Brown University Police Chief Placed on Leave Following Campus Shooting as Federal Investigation Begins

Brown University has placed its police chief on administrative leave following the December 13 campus shooting that killed two students and wounded nine others, as federal authorities launch an investigation into potential security violations and new details emerge about warning signs that may have been missed.

Leadership Change Amid Crisis

Rodney Chatman, who served as both chief of police and Vice President for Public Safety and Emergency Management, has been placed on administrative leave effective immediately, the university confirmed. Former Providence Police Chief Hugh Clements will serve as interim vice president for public safety as the institution grapples with the aftermath of the deadliest incident in its history.

The leadership change comes as the U.S. Department of Education announced it will investigate whether Brown violated the Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Act, which requires institutions receiving federal student aid to meet certain campus safety and security requirements. The investigation will examine security reports, audits, dispatch logs, and emergency notification procedures.

A Tragedy Foretold?

New revelations raise troubling questions about whether the December 13 shooting could have been prevented. A custodian told The Boston Globe that he saw the shooter casing the building weeks before the attack and flagged the suspicious person to a security guard.

Security infrastructure gaps have also emerged. Interior cameras do not cover the room where the shooting took place or the surrounding hallways, forcing investigators to rely heavily on residential neighborhood footage to track the gunman's movements.

The security concerns weren't new. In August, the union representing Brown's 10 campus police sergeants issued a vote of no confidence in Chatman, signaling tensions within the department months before the tragedy.

The Victims: Bright Futures Cut Short

The shooting claimed the lives of two promising students during final exam week, just days before winter break.

Ella Cook, a 19-year-old sophomore from Mountain Brook, Alabama, was vice president of Brown's College Republicans and a devoted member of the Catholic community. Hundreds gathered in Birmingham, Alabama to remember her, with a professor noting she was known on campus as "Ellabama". Alabama Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth described her as a devoted Christian and committed conservative who represented the very best of Alabama.

Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, an 18-year-old freshman from Virginia by way of Uzbekistan, was a double major in biochemistry and neuroscience who dreamed of becoming a pediatric neurosurgeon. At age 7, he was diagnosed with Chiari malformation, a condition requiring immediate brain surgery. That experience with a surgeon in New York inspired his life goal of helping children with neurological issues.

Umurzokov attended Saturday's economics review session despite not being an economics student himself—he was accompanying a friend. In his last text to classmate Vanessa Finder, he included a photo of the lecture hall and joked about being dragged to the session. Hours later, he was dead.

His sister Rukhsora Umurzokova, 22, who had texted with him the day before, said they had made plans for her to pick him up from a train station for winter break. His parents were traveling to Saudi Arabia for a Muslim pilgrimage when the shooting occurred, learning of their son's death while on the plane.

At Midlothian High School in Virginia, Umurzokov had taken a record-breaking 18 Advanced Placement classes and volunteered to tutor newly-arrived immigrants. Friends described him as insanely smart with a dry, sarcastic humor and a kind heart.

Nine other students were wounded in the attack, all transported to Rhode Island Hospital. One victim had a shrapnel injury and was discharged after a few hours, two more were discharged on December 16 and 17, and the other six remained hospitalized as of December 18 but were in stable condition.

The Manhunt and Investigation

Shortly after 4 p.m. EST on December 13, Cláudio Manuel Neves Valente shot 11 people in the Brown University School of Engineering's Barus and Holley Building in Room 166, where a 21-year-old teaching assistant was leading an optional review session for a final exam in economics. The building was unlocked, and it remains unknown exactly how Valente entered, though authorities said he moved through areas with limited surveillance cameras.

The ensuing manhunt stretched across multiple states and involved local, state, and federal law enforcement. On December 18, with an arrest warrant in hand, police went to a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, and found 48-year-old Portuguese national Cláudio Manuel Neves Valente dead inside. Officials said he had taken his own life.

A Reddit post became a key breakthrough in the case. An anonymous witness had posted details about seeing the suspect walking near Brown before the shooting, describing a gray Nissan with Florida plates—possibly a rental—that the suspect was driving. Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said the tip "blew this case wide open."

The investigation revealed that Valente had been casing the area hours before the attack. Authorities discovered video footage showing the individual suspected of carrying out the shooting had been in the College Hill neighborhood around 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, more than five hours before the shooting.

A witness identified only as John described encountering Valente twice that day—first in a bathroom inside the Barus Holley building about two hours before the shooting, and later near the Rhode Island Historical Society. John described Valente's clothing as flimsy, poor quality, and inappropriate for the weather, and noted he was wearing a face mask covering the entire lower half of his face.

Connection to MIT Professor's Murder

Valente is also the suspected gunman in the death of MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro in Brookline, Massachusetts, who was fatally shot on Monday night, December 15, in the foyer of his apartment building—just two days after the Brown shooting.

Ballistic evidence shows Valente was responsible for both shootings, with DNA evidence also matching him to the Brown University shooting. The shell casings found at each crime scene were not fired from the same gun, but both firearms were found with Valente's body in New Hampshire.

Valente and Loureiro attended the same academic program between 1995 and 2000 at a university in Portugal. Authorities believe Loureiro was an intended target, suggesting a possible motive rooted in their shared academic past.

The Gunman's Background

Neves Valente was enrolled at Brown as a graduate student from Fall 2000 to Spring 2001 in the Ph.D. physics program, but he had no active affiliation with Brown and had not been affiliated with the University since 2003, when he formally withdrew.

Valente arrived in the United States in August 2000 as a graduate student at Brown under an F-1 visa reserved for international students. After his studies, he should have returned home under visa requirements, but in May 2017, Valente received a diversity immigrant visa from the U.S., becoming a legal permanent resident.

During his time at Brown, Valente was enrolled only in physics classes and likely spent time in Barus & Holley, where the shooting occurred and where most physics courses take place.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that DHS would be pausing the diversity lottery program immediately, stating that the suspect should never have been allowed in the country.

Campus Response and Federal Scrutiny

The shooting has exposed significant vulnerabilities in Brown's security infrastructure. Providence Mayor Brett Smiley noted that authorities had to appeal to the public for help partly because the location where students were shot had limited security camera coverage, and the school's network of cameras couldn't follow the suspect into the surrounding neighborhood.

The federal Clery Act investigation will examine whether Brown properly reported campus crime statistics, maintained adequate security measures, and issued timely warnings to the community. Violations can result in substantial fines and loss of federal funding.

In the immediate aftermath, Brown canceled almost all remaining in-person exams for the fall semester and delayed admission notifications for prospective students by up to 48 hours. The university established a Student Access and Support Center providing crisis intervention, financial aid, spiritual care, and counseling services.

President Christina Paxson has faced criticism for the university's response. In the aftermath of the shooting, the university saw harmful doxxing activity directed toward several students, faculty and staff, and had to work aggressively to combat disinformation in online media.

A Community in Mourning

Memorials sprang up across campus as the Brown and Providence communities grappled with shock and grief. The tragedy occurred on December 13—the 13th anniversary of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting—adding painful resonance to the loss.

Anti-gun violence nonprofit Sandy Hook Promise released a statement: "Our hearts are with Brown University as this tragic story unfolds. We cannot allow this to keep happening."

The shooting has reignited debates about gun violence on college campuses. According to Gun Violence Archive, there have been at least 391 mass shootings and 13,929 shooting deaths nationwide in 2025, with at least 75 school shootings this year alone.

U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan Jonathan Henick called Umurzokov's death tragic, extending sincere condolences to his family, friends, and fellow students. Vice President JD Vance offered condolences for the loss of the brilliant young man who dreamed of being a surgeon.

Cook's Alabama church pastor described her as incredibly grounded, generous, faithful, and a bright light. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote, "There are no words. Thinking of her family and friends, especially her parents."

Moving Forward

With the suspect now identified and deceased, Brown faces the difficult task of implementing reforms while supporting a traumatized community. The placement of Chief Chatman on administrative leave signals the university's acknowledgment that systemic changes are needed.

The federal investigation will determine whether Brown's security measures met legal standards, but for many in the community, the central question remains: Could this tragedy have been prevented?

As one Brown student told NBC10 Boston, "It is truly devastating that someone this young, with so much potential, who was so loved by the community, could be killed in the way that he was."

The university announced plans for memorial services after winter break to honor Cook and Umurzokov. In a letter to the community, President Paxson wrote: "These were two young people whose amazing promise was extinguished too soon. Before releasing their names, it was important that we give their families some space to grieve, but now it is important that we never forget them."

For the families of Ella Cook and MukhammadAziz Umurzokov, no investigation or policy change can restore what was lost—two young lives full of promise, ended in an act of senseless violence just days before they would have returned home for the holidays.