Both Deceased Students Identified in the Providence Campus Shooting as Police Persist in Hunt for Killer.
Both young individuals who died in the recent violent attack on the university campus were being remembered Monday – while an intensive search for their assailant continued following the release by Rhode Island officials of the only individual detained in connection in the case.
Tributes for Ella Cook
Ella Cook, a sophomore from Alabama, was described as “a wonderful, steady, devout, shining presence”, per the Cathedral Church of the Advent, Birmingham, which honored her memory at a ceremony on Sunday.
Cook was the vice-presidency of Brown’s branch of the campus GOP group, the group said. The White House press secretary also shared words of sorrow online, remarking: “Words cannot express. Remembering her kin and peers, particularly her mother and father.”
MukhammadAziz Umurzokov
The second fatality was an Uzbek national named MukhammadAziz Umurzokov, a citizen of Uzbekistan in his first year of studies at the Ivy League university, his family confirmed.
The victim's identification was verified by Uzbekistan’s foreign ministry.
“He was exceptionally gentle, witty, and bright. He had big dreams of entering the field of neurosurgery and aiding others,” Samira Umurzokova, his sister said in a tribute.
The Shooting Incident
Nine more persons were wounded in the weekend shooting in the engineering department of Brown’s grounds in Providence, during the institution's end-of-term tests.
Authorities said by the end of Sunday that a man aged 24 detained in a search at a hotel about around 27 kilometers from the university earlier in the day was set to be freed.
“A perpetrator remains free,” declared Peter Neronha, Peter Neronha.
He continued, “Investigations can lead one way, and then you need to change course and pursue a different angle, and that is the current situation over the last 24 hours or so.”
Community Anxiety
Providence’s mayor, Brett Smiley, noted: “It is expected to provoke fresh anxiety for our city”.
The assailant discharged a weapon inside a lecture hall in the building on Saturday afternoon, shooting over four dozen bullets from a 9mm pistol, a police source reported to the Associated Press.
Police that entered the hotel recovered a pair of pistols and magazines when the individual was detained, the news agency reported.
Condition of the Injured
Among those wounded, one pupil was discharged from care, said the university president, Christina Paxson. Seven others were in grave but unchanging health, and another was critically ill, officials reported on Sunday.
Durham Academy, a private academy in North Carolina, said a former student, Kendall Turner, was one of the critically injured.
More Condolences
Tributes were paid to Cook at a memorial in Birmingham on Sunday. A clergyman said, “She shone as a remarkable, stable, devout beacon not only here growing up... but at Brown University she was a radiant presence in that particular place as well.”
The president of College Republicans, Martin Bertao, shared a message from the organization. “Ella was known for her courageous, valiant, and compassionate nature as she aided her club and other students,” he said.
The US ambassador, Jonathan Henick, said he was “profoundly grieved” by Umurzokov’s death in a statement. “Our profound condolences go out to his relatives, companions, and fellow students and grieve for of his bright future.”
Broader Statistics
Saturday’s killings at Brown, the nation’s seventh-oldest higher education institution with about thousands of bachelor's and 3,000 graduate students, took place amid one of at least 392 shooting incidents recorded nationally so far in 2025, according to records. That Monday marked the 349th day of the year.