Speaker 1 (00:00):
… kitchen table right now, but if you're comfortable, you should send your kid to school. Providence Public Schools are open and we have police coverage at drop-off and pickup times to provide that extra sense of safety and security for our families.
(00:15)
I spent the morning out at our schools in the neighborhood to be there for our parents and they certainly were glad to see an officer helping out. And so, as we've said many times, but it's important to continue to say we're so grateful for the tireless effort of law enforcement, not just to assist with the investigation, but to help all of us feel safe in our home. At this time, I'm going to turn the mic over to our governor, Governor Dan McKee.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Thanks, Mayor. And just like all of us, we want to see the individual that pulled the trigger on these young kids identified, apprehended and brought the justice. I can tell you from the state level, we're continuing to coordinate our state police and I've instructed the colonel to make sure that all the resources that are available are being employed through the direction…
(01:19)
… identified, apprehended, and brought to justice. I can tell you from the state level, we're continuing to coordinate our state police and I've instructed the colonel to make sure that all the resources that are available are being employed through the direction of the mayor, but that that partnership is incredibly important.
(01:47)
I also know that the schools are not only being impacted on the higher education in Providence and also the K-through-12, but I also have heard and have been in contact with our commissioner of higher education, Shannon Gilkey, along with our commissioner of K-through-12, Angélica Infante-Green, to make sure that we are reassessing all safety issues in all our schools in the state of Rhode Island and more to come on that.
(02:19)
The issues that have to do with mental health, coordinating around the state through our higher ed and through our K-through-12, I've assigned Director Rick Leclerc to make sure that they're coordinating all of the social services, all the mental health help that's out there, so that we can also deliver that on a statewide basis. I was at Family Services Rhode Island today on Hope Street, and just seeing what they're doing and it's being duplicated all around the state of Rhode Island. So, I think it's important that we do everything we can out of the Governor's Office to support what's happening at Brown, the community at Brown, Providence, but also, knowing that this is impacting on a statewide basis. So, we're deploying that effort to make the effort to let people know that we want to do everything we can so they can be safe and feel safe.
(03:20)
And then, finally, we want to make sure that all Rhode Islanders know that everything that is physically possible is being done and partnering in with our federal, the FBI, our state law enforcement, and also the local law enforcement, to bring an individual, and identify and bring that person to justice.
(03:45)
We also have been involved and communicating with the League of Cities and Towns today through Randy Rossi. They've sent out a message to deploy their police vehicles at the beginning of school day, at the end of the school day, all around the state of Rhode Island to, again, show that we're serious about having people and the families feel safe and that everything that's being done to make sure that that happens on a statewide basis because this has become a statewide issue that has impacted families and people throughout the state of Rhode Island. Mayor?
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Now, a word from Colonel Oscar Perez.
Chief Oscar (04:31):
Thank you, Mayor. Thank you all for being here again. We are once again to provide you some of the highlights and the progress that the Providence Police Department along with several agencies have gotten together and stepped up to come up to this. I want to remind you that this is a very active investigation, very complex investigation and is the dedicated work of the men and women of the Providence Police Department, the Detective Division, the Community Response Team, the Special Response Team is all hands on deck. And on top of all, if you have the state police who's assisting us and every other federal partner that has been in this building for several hours, and I want to come in and applaud them for the work that they have done. And that includes the FBI, HSI, ATF, the IRS, the Marshals, and several others agencies analysts that are here. So, it's pretty active because we want to make sure, as the governor stated, as the mayor stated, to make sure that we identify this individual and bring them to justice.
(05:27)
Our work that initiated today and continues to initiate for a while since it started, we're at the 49th hour and there's no one that wants to put this individual in handcuffs than us. So, this has brought us to a new lead, which I momentarily will probably will be able to provide you with that's going to include video of this individual, as well as photos of this individual. We're asking the public for assistance to be able to identify this individual.
(05:57)
The photos I will be able to show you are coming from the area of Hope Street near Benevolent and [inaudible 00:06:04]. And those videos were retrieved around 2:00 PM on Saturday the 13th. And we believe that that's the same individual that we showed you from the previous video that we released. The public is encouraged to use the tip line, which is pretty active. We have a tip line, which is staffed with officers from the Providence Police as well as analysts, and they're taking calls as we speak. And we want the public to use that information that they have that may be beneficial to this investigation. They need to call (401) 272-3121, press zero. Now, it's going to direct you in order to provide the tips that you are providing to us. As well, you can access the FBI website at fbi.gov/brownuniversityshooting.
(06:54)
Please, I'm going to ask you all to follow our channels to stay appraised of what's going on and to stay accurate. There's a lot of channels and a lot of stuff that's going out there that circulating the wrong info. And I told you when I first met you that there's appropriate info, there's accurate info and it's going to come from us. So, I please and plead with you that you access those type of channels.
(07:15)
Again, we're asking for the public's assistance and identifying this individual that we're about to show you, and we'll release this video on Twitter account momentarily. I'm going to turn to the video behind us. I'll be able to show you in two seconds. Officer Mangan, if you can just put the videos up.
(07:36)
So, this is the first video that we're showing you. This is the individual walking. It's on the sidewalk of Benevolent. And this is prior to the incident. Here we go again with… Is this video two, Mike? Again, you see him walking. Moving on to the third video. These are some photos of this individual, and they will all be timestamped. The last photo. Thank you.
(08:50)
So, we'll be providing this as well, and I ask you all to please make sure you all put them up. And then, anybody in the public that has any info about this individual, we ask that you call our tip line, and we'll also have the numbers and the website listed. Mayor?
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Thank you, Colonel. The last speaker today will be special agent in charge from the FBI, Ted Docks.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Thank you, mayor. And good evening, everyone. My name is Ted Docks. I'm the special agent in charge of FBI Boston. We know there's a lot of public concern about the horrific mass shooting at Brown University on Saturday, and rightfully so. I can assure you that the law enforcement team standing before you today has been working around the clock 24-7 to ensure justice is fully served. While we mourn the devastating loss of the victims and those who are critically injured, the FBI and its partners are dedicated to honoring their memory through a meticulous investigation.
(09:48)
Tonight, as Colonel Perez stated, we are renewing our call for the public's assistance in seeking any and all information about the shooter. No amount of information is too small or irrelevant. We are also here to announce the FBI is now offering a reward of $50,000 for information that can lead to the identification, the arrest, and the conviction of the individual responsible, who we believe to be armed and dangerous.
(10:18)
We're asking everyone in Rhode Island and beyond to review the new images of the suspect, share them on social media, and come forward if you have any information. You can contact the FBI at 1-800-callfbi or the tips provided by the police department at (401)272-3121, or you can also provide tips electronically and submit it to tips.fbi.gov. We're also doubling down on our efforts to obtain images and video of the shooter. Those can be submitted online at fbi.gov/brownuniversityshooting. Our agents and analysts
Speaker 3 (11:00):
… these are fully embedded with our law enforcement partners, including Providence and Rhode Island State Police. We are tracking down leads, canvassing neighborhoods and developing intelligence. And right now, our evidence response teams remain on campus processing scene.
(11:17)
And folks from our lab from Quantico are documenting the trajectories of the bullets to reconstruct the scene. It's painstaking work, and we are asking the public to be patient as we continue to run down every lead so we can get victims, survivors, and their families and all of you the answers you deserve. Thank you.
Dan (11:39):
Mayor, can you tell Chief Oscar to say a statement in Spanish, please, for the Spanish media?
Mayor Brett Smiley (11:45):
Yes.
Chief Oscar (11:45):
[foreign language 00:11:59].
Karla (12:35):
Mr. Attorney General, with these new images that are being released-
Mayor Brett Smiley (12:40):
Dan, go ahead.
Dan (12:40):
All right [inaudible 00:12:40] from from NBC 10. I just want to ask a question. These videos and images were actually very good that you just showed. They were from the day before, and I'm just wondering why didn't we release these a little bit earlier? Did you just get them today? And can you explain? Because that's going to be a question from people.
Chief Oscar (12:54):
Of course. And that's a great question, Dan. And I'll tell you that it takes times. I've mentioned it before that investigations are very complex. And when you're doing canvassing areas or when you're developing evidence, sometimes you get directed to another direction, and then that's what makes you go back to certain areas and continue to investigate.
(13:11)
Here we are at the 49th hour, but I got to commend the dedication and professionalism of all of us that I mentioned earlier, because it's that passion to bring someone to justice that led us to get this info that we got today to be able to provide to you.
Karla (13:21):
Mr. Attorney General, with these images and photos-
Mayor Brett Smiley (13:25):
One second, Karla?
Karla (13:26):
With these images and videos, are you all going to distribute them so the media can distribute them?
Chief Oscar (13:30):
100%.
Karla (13:31):
You are?
Chief Oscar (13:32):
Yes.
Karla (13:33):
And Mr. Attorney General, yesterday you made it clear we didn't have an image of this person's face. Now these images show we do have this person's face. Is this going to be key in solving this case, which you seem very dedicated in doing?
Mr. Attorney General (13:45):
Yeah, look, I think as I've said multiple times today, that these investigations are like threads that you pull on a garment. And some of them you pull, and the garment doesn't open up, and other ones you pull and the garment comes undone. I think when you go out and get a better image of the person's face that can only help the public help us identify this person and confirm that they're the right person when that time comes.
(14:14)
The prosecutors today have been working with the law enforcement agents and police officers to advance this investigation. And I would describe today's work as making steady progress to identifying the person that we saw in the video that was released yesterday, and the sooner we can identify that person, the sooner we can, I think, blow this case open. But that's work that has to happen in the next 24 to 36 hours.
Dan (14:42):
Mayor-
Speaker 4 (14:43):
[inaudible 00:14:43] just led you to believe that there was no further threat to the community today. You mentioned yesterday that there was no additional evidence. Can you just expand upon that to-
Mayor Brett Smiley (14:53):
Yeah, it's the same as yesterday, which is ever since 4:05 on Saturday, which was when the first call came into Brown, there has been no new, credible, specific threat anywhere in the Providence community having anything.
Speaker 5 (15:12):
With respect to [inaudible 00:15:12], there was no threats made prior to the shooting. So how can people feel safe with that information?
Mayor Brett Smiley (15:18):
The way in which we are trying to reassure our residents is through a noted visible police presence throughout the community. It is going to be hard for my city to feel safe going forward. This has shaken us. That will be true tomorrow. I suspect that'll be true the day after the general convicts someone. This is a process to restore a sense of safety, but we're going to take those step at a time. And the first step in what we're trying to provide today, in which we did well with the assistance of our neighbors, and we're grateful for it, is a noted, visible police presence to provide some confidence for families that are taking their kids to school, people who have to get to work, to work a shift.
(16:09)
I spent lunchtime today walking down Thayer Street, and for our guests, Thayer Street is the commercial district right adjacent to campus. And I talked to one of the women at Antonio's, which some of you knows at Pizza By this Life Joint, and she said, "I didn't want to come to work today, but I needed to work. I needed to take the shift." And that's a very real thing happening in our community right now, but she noticed and she appreciated the fact that there were patrolmen walking up and down Thayer Street, and made her feel a little bit better.
(16:48)
And when she comes to work tomorrow, I hope she feels a little bit better after that. That's where we are right now in terms of restoring a sense of safety of the community. And that's what we're going to continue to try to do. Bill, go ahead.
Bill (17:01):
Mayor, two questions to that point. A lot of people are scared right now. A lot of people confused right now in the city. Can you speak to them directly summarizing what you just said or any other thoughts from the heart, your take right now is Providence safe.
Mayor Brett Smiley (17:17):
Yeah. Providence remains a very safe city and Providence receives really the best law enforcement, I believe, in the country. And today, especially at this moment, it's being augmented by great professionals of other Rhode Islanders, the state police and others and our federal partners. But my sense of the community right now is that this is starting to get very real and very personal. And I heard that today. I heard that last night at the vigil.
(17:50)
We're all two degrees of separation from one another and now people are starting to share stories with one another of, "Oh, my neighbor was nearby," and "Oh, my friend's kid was supposed to go to that review session, but didn't." I'm starting to hear that stories. And I think all the Rhode Islanders in the room are starting to hear those stories. I heard that story again today with one of our customers is one of the teachers.
(18:12)
And so it's starting to get very personal for our community, which is hard. And that's, I think, where we are sort of emotionally in the process, but we're here from one another. That's the scary side. The upside is that this is a tight-knit community that looks out for one another. The governor was there. All the officials who were up here with me tonight were with us at Lipit Park last night.
(18:40)
It was 10 degrees. It was loosely organized, and yet hundreds of people came out because they wanted to be with one another. They were hugging their neighbors, they were crying and they were offering each other support. So this community will heal from this. We will move forward, but that doesn't make light of, and I'm certainly not making light of the fear and anxiety that persists, but the only way we're going to move forward through it is one step at a time, and today's one of those steps.
(19:08)
Bob, go ahead.
Bob (19:10):
Attorney General, do you have any idea what kind of firearm was used in this shooting, and do you know how many rounds were fired? Do you have any details of that nature?
Chief Oscar (19:20):
It was several rounds, and it was a small caliber. Actually, nine millimeter firearm was used and it was several rounds into it. And obviously, as we all know, the casualties and the injured people, it's just terrible, so yes.
Speaker 6 (19:33):
Colonel, I have two questions?
Chief Oscar (19:34):
Yes.
Speaker 6 (19:35):
Who's the lead investigator on this now? And secondly, what do you believe that a person of interest was doing in that video and those pictures that you obtained?
Chief Oscar (19:46):
Yeah. So the first question, the lead is, obviously we're taking the lead, but we couldn't do this job without the assistance, as I mentioned, in collaboration of all the different agencies and municipalities. This is a team effort.
(19:55)
This is important to us. As the mayor stated, it has shocked the city and a lot of people are concerned. So this is an effort to put handcuffs on somebody and it takes a whole team to do that.
Speaker 6 (20:08):
My second question is, what do you think he was doing? Was he staking out the area? Because this was the day before the shootings, correct?
Chief Oscar (20:15):
Correct. And so.
Speaker 6 (20:16):
[inaudible 00:20:17]?
Chief Oscar (20:19):
So it was a few hours before, and I'll tell you that at this point, that's all we have. So it was a few hours before. What he was doing, we'll be able to find out further once we come to investigate. Go ahead John.
John (20:33):
Can you talk about, is it unusual to change the direction of an investigation as it's going on?
Chief Oscar (20:40):
That's a great question, John. I think that all detectives throughout this nation and in the world understand that when you're investigating a case, it takes different paths. You start somewhere, you start here and all of a sudden something else pops off and you're going in a different direction. And that's what happens. It's complex. And at the end of the day, you have to investigate, you have to pull every rock, you have to look at every video, you have to examine evidence, you have to check ballistics.
(21:04)
It just takes a lot of work. You have to interview witnesses and sometimes that takes you to a whole different path. And as a police officer and a detective, you have to make sure that you don't get into the tunnel vision in order to be able to have right answers. So yeah, they do change.
(21:17)
Go ahead, sir.
Speaker 7 (21:18):
I understand that as time passes it'll be harder to make an arrest?
Chief Oscar (21:21):
I'll tell you every minute counts. Every minute counts, but what doesn't stop is the dedication and professionalism of this department as well as our partners.
Mayor Brett Smiley (21:34):
Steph.
Speaker 8 (21:34):
Do you believe that any of the victims, whether the victims who died or the others were targeted by the shooter or that he was just shooting randomly indiscriminately.
Chief Oscar (21:44):
That's all part of the investigation, Steph. Yeah. So we'll continue to investigate further.
Speaker 8 (21:48):
Thank you.
Speaker 9 (21:48):
And can you also explain the FBI today was searching in the bushes and kicking around snow or moving the snow on Waterman Street. We have known since Saturday that the potential
Speaker 9 (22:00):
… suspect walked down Waterman Street. It was in the first video. Why would you be now looking in the bushes for something on Waterman Street two days later after it had snowed?
Chief Oscar (22:09):
So I just answered John the same question on how investigations they turn and lead you in a different direction. We might have used all our energies in the first few days to investigate something, and here we are now heading back to that same place to continue to investigate, and that's why you saw that. Because the investigations change on a daily basis.
Mayor Brett Smiley (22:26):
[inaudible 00:22:27].
Speaker 10 (22:28):
The travel of the 911 car, emergency calls that came in, the first 911 calls to come in, were those dispatched by Brown University Police or Providence Police?
Chief Oscar (22:40):
It was dispatched by the 911 center. And yes, we responded immediately within minutes. You saw the Providence police cruiser are pulling up.
Speaker 10 (22:46):
So Providence is been the investigator on this from the beginning?
Chief Oscar (22:49):
That's correct.
Mayor Brett Smiley (22:51):
Patrick.
Patrick (22:51):
Have you received any leads or indication on whether this was personally motivated, political, or otherwise? Are there any threats to Brown that they have turned over that would give us an indication why this might happen?
Chief Oscar (23:02):
It's a great question and that's something that we're all asking ourselves and we'll continue to investigate to be able to get that answer.
Mayor Brett Smiley (23:06):
In front here.
Speaker 11 (23:09):
Do you have reason to believe that this person is no longer in the community? Because you continue to try to reassure the public that they are safe, but you also just said that this person you believe is armed and dangerous. So how can both be true?
Chief Oscar (23:20):
Well, yeah, right. And that's something that's unknown, but like the mayor stated, I'll tell you that we have enhanced enforcement in that area. We have, Steph stated it earlier, we have a lot of officers in the area, so in that sense it's going to be safe. But however, as well, I just want to remind the community that our priority in law enforcement and in the city is to keep our constituents safe, keep them informed, and to keep them committed. To understand that we are professional and we're dedicated, and we're going to put somebody in handcuffs. And we're going to continue to do this job. So I wanted to-
Speaker 11 (23:53):
Do you have reason to believe that they are no longer in this community, this person ?
Chief Oscar (23:56):
That's something that we're continuing to investigate.
Tom (23:58):
Colonel Perez. Just real quick.
Mayor Brett Smiley (23:59):
Tom.
Tom (24:01):
Tom from the WPRO. On the trajectory of where this guy went, from the video that you saw, where is the last place that you have a clear video of seeing him? Are you still getting video from houses in that area?
(24:14)
And Colonel Weaver, just real quick, on terms of the state's response, how much enforced patrol, we know about the enforced patrol in Providence, but are you putting throughout the state to keep an eye on the highways?
Col. Weaver (24:29):
We have increased our patrols throughout the state and we will respond accordingly to any requests for additional assistance. This is a collaborative effort, not only from our uniform division, but also our detective bureau is embedded here with Providence and our federal partners, and we will not stop until we find out who the suspect is and bring them to justice.
Speaker 12 (24:55):
In some other instances, suspects-
Chief Oscar (24:58):
I just want to clarify something because it seems that we're a little confused as far as the video itself, it says 2:00 PM. It was their day off, two hours prior. 2:00 PM. Yes.
Dan (25:06):
So where is the actual house that you [inaudible 00:25:09] that video from?
Chief Oscar (25:09):
Let me just finish with the-
Dan (25:10):
Go ahead.
Chief Oscar (25:10):
Yeah, go ahead.
Tom (25:10):
Thanks, Dan.
Dan (25:11):
Pleasure, Tom.
Tom (25:11):
Where's the last video that you actually have video from in that area?
Chief Oscar (25:15):
It's in the vicinity of Hope Street between Benevolent and Manning Street.
Tom (25:20):
And that's before the shooting?
Chief Oscar (25:22):
That's correct, yes.
Tom (25:22):
Two hours, right?
Chief Oscar (25:22):
Two hours prior. Yes.
Dan (25:22):
My turn, Tom.
Mayor Brett Smiley (25:22):
Dan, go. Correct.
Dan (25:28):
This video that you just released, more than anything is key directly to this case. We have a closer picture of his face. We have a closer picture of his body. Based on that and witness interviews, do you have a new description of the person of interest now? Because he looked like a guy just walking around the neighborhood. Is there a new description you can give us on-
Chief Oscar (25:51):
There is, and it will be on that poster that we're going to be releasing on the images. And the height, weight, and things of that nature are all posted on that on that [inaudible 00:25:59].
Dan (25:57):
… [inaudible 00:26:00].
Chief Oscar (25:59):
It's something that we're investigating, yeah.
Speaker 12 (26:01):
Colonel, in other manhunt instances…
Speaker 13 (26:02):
[foreign language 00:26:05].
Chief Oscar (26:02):
[inaudible 00:26:05].
Speaker 13 (26:02):
[foreign language 00:26:05].
Chief Oscar (26:43):
So the gentleman just asked the question about how information is getting filtered into the community and out from us. And the question was that the past few days a individual was identified and was detained, and he was a person of interest. We had him here. He's asking, how does that get out to the media? How does that happen? My answer to that is I have no control over what's being released or circulated in the media, speculations that occur. What we can control is what we give you here. And as I was speaking earlier, that's why it's important for you to get the information from us. [foreign language 00:27:13].
(27:27)
He also asked, a second question that he asked was that there was information out there that we had a person in custody of interest, a second person. And that's not true. That's incorrect. And I don't know how that circulated, it's speculation. So my answer to him is that. [foreign language 00:27:42].
Speaker 14 (27:40):
[inaudible 00:27:43]
Mayor Brett Smiley (27:42):
Chris. Go ahead, Chris.
Chris (27:47):
There appeared to be an issue with 311 services during Saturday's incident because a lot of neighborhoods couldn't get notifications, issues were going on there. And has that since been resolved?
Mayor Brett Smiley (27:57):
Yeah. So residents in the City of Providence were notified in multiple ways, and certainly through all of your outlets, all official City of Providence social media outlets, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and we pushed out a 311 notice.
(28:12)
The 311 notification system in the City of Providence, you have to sign up for it in order to receive it. And so 311 notifications did go out. If you are a resident of City of Providence and you are not receiving 311 notifications, we encourage you, we urge you to please sign up. You can do so at the city's website.
(28:32)
311 notices have continued to go out throughout this entire incident, including up as recently as today, this afternoon, to clarify a false report with regard to a report of shots fired, which was found to be unfounded. We sent out a push notification through 311 to reassure people. Because in this day and age, there's a lot of misinformation, a lot of people are getting reports through non-official channels and are getting anxious as a result of it.
(29:02)
And so 311 notifications are working fine, but you have to register for it and you have to opt in for text messages. If anyone needs assistance for how to sign up for 311, if you are not tech-savvy, or if you are having problems, you can call the phone number 311, and we have staff available who will help register you. For all of our community, please note that there are always bilingual individuals to take those phone calls.
Speaker 12 (29:32):
Colonel Perez, are you working with neighboring states?
Tom (29:35):
Mr Attorney General, real quick. You on CNN this morning talking about-
Dan (29:38):
Colonel?
Tom (29:39):
… Mr Attorney General, where you on CNN this morning talking about the person of interest from yesterday was here? We have not heard that here today. Can you talk about, is that person of interest still here in the state? Who was he? Was he from Wisconsin? Just more of-
Mr. Attorney General (29:52):
Yeah. I think, as I said last night, for those of you who were here, I thought it was really unfortunate that this person's name was leaked by somebody.
Tom (30:00):
Is he cleared?
Mr. Attorney General (30:01):
Well, let me finish my answer. It was leaked by…
Speaker 15 (30:06):
It was a joke.
Mr. Attorney General (30:06):
Excuse me?
Ronaldo (30:07):
Why you finish the answer, you just answered his question.
Mr. Attorney General (30:10):
No, I haven't finished it yet, Ronaldo.
Ronaldo (30:11):
No, you always come with the same nonsense.
Mr. Attorney General (30:13):
No, so I'm going to finish it.
Ronaldo (30:14):
No, no.
Mr. Attorney General (30:15):
So the person who was held, it was unfortunate that his name got leaked because it's one of the reasons why we use words carefully, and detaining someone because they're a person of interest is different from having a person in custody that you're gathering evidence to charge. That's a place in an investigation that eventually you get to, but we weren't there with this individual. So it's hard to put that name back in the bottle.
(30:44)
He has been cleared. He is not a person of interest any longer. The investigation is now focused in another direction. But I want to clarify something the Chief said, that doesn't mean that while part of the team was focused on him, other leads weren't being followed up on. What's critical here is that we reconstruct, and the police know this, our prosecutors are working with them, it's critical that we reconstruct this man's movements, both before and afterwards. My hope is that we will eventually have that pattern.
(31:13)
But when you ask Steph, why are they looking in particular areas, where he was, and what his movements are, are developing as we obtain additional evidence. So that can't explain why people are looking somewhere today as opposed to two days ago. We're learning more about his movements as we gather additional video evidence, and that video evidence has been coming in at a much greater degree than it was 12, 24, 36 hours ago.
(31:39)
"Why?" you ask. Some people were away for the weekend, some of these places were businesses. So what the team is doing, there are a bunch of teams doing different things, exploring electronic evidence, exploring physical evidence, meaning forensic evidence from the crime scene, canvassing the neighborhoods. And those are the threads that when you pull them, we'll open this case up. And that has been true over the course of my career, and I'm confident it'll be true again here.
Noah (32:03):
General.
Speaker 12 (32:03):
Governor.
Mr. Attorney General (32:05):
Yeah, go ahead, Noah. I'll get out of the way after that. Go ahead.
Noah (32:07):
I appreciate it. And this kind of follows up on what Colonel Perez said to the general public to use official Providence police channels, be it YouTube or whatever. Are we doing a good job here? Is the media doing a good job in the ultimate goal right now of trying to locate this person?
Mr. Attorney General (32:24):
Yeah. Look, I think part of what's important about these briefings, I give the mayor great credit for doing them, is to help push out information, in a case like this, to the press and the public to help us solve this crime. That's potentially what it'll take here.
Dan (32:37):
Mayor. Mr. Mayor.
Mayor Brett Smiley (32:38):
Yeah.
Dan (32:40):
Mr Mayor, I want to go back to Brown University.
Mayor Brett Smiley (32:41):
Yeah.
Dan (32:42):
There's been a lot of questions I've heard from a lot of parents today, and it goes back to the question about the alarm that was installed in 2007, that in an active shooter location, it sends off a notice and tells people what to do. That never went off.
Speaker 16 (33:00):
I'm wondering what is Brown's answer and perhaps even just as important, why isn't Brown here today?
Mayor Brett Smiley (33:07):
As for the decision to activate the Brown alarm, that's a question for Brown. I believe it was asked of the chief of the Brown Police Department the other day.
Speaker 16 (33:14):
He didn't answer it.
Mayor Brett Smiley (33:15):
You'd have to follow up with him. This is not a decision that the city of Providence or any of the other law enforcement partners that you see behind me can trigger that alarm. I don't know the answer to that.
(33:26)
We continue to work very closely with Brown and it is no lack of support, or there's nothing to read into the fact that they're not here today.
(33:40)
We felt like there was meaningful updates to make with respect to the investigation, the video and photos that we shared today.
(33:47)
Brown is not a part of those updates. And so we have all of the relevant agencies who are working on this and where we are in this investigation today. And that's why who you see here is here.
Speaker 17 (34:00):
Governor McKee, a question for you, sir.
Speaker 18 (34:01):
Any concerns about why Brown didn't have those sirens go off? Have you had those conversations with them?
Mayor Brett Smiley (34:07):
Again, Brown has to answer that question, but it is clear that, and the Colonel mentioned this and we've talked about it a couple times over the last two days. The police response to the initial call was swift, timely. We don't believe there was any… It could not have happened any faster than it did. A.
(34:29)
Nd so I can't speak to, honestly, don't know a lot about their alarm system. And you'd have to ask them about it. But in terms of our response, it was nearly immediately. There's a lot of presence in that area and Brown PD responded very quickly.
Speaker 17 (34:46):
Governor, please.
Speaker 16 (34:48):
You can't ask Brown if they don't show up.
Mayor Brett Smiley (34:49):
Well, you have their contact information and I would encourage you to reach out. Please straight back.
Speaker 19 (34:55):
[inaudible 00:34:55] do you have any update on the Lincolns who are still hospitalized? Have you spoken with any of them or the families?
Mayor Brett Smiley (35:01):
There's no degrading of their condition, but I don't have the latest status of them. I've not spoken to them since yesterday, although I know other people have.
(35:11)
And we're happy to try to get you an update for our next
Speaker 17 (35:15):
Governor McKee. President Donald Trump says that Brown is to blame here saying that the onus of this tragedy is on the school itself.
(35:23)
Do you think that's a fair criticism? Do you disagree with what the president is saying in response to this shooting, sir?
Governor McKee (35:29):
Who's the question for? I'm sorry.
Speaker 17 (35:30):
For Governor McKee.
Governor McKee (35:33):
Repeat the question, please.
Speaker 17 (35:34):
President Donald Trump has said that Brown University is to blame for this shooting and saying it's the school's problem. Is that a fair criticism or do you disagree with what the president says?
Governor McKee (35:44):
No, I don't think it's fair criticism.
Speaker 17 (35:46):
Can you expand on that, sir?
Speaker 20 (35:47):
Why not? Because Brown University is not collaborating with you guys. You're lying to the press over here. They have facial recognition. We know that because they follow the student, they follow everybody in the neighborhood.
Governor McKee (35:58):
We've been in conversations.
Speaker 20 (35:59):
They need to release that data. So everybody know who the guy in the video. We got the video Saturday. But you guys release the video today.
Governor McKee (36:08):
I think I answered the question.
Mayor Brett Smiley (36:10):
Listen. John, please, just for a second. A couple of things.
(36:17)
First of all, Brown University and Brown Public Safety, Brown Police Department has been a close collaborator throughout this process.
Speaker 20 (36:24):
That's not true.
Mayor Brett Smiley (36:25):
I do not accept that criticism.
Speaker 20 (36:26):
Oh, come on. We know that-
Mayor Brett Smiley (36:27):
Secondly, everyone you see behind us, we've all been working for now 49 hours. We're tired. We're serious about the task at hand.
(36:37)
I know all of you have been working very hard, and I suspect all of you are just as tired. The press has been a great partner in pushing out relevant, factual, timely information, and we are grateful for that.
(36:50)
This crowd has grown a little bit over the last 48 hours, and I know that people are weary. And so I'm asking, please, for a little bit of patience and grace, and we have been fully transparent. We continue to answer your questions. We will continue to do so.
(37:04)
But the best way to inform the public and to ask for their help is for these opportunities to not degrade into baseless accusations, and we will point them out when we hear them.
(37:16)
John, go ahead, please.
Speaker 16 (37:17):
One for the colonel, we learned you revealed that the shooter used the nine millimeter. Now there's a report the shooter yelled something right before he shot came in. Can you tell us what that was?
Chief Oscar (37:30):
Yeah, it's not part of the investigation, John.
Speaker 16 (37:34):
The only reason I ask that though is, for instance, with the Unabomber, his brother recognized the writing. So it's possible a friend or family member might recognize if the person said something that was significant.
Chief Oscar (37:50):
Correct.
Speaker 16 (37:52):
Other than the nine millimeter, is there anything else inside that auditorium that you could tell us?
Chief Oscar (37:57):
No, that's correct. And listen, like I said earlier, investigations will bring us to evidence that we need to collect in order to be able to prosecute.
Speaker 16 (38:06):
But he did yell something.
Chief Oscar (38:07):
With that being said, we're going to continue to collect evidence and if he leads us to something to that nature, that's going to be extremely helpful for us to identify somebody, we'll be the first ones to put it out.
Mayor Brett Smiley (38:20):
Alex.
Speaker 21 (38:21):
With how much time has elapsed at this point, do you have any evidence that indicates that this person is getting help or are they alone this situation? Yeah,
Chief Oscar (38:30):
So we'll continue. Those are great questions, Alex, and I think that's something for us to continue to investigate. This is active and it's complex. And so that we may have an answer to that by themselves, but that's not something that we have ruled out. And we won't do that.
Speaker 17 (38:43):
Colonel, are you looking for both a living or a potentially deceased person of interest?
Chief Oscar (38:50):
We don't rule anything out. Like I told you earlier, this is a complex situation. It's fluid, but we'll continue to do our job in order to be able to get those answers.
Mayor Brett Smiley (39:00):
Straight back, please, back.
Speaker 22 (39:01):
You were describing the suspect, of course, you look more at someone in his 30s, another day you said 20s. From what you've seen, the picture that you've seen, can you now FBI profiling that's been done, give us a better age and whether or not he has any connection at this point, 49 hours later, to that classroom, that lecture hall into the Brown University campus.
(39:23)
Can you say that lecture hall was targeted because he didn't… We saw the video of him going around the neighborhood that you just showed us, but he didn't go anywhere else into that campus. So can you say that that classroom was targeted?
Chief Oscar (39:39):
I'll tell you that. What I can tell you is that this individual definitely targeted the Brown University because clearly we're here speaking about that. And I can also tell you that obviously it's something that we're looking into as far as there is anything else that he was targeting, but it's all open. Was there another question to that part?
Speaker 22 (39:54):
I asked you about approximate age because this is the first time we're seeing his face, just like with the Marathon bombers, when the authorities finally put those pictures out within hours, those people came up. So now that for the first time the nation is seeing this image, frontal image of this suspect, what are you able to…
(40:15)
And the SAC from Boston, especially, what are you able to now determine?
Chief Oscar (40:21):
And we have that and they have been extremely helpful and we're going to be able to provide that to you so that you can put it on your own website.
Speaker 16 (40:25):
But do you have that right now, do you have his actual age right now?
Mayor Brett Smiley (40:28):
Dan's got the last question and then we're going to wrap it up.
Speaker 23 (40:30):
All right. I want to ask two questions if I could. To follow up on John's question, did the suspect yell like has been reported, and there's been some erroneous reporting, but did he yell when he in the classroom? And how valuable have witness statements been from those who survived?
Chief Oscar (40:48):
Listen, my heart goes out to the victims. He goes out to the families and I'll tell you that their cooperation has been extremely helpful. And with that being said, we'll continue and I'm going to respect the fact that… And I hope that they get better in my heart and soul goes out to them.
Speaker 23 (41:06):
Did he yell out, that's something-
Chief Oscar (41:06):
That's something that we investigated and we took statements and we have to confirm that.
Speaker 24 (41:09):
Is there audio from the scene there are a lot of cell phones [inaudible 00:41:14]
Mayor Brett Smiley (41:13):
We're going to wrap it up here. For your planning purposes, we will continue to brief in this location until we say otherwise.
(41:23)
We also, unless there's a significant update, we don't expect to brief further today, and expect to do this again tomorrow.
(41:34)
Obviously, subject to change, please make sure you're on the press list. If you're not, you can see Josh. That's how notice will be made, but for your planning purposes, that's our expectation. Thank you all very much.
Speaker 17 (41:48):
Hey, Josh. How quickly are those downloadable? Okay, thank you so much.
Speaker 25 (41:52):
[Inaudible 00:41:55].
Speaker 17 (41:55):
Yep. And those are going to be downloadable?
Speaker 25 (41:56):
Downloadable, yep
Speaker 17 (41:58):
Perfect. Thank you so much.