Ella Cook, Identified as a Victim in the Brown University Shooting

Police has taken a "person of interest" into custody following the deadly mass shooting that also left several others injured.

Brown University student Ella Cook was officially confirmed on December 15, 2025, as one of the victims of the December 13 shooting. Although someone has been detained, authorities have yet to clarify key details, and the investigation remains in uncertainty.

Remembering a Bright Light Lost Too Soon

Cook was reportedly preparing for finals in a study session when gunfire erupted inside the Barus & Holley engineering and physics building. The 19-year-old was originally from Birmingham, Alabama, and was an active member of the Cathedral Church of the Advent.

During a service on Sunday, December 14, Reverend Craig Smalley addressed the congregation with the heartbreaking news.

"She was engaged and involved in our worship and in our community, and as she served here at the church and in the wider community," he said. "In all sincerity, just a tremendous and bright light in there at Brown University as well, in the time that she was there, was such a light and such a witness."

The other person who died has not yet been identified, while nine injured victims were hospitalized after the shooting.

According to her LinkedIn page, Cook began her studies at Brown in 2024 and was scheduled to graduate in 2028. Her work experience included time as a program assistant for Oxbridge Academic Programs by World Strides, and as an ice cream server at Mountain Brook Creamery.

Professor Xi Van Fleet, who met Ella at a faculty club event, shared her own heartfelt tribute on Facebook, describing how the young student left a "lasting impression."

She also revealed that Cook had been serving as Vice President of the Republican Club, and the two had a long conversation about what it was like being a conservative on campus, as well as current global issues.

"I am heartbroken that such a promising young life was taken so senselessly," Van Fleet wrote. "My thoughts and prayers are with her family and loved ones, and I am anxious to learn more about the motivations of the gunman."

Brown President Christina H. Paxson released a letter following the incident, calling this a deeply tragic day not just for the university, but for the entire Providence community.

"There are truly no words that can express the deep sorrow we are feeling for the victims of the shooting that took place today at the Barus & Holley engineering and physics building," Paxson said.

The Person in Custody

At around 4 p.m. on December 13, emergency services were alerted to an active shooter at the university. A mass alert was issued across campus, instructing students and faculty to stay in place as the terror unfolded.

According to authorities, the suspect was seen on surveillance footage leaving the building. Police explained that he most likely then exited campus entirely.

By Sunday morning, the Providence Police Department announced that a man had been arrested at a hotel in Coventry, Rhode Island, and was being held as a "person of interest" in connection to the shooting.

Josh Estrella, communications director for the mayor of Rhode Island, confirmed that the shelter-in-place order had been lifted that day after the arrest.

NBC News reported that the man taken into custody was found with a weapon that had "a unique characteristic." Despite this, police have not released his identity, and as of this writing, he has not been charged. Authorities have also not officially named him a suspect.

At this time, no possible motive for the shooting has been disclosed. Authorities later announced on Sunday night that the man detained would be released.

A Student Speaks Out

Meanwhile, survivors of the attack are beginning to come forward, explaining what they endured in those terrifying hours on campus.

One chilling video, released by WCVB Channel 5 Boston, showed students inside a campus library, crouched on the floor between filing shelves. Banging sounds echoed from the door. Then a voice shouted "Police!" and the students slowly raised their arms in the air and stood.

Moments later, officers in full tactical gear entered, securing the area while the students remained with arms raised by the shelves. Eventually, they were guided out of the building.

Among them was Talia Levine, a student who had previously interned at the news station. She recounted that she had been inside the library when emergency alerts began flooding phones. One of her roommates had just run from the Barus & Holley building moments earlier.

Levine and her friends fled to the 11th floor, where they hid for four hours until police broke down the door. They were then moved to a basement, where they remained for a few more hours before being taken to the reunification zone.

She said the experience was surreal, like living out a nightmare. According to her, this is everyone's worst fear, but something no one thinks will ever happen. Yet, what disturbed her most was the narrow escape two of her friends made.

"It's just been really scary to know that two of my teammates left the study room that the shooting occurred in five minutes early to go to dinner, and they saved their lives," Levine said.

She ended her interview by expressing gratitude that her family was nearby, and that they were all safe. But so many others were affected, and one of the people inside that study room has spoken out.

The Classroom Where It Happened

As previously reported, Joseph Oduro, a university senior and teaching assistant, was leading a study session; the first of five scheduled before the final exam for the Principles of Economics class, set for Tuesday, December 16.

The review session ran from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. They were nearly finished.

They had already covered all the material. Oduro was simply taking a moment to tell the students how grateful he was for them. He had no idea they were moments away from becoming victims.

Suddenly, gunshots rang out, followed by screams in the hallway.

The masked gunman burst into the classroom seconds later, and tragedy struck. In an interview with The New York Times, Oduro said the shooter shouted something at them that he still cannot decipher.

He and authorities are continuing to work together to piece that moment, desperate for any clue that could help the investigation.

The room itself was one of the largest on campus, with 186 seats arranged like a lecture hall. Rows of seats were split by two aisles, stadium-style. The middle rows held ten seats, the outer ones just three.

Oduro survived by hiding under a desk with around 20 others. One of them was shot in the leg. A few ran through side doors. But the students in the middle row seat had a harder time escaping.

"The students in the middle were impacted the most," Oduro recalled. "Many of them were lying there and they were not moving. I have no idea how many."

Witnesses to the Campus Chaos

Other people have come forward with their stories. Chemical engineering student Emma Ferraro was in the building lobby, reviewing her final project, when she suddenly heard loud pops echoing from the east area. At first, she had no idea they were gunshots.

But the moment reality set in, she acted fast. Emma bolted from the building and fled to another nearby structure, where she hid in fear for hours, too terrified to move.

Another person nearby was Eva Erickson, a doctoral student on campus, and notably a recent finalist on CBS's "Survivor." She had left her laboratory just 15 minutes before the first shots rang out.

Although she was already out of the building, Erickson ended up in lockdown inside the campus gym, where she managed to post on social media that the only person who had stayed behind in the lab that day was safely guided out.

Across the street, Alex Bruce, a biochemistry student, had been working on a research project in his dorm when chaos broke out. He heard sirens wailing and received an active shooter alert at 4 p.m.

The incident left him visibly shaken. He remained inside, trembling, as he watched from his window while armed officers surrounded the area.

The terrifying part was that no one knew where the shooter would head next, so students did whatever they could to stay hidden.

According to doctoral student Chianghen Chien, people in a nearby lab hid under their desks and turned off the lights, trying not to make a sound.

One student had just stepped out of the library when the chaos began. She ran into a taco restaurant for shelter, where she spent over three hours texting her friends and waiting for the all-clear.

“Everyone is the same as me, shocked and terrified that something like this happened,” she told AP News.

Another student nearby had already been through a devastating school shooting and missed this one because of a simple change of mind.

Mia Tretta, a 21-year-old, had been studying for finals like many others in her dormitory. She had planned to go to the engineering complex, but at the last minute, decided instead to go to her room.

In 2019, Tretta was shot in the abdomen by a classmate at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California. She was one of five students who were shot; two of them died.

She told The New York Times that people never believe something like that can happen to them until it does.

We offer our condolences to Cook's family and to all those affected at this time.