Authorities say they will release person of interest detained in Brown University shooting

PROVIDENCE R I AP A person of interest detained after a Brown University shooting that killed two students and injured nine will be published after an assessment took law enforcement government in a different direction authorities mentioned Sunday night The disclosure made at a hastily convened late night news conference represents a stunning turn of events in an probe into killings that rattled the Ivy League campus and came more than hours after administrators had informed that they had taken a person into custody in connection with the attack The release means that whoever is responsible for the killing may remain at large We know that this is likely to cause fresh anxiety for our region Mayor Brett Smiley reported The attack Saturday afternoon set off hours of chaos across campus and surrounding Providence neighborhoods as hundreds of officers searched for the shooter and urged students and staff to shelter in place The lockdown which stretched into the night was lifted early Sunday but functionaries had not yet disclosed information about a feasible motive On Sunday morning executives took a person into custody that two people familiar with the matter identified as a -year-old man from Wisconsin That individual whose name was never published by executives is now being circulated I ve been around long enough to know that sometimes you head in one direction and then you have to regroup and go in another and that s exactly what has happened over the last hours or so noted Attorney General Peter Neronha Col Oscar Perez the Providence police chief reported Sunday afternoon that no one has been charged yet Perez who also stated no one else was being sought declined to say whether the detained person had any connection to Brown The person was taken into custody at a Hampton Inn hotel in Coventry Rhode Island about miles kilometers from Providence where police officers and FBI agents remained Sunday blocking off a hallway with crime scene tape as they searched the area The shooting occurred during one of the busiest moments of the academic calendar as final exams were underway Brown canceled all remaining classes exams papers and projects for the semester and informed students they could leave campus underscoring the scale of the disruption and the gravity of the attack As police scoured the area for the shooter multiple students remained barricaded in rooms while others hid behind furniture and bookshelves One video displayed students in a library shaking and wincing as they heard loud bangs just before police entered the room to clear the building University President Christina Paxson teared up while describing her conversations with students both on campus and in the hospital They are amazing and they re supporting each other she disclosed at a news conference There s just a lot of gratitude The gunman opened fire inside a classroom in the engineering building firing more than rounds from a mm handgun a law enforcement official notified AP Two handguns were recovered when the person of interest was taken into custody and functionaries also unveiled two loaded -round magazines the official revealed One of the firearms was equipped with a laser sight that projects a dot to aid in targeting explained the official who was not authorized to discuss the scrutiny publicly and spoke to AP on the condition of anonymity One scholar of the nine wounded students had been published from the hospital declared Paxson Seven others were in critical but stable condition and one was in critical condition Durham Academy a private K- school in Durham North Carolina certified that a new graduate Kendall Turner was critically wounded The school disclosed her parents were with her Our school locality is rallying around Kendall her classmates and her loved ones and we will continue to offer our full backing in the days ahead the school noted Region comes together to remember casualties On Sunday evening city leaders residents and others gathered at a park to honor the casualties The event originally was scheduled as a Christmas tree and Hanukkah menorah lighting For those who know at least bit of the Hanukkah story it is quite clear that if we can come together as a area to shine a little bit of light tonight there s nothing better that we can be doing Mayor Brett Smiley announced at a news conference earlier in the day Smiley commented he visited particular wounded students and was inspired by their courage hope and gratitude One explained him that evolving shooting drills done in high school proved helpful The resilience that these survivors proved and shared with me is frankly pretty overwhelming he explained Exams were underway when the shooting began Investigators were not forthwith sure how the shooter got inside the first-floor classroom at the Barus Holley building a seven-story complex that houses the School of Engineering and physics department The building includes more than laboratories dozens of classrooms and offices according to the university s website Engineering design exams were underway Outer doors of the building were unlocked but rooms being used for final exams required badge access Smiley stated Emma Ferraro a chemical engineering candidate was in the lobby working on a final project when she heard loud pops Once she realized they were gunshots she darted for the door and into a nearby building where she waited for hours Surveillance video distributed by police manifested a suspect dressed in black walking from the scene Former Survivor contestant left the building just before shooting Eva Erickson a doctoral candidate who was the runner-up earlier this year on the CBS reality competition show Survivor mentioned she left her lab in the engineering building minutes before shots rang out The engineering and thermal science aspirant shared candid moments on Survivor as the show s first openly autistic contestant She was locked down in the campus gym following the shooting and shared on social media that the only other member of her lab who was present was safely evacuated Brown senior biochemistry candidate Alex Bruce was working on a final research project in his dorm across the street from the building when he heard sirens outside I m just in here shaking he declared watching through the window as officers surrounded his dorm Brown the seventh-oldest higher guidance institution in the U S is one of the nation s the greater part prestigious colleges with roughly undergraduates and more than graduate students Ramer stated from Concord New Hampshire Contributing were Associated Press journalists Jennifer McDermott in Providence Christopher Weber in Los Angeles and Alanna Durkin Richer Mike Balsamo and Eric Tucker in Washington D C