By:Christopher Shea, Alexander Castro and Janine L. Weisman
Rhode Island Current
Providence police will release the man apprehended at a Coventry hotel early Sunday morning as part of their investigation of the mass shooting at Brown University’s engineering and physics building.
The surprising news came at a twice delayed press conference that began shortly after 11 p.m. at the Providence Public Safety Complex. The press conference was originally slated to begin at 10:30 p.m. and then 10:45 p.m.
“I’ve been around long enough to know that sometimes you head in one direction and you have to regroup and go in another and that is what has happened over the last 24 hours or so,” Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said.
The press conference came hours after national news outlets had already named a 24-year-old Wisconsin man, citing law enforcement sources speaking on condition of anonymity. The Associated Press had reported that police had seized two handguns and two loaded 30-round magazines when the man was detained at the Hampton Inn in Coventry.
“What is really unfortunate is that this person’s name was leaked to the public,” Neronha went on. “It’s hard to put that back in the bottle.”
Neronha declined to say what eliminated him as a person of interest.
Meanwhile, officials are still not releasing the names of the victims in the shooting, which killed two students and wounded nine others. Eight students remain hospitalized at Rhode Island Hospital.
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said that the search will continue for additional video evidence. Residents living near the Brown University campus, particularly along Hope and Waterman streets, who have doorbells that record motion, are asked to upload any videos recorded after the shooting happened Saturday around 4 p.m. to a designated page on the FBI website.
Smiley said residents and business owners in the area who have video from that time can also call police at (401) 272-3121.
When a reporter asked Neronha if the person of interest would be exonerated in writing, after having his name nationally broadcasted in relation to a mass shooting, Neronha opted to sketch “a clear picture” of case law and the duration of forensics.
“We can detain someone for a reasonable period of time if there is evidence as such that points to that person being involved in criminal activity,” Neronha said. “So you know, evidence doesn’t appear on your doorstep and you have answers to it within the first 15 minutes.”
Evidence, Neronha added, takes time and testing to confirm. Some tests can take an entire day to perform.
“So over the course of the day, while we’re following up leads elsewhere, those initial leads may come back positive or may come back negative,” Neronha said. “Here they came back negative.”
Neronha got testy once more when a reporter asked about the availability of any additional video evidence. Smiley was at the podium, but Neronha’s voice boomed forward in reply.
“If we had that video, you’d have it,” Neronha said. “Obviously, if there was, if there was a piece of video [where] we can show you a face and say, ‘This is our person of interest, or suspect,’ you’d have it.”
Asked about the possibility of additional video — whether from cameras at Brown or in the surrounding area, like homes or businesses — the AG offered a more resigned reply.
“We’re not holding back video,” Neronha said. “We’re not holding back video that we think would be useful, and I don’t think I should even have to say it.”
The Barus and Holley engineering building where the shooting occurred is an older building with few cameras, Neronha said.
Still, Neronha said, officials cannot divulge everything. “We have a murderer out there, frankly,” he said. “And so we’re not going to give away the game plan.”
Smiley said the individual would “shortly be released” from the Providence Police but did not give a specific time.
Smiley pledged to provide additional updates as the investigation continues.
“The community deserves to know the progress we are making in this investigation,” Smiley said. “I imagine that the Providence community feels a little bit more anxious than they did an hour ago, and I understand that.”
At a press conference Sunday morning, Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez was cautious in choosing his words to describe the status of the person of interest as being detained and not in custody. Perez had stopped short of saying the man apprehended in Coventry was the same man wearing all black shown walking on Hope Street and taking a right on Waterman Street in the video police released Saturday night.
Asked by a reporter if the man detained was the same man in the video, Perez was clear. “We do not have enough evidence to corroborate that,” the chief said.