Confusion and fear have gripped the Ivy League campus after police released the man they had detained in connection with the deadly attack, admitting that evidence now points in a “different direction.”
Authorities in Rhode Island have released the 24-year-old man they’d been holding as a “person of interest” in the Brown University shooting, just hours after his capture made headlines everywhere. Late Sunday (14 December), officials confirmed that Benjamin Erickson, an Army veteran picked up at a hotel earlier that day, was no longer a suspect. That means the gunman who killed two students is likely still out there.
Erickson had been the focus of a massive manhunt and was detained by a SWAT team at a Hampton Inn in Coventry, about 20 miles from campus. Police initially seemed confident they had their guy. Reports came out about weapons found in his hotel room and his background as an infantryman. But in a stunning reversal during a late-night press conference, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said that while there was initially “some degree of evidence” connecting him to the crime, further investigation didn’t back it up.
“That evidence… now points in a different direction,” Neronha told reporters, without going into detail about the new leads. Erickson’s release has reignited anxiety across Providence, where people had briefly thought the danger was over. Mayor Brett Smiley acknowledged the development would cause “fresh anxiety” for a community already shaken by the violence.
The shooting happened Saturday afternoon during final exams at the Barus & Holley engineering building. Two students died and nine others were injured. One victim has been identified as Kendall Turner, a recent graduate of Durham Academy, who remains in critical condition.
“We have not yet solved this case, but I am confident we are going to do that in the near future,” Attorney General Neronha said, urging patience as the investigation shifts course.
“It’s not something that we should have to train for, but we have,” Mayor Smiley said, reflecting on the active shooter drills that students credited with helping them survive.
The reversal adds another complicated layer to an already tragic weekend. Brown University cancelled all remaining final exams for the semester and urged students to leave campus, effectively shutting down operations early for winter break. The initial identification of Erickson had been based partly on surveillance footage showing a man in black leaving the scene, but investigators are now going back over video evidence and asking the public for new tips.
With the gunman still unidentified and potentially armed, police have kept a heavy presence around the university and the wider Providence area. The FBI continues to work with local authorities as they race to find the real perpetrator before they can strike again or leave the state.
Also Read / Brown University shooting: ‘Person of interest’ in custody after massive manhunt.
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