Brown University is calling on the public to stop engaging in “harmful” social media activity while investigators work to identify the gunman who killed two students on its campus Saturday afternoon.
In the wake of the mass shooting, at least one Brown community member has been subjected to “harmful doxxing,” the Providence, Rhode Island, university said in a statement Tuesday evening.
“It’s important to make clear that targeting individuals could do irrevocable harm,“ the statement reads. ”Accusations, speculation and conspiracies we’re seeing on social media and in some news reports are irresponsible, harmful, and in some cases dangerous for the safety of individuals in our community.”
The university did not provide any identifying information about the community member who was targeted.
- Read more: Police say to focus on Brown University shooting person of interest’s movements in new video
Gunfire erupted on the first floor of Brown’s Barus and Holley engineering and physics building around 4 p.m. on Dec. 13 during an economics class. The shooting left sophomore Ella Cook and first-year student Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov dead and nine other students injured.
As of Tuesday evening, the shooter remained at large.
Investigators’ highest priority right now is identifying a person of interest that they’ve released numerous photos and videos of. They believe this is the critical next step in charging someone in the shooting, officials said during a Tuesday evening press conference.
“Once we identify who this person is, I believe we’ll be able to locate them,” Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said.
As of Tuesday evening, one of the seven students injured during the shooting was in critical condition, five more were in critical but stable condition, and one was in stable condition, according to law enforcement and Brown University. Two have been released from Rhode Island Hospital.
Earlier on Tuesday, Brown University President Christina Paxson shared a heartfelt tribute to Cook and Umurzokov in a letter to the school community.
