The Two Fatalities Named in the Ivy League School Shooting as Authorities Persist in Search for Killer.
The pair of scholars who died in the recent tragic incident in Providence were honored at the start of the week – amid a widespread hunt for their assailant carried on following the freeing by authorities in Rhode Island of the only individual questioned in the case.
Tributes for Ella Cook
The young woman Ella Cook, a second-year student from Alabama, was described as “an incredible, grounded, faithful, bright light”, according to the Birmingham's Cathedral Church of the Advent, which honored her memory at a gathering on Sunday.
She served as second-in-command of Brown’s chapter of the College Republicans organization, according to the organization. Karoline Leavitt also shared condolences on social media, stating: “There are no words. Thinking of her kin and peers, above all her mom and dad.”
An International Student
The second fatality was MukhammadAziz Umurzokov from Uzbekistan, an Uzbek national in his freshman year at the prestigious university, his family confirmed.
Umurzokov’s identity was confirmed by the Uzbek Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“He was exceptionally gentle, witty, and bright. He had big dreams of becoming a neurosurgeon and aiding others,” his sister, Samira Umurzokova said in a tribute.
The Shooting Incident
Nine more persons were wounded in the weekend shooting in the engineering department of Brown’s grounds in Providence, during the university's examination week.
Authorities said by the end of Sunday that a 24-year-old male taken into custody in a search at a lodging about around 27 kilometers from the university earlier in the day was released from custody.
“A perpetrator remains free,” stated Rhode Island’s attorney general, Peter Neronha.
He added, “Occasionally a probe goes down a path, and then you need to change course and go in another, and this is precisely what occurred over the last 24 hours or so.”
Community Anxiety
The city's mayor, Brett Smiley, acknowledged: “It is expected to provoke fresh anxiety for our city”.
The gunman discharged a weapon inside a lecture hall in the engineering facility on Saturday, shooting over four dozen bullets from a 9mm handgun, a police source informed the news agency.
Officers that searched the lodging seized a pair of pistols and two loaded 30-round magazines when the person of interest was taken into custody, the news agency reported.
Those Hurt
Regarding the nine injured, one student was allowed to go home, stated the university president, Christina Paxson. Seven more were in grave but unchanging health, and one remained in critical care, police said on Sunday.
A private school, a independent school in Durham, North Carolina, said a recent graduate, Kendall Turner, was one of the critically injured.
More Condolences
Cook was remembered at a church service in Birmingham on Sunday. A pastor commented, “Her presence was a wonderful, steady, pious glow not only during her upbringing... but at Brown she was an incredible light in that institution as well.”
A group leader, Martin Bertao, posted a statement from the club. “Ella was recognized for her bold, brave, and kind heart as she served her chapter and other students,” he said.
Jonathan Henick, Jonathan Henick, said he was “extremely sorrowful” by the student's death in a message. “We extend our sincere condolences to his relatives, companions, and fellow students and mourn the loss of his bright future.”
National Context
The weekend's murders at Brown, the nation’s seventh-oldest university with about thousands of bachelor's and postgraduate students, occurred during one of at least 392 shooting incidents documented across the United States so far in 2025, according to statistics. Monday was the 349th day of the year.