Police are investigating whether Saturday's shooting at Brown University is connected to the fatal shooting of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor two days later.
WPRI-TV in Rhode Island reported that senior law enforcement officials told the station that investigators are examining possible links between the two crimes.
Multiple people familiar with the investigation told WPRI that evidence has been identified suggesting the two incidents may be connected.
The development represents a change from earlier statements by investigators.
Ted Docks, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston office, said during a briefing Tuesday that there “seemed to be no connection” between the two shootings.
The violence began around 4 p.m. Saturday when an unidentified gunman opened fire inside an engineering building at Brown University, where students were studying for an exam.
Police said two students, Ella Cook and MukhammadAziz Umurzokov, were killed and nine others were injured.
Investigators said surveillance video shows the suspect wearing a dark jacket, mask, and hat, and walking around the Brown campus for several hours before entering the Barus and Holley building.
Two days later, an unidentified gunman shot MIT professor Nuno Loureiro multiple times inside his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, about 50 miles north of Providence, Rhode Island.
Loureiro was taken to a local hospital, where he died on Tuesday.
Police said the suspect entered Loureiro's home on Gibbs Street and fled after the shooting; the individual remains at large.
Loureiro, 47, was originally from Portugal and began working at MIT in 2016.
He was named last year to lead the Plasma Science and Fusion Center, where he worked on advanced clean energy technology and other research initiatives.
In January, then-President Joe Biden awarded Loureiro and nearly 400 other scientists the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.
With the search for the Brown University shooter in its sixth day Thursday, police are asking the public to review any security or phone footage from the week before the attack in the hope it might help investigators identify the person, believing the attacker may have cased the scene ahead of time.
The request came after police released videos from the hours and minutes before and after Saturday's attack showing the person they're seeking standing, walking, and even running along streets just off campus, but always with a mask on or his head turned.
Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
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