need to be here for them. And I think that's how a lot of our residents feel right now, which is that we are taking very tentative steps forward, but we're doing it for one another. And so I do want to thank our educators at this time. They're being asked to go to school right now. Our principals are asked to be going to school right now for the sake of the families and the kids. And at that same school, there was a second grader literally skipping to the front door, because he's a second grader, and he doesn't know everything that's going on in this scary world right now. And so the strength of the adults has allowed that little kid to skip to school this morning. And so I want to thank all of my fellow residents of Providence for putting on a strong face for the sake of others at this time. There were questions yesterday, and so I'll also just give a brief update on the health status of the survivors. If folks will recall, there had been eight hospitalized. One has since been discharged. There had been nine-- eight hospitalized, one has since been discharged. The seven that remain in the hospital, one is in critical status, five in critical but stable status, although health care providers report that they are improving, and one in stable status. Those are the seven-- one in critical, five in critical but stable, one in stable status, and one discharged since the last time we made comments about their safety and recovery from the podium. Now we'll open it up to questions.

[SPEAKING SPANISH] OK, so the question was if I could just repeat what I stated earlier in English, as far as what occurred here, the reasons of the video, and what I was requesting from the public. [SPEAKING SPANISH]

Colonel, you said that you believe this person was in the neighborhood at 10:30. Clarify-- do you believe that was at 10:30 the morning of the shooting? And what do you believe he was doing there at that time? Correct, and we have video footage of that, and we believe that he was actually casing out this area to commit the crime. That's a pattern that criminals do, and that's what he was doing.

Chief, yesterday, the FBI described the person that we've been seeing in these images as a suspect. Today, the language seems to be person of interest. Can you clarify? Do you believe that this person that we're looking at is your shooter, is your shooting suspect? Definitely, he's still a person of interest, and we're still investigating that to be able to get that answer. But we strongly believe that he is a suspect in the incident and a person of interest. The back.

An MIT professor died early this morning from gunshot wounds. Does that incident have any potential connection to this investigation? Not that we know of, no. In the back, sir.

Ask you-- yesterday, we were wondering about this person's age. Now that we've seen more video-- again, a couple of days ago, I know you were saying 20s, was talking about 30s. But just to help people at home, people who are seeing this video, do profilers or anyone in your department have any better understanding, a closer idea on his age? And the second part of that question is, can you now confirm that he has no connection as a past student or as a past staff member at the University? So the first question, I'll tell you that the first-- when it happened on Saturday night, obviously, it was chaos, and there was a witness that stated that he might have been in his 30s. At this point, we're still just looking at the picture. We haven't identified ages or anything to that point. And as far as whether he's a Brown student or anything, we don't have an of those answers. No.

Colonel, in one of the new videos prior to the shooting, this person of interest is seen running. At this point, do you have any inkling why he's running and where's he's running to? Yeah, we're still investigating that, but we do know that he was casing the area. And again, that's what criminals do prior to committing a crime. Chris.

It appears that the FBI--

We're going to continue to monitor the briefing in Providence, Rhode Island. That is the Police Chief Oscar Perez Jr. But to summarize briefly, they have released enhanced videos of what they believe is a likely person of interest, certainly a person of interest, quite possibly the suspect, quite possibly the gunman involved in the mass shooting at Brown University. I want to go to Tom Hanson, who is in Providence, Rhode Island. Tom, it strikes me a couple of things that the authorities asked for other members of the public to provide any videos they might have, from Ring cameras on their residence, or if they have a Tesla vehicle. Those of you who don't know, Teslas have outward looking cameras that operate all the time. Police use them with some regularity, trying to get video images of a crime scene or something that might be related to a crime scene, and that they're wanting people to evaluate the body movements, posture, and gait of this person of interest. And that the video shown today, 10:30 AM Saturday-- to remind people, the first call came in about, if I recall correctly, Tom, 2:05 PM Saturday from the Brown University campus. So suggestion, he was casing things out before the crime itself.

Yeah, that's absolutely right, Major, and that's one of the things that we heard from the attorney general in our interview today, was they are really looking into if this was premeditated or not, what this shooter knew about the building. Now, one thing I want to point out, when you mentioned the cameras and the plea for the public to submit their own video, submit their own security camera footage, it really boils down to the geography of this building. Around Brown University, there are roughly 800 security cameras we have learned, but most of those security cameras are not located in or around that building, making it very difficult for authorities to piece together his movements in and around the building during the time of the incident. They haven't found any really helpful video from the security cameras in that area. And so that's something where they are now turning to the public. We even saw it ourselves today, authorities going door to door and presumably asking people what they knew, interviewing them, and then, of course, giving them that request for any video that they have for security in their homes. I should also note that specific building is right on the edge of campus, so that proximity there toes the line between campus property and residential property. So that explains also why they are asking people to weigh in and help and also call that tip line, which, as you heard in that press conference, Major, the actionable tips has actually jumped from 150, which was reported to us earlier today, up to 200. So they are following all those leads and sussing it out. Major.

And a community stressed out around the holiday season, still fearful at the margins, maybe even more than that-- extra police presence provided for schools and other parts of Providence. Tom Hanson coming to us from Providence, Rhode Island. Thank you very much.