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Two Students Killed, Nine Injured in Brown University Shooting; Trump Vows Retaliation After Two U.S. Soldiers Killed in Syria. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired December 14, 2025 - 00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[00:00:52]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York. And this is CNN's breaking news coverage. Let's get right to it.

Currently, there's an urgent manhunt underway in Providence, Rhode Island, after a deadly shooting at Brown University. Officials say that at least two students were killed Saturday and nine people injured. Authorities have now released the first video of who they say is the suspect. You can see that footage for yourself here, released in just the last hour. Authorities say that he's seen walking down the street wearing dark clothing. However, unfortunately, his face is not visible.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEP. CHIEF TIM O'HARA. PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND POLICE: It's of who we believe is the suspect leaving that area, walking on Hope Street and taking a right on Waterman towards the water. He's going to be wearing dark clothing. You're not going to be able to see his face. Dark gray or black clothing. And some of the witnesses have also told us that he may have been wearing a camouflage gray mask.

That is unconfirmed, but if anybody should recognize this person in any way, seeing him earlier, recognize his gait, obviously we want to know about that as soon as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: A professor told "The New York Times" that the shooting started to unfold in a classroom during a final exam review session. A lockdown order is still in place at this hour for the surrounding community there in Providence, where it's just past midnight. But the mayor says that he is not recommending residents cancel their weekend plans. Here's what he said in just a few moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BRETT SMILEY, PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND: We will keep the shelter in place in effect until such time as it has been lifted. It has been very helpful both for the safety and security of our neighbors, but more importantly for the investigation that that remain in effect. It has allowed police, Providence Police, Brown Police, and all of our partners to canvass the neighborhood, look for evidence, assess if there are additional cameras that may yield video evidence, and to do a visual search to help provide and ensure a sense of safety for our community.

Having this shelter in place allows them to do their work in the first phase of the investigation, and so we will notify the community through official Providence channels when the shelter is lifted. But it remains in effect to allow law enforcement to conclude and conduct this chapter of the investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And then, of course, there are those students which are a major priority right now with the families of at least two of those students receiving the worst imaginable news.

Earlier, my colleague Jim Sciutto spoke with a Brown University student who was still on lockdown. He described how he found out about what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ETHAN SCHENKER, BROWN UNIVERSITY STUDENT: I was in the basement of the library studying for finals with some friends, and I got at about 4:15, I got a text from a friend saying their mom saw something on Facebook and I looked it up on Twitter. I saw and kind of two minutes later, I got a text from Brown saying to go on lockdown and lock the doors, stay away from windows. All of those things. And I immediately just called my parents and my brother to make sure -- to let them know that I was OK and to make sure my friends were OK.

And it just was a little bit, it didn't seem real. I think that's what a lot of people experienced, and that's what I did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Let's take you live now to the Brown University campus, where we find my colleague Leigh Waldman, joining us live from Providence.

Leigh, you've been there already speaking to authorities, speaking to people. I mean, what have you seen thus far? What's the mood just on that campus at this hour?

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Polo. It's eerily quiet. The only sounds you hear are these vehicles from law enforcement driving around. You can see they're driving with their lights on. A few moments ago, we actually saw three different vehicles racing up the street from where we are.

This is Brown University behind us. And I want to point you to that building there. That's Barus Hall.

[00:05:02] According to a map we've seen online, that is Barus Hall. That is where this shooting took place according to authorities. What we know from them and what we've seen on that short video that was released is that the alleged gunman ran out onto Hope Street, which is just down the street from where we are, and turned right onto Waterman. We were able to walk over there, and it's still a flurry of activity.

Meanwhile, down the street this side, there's a church about a block away from us, Polo. And we heard from the mayor who said that they're not encouraging people to cancel weekend plans. We've been in contact with the reverend there. She said it was up in the air of what they were going to do. They have mass at 8:00 a.m. and at 10:00 a.m. She said it's going to be a game time decision because the community here is really feeling the breadth of what happened on this campus today.

Two students killed, nine others are hurt. We know right now they were taken to the Rhode Island Hospital. It's the only level one trauma center in this entire state. But we've seen so much activity, law enforcement driving around, getting out of the vehicles, searching nearby homes. One officer carrying an assault rifle, walking down the street from where we are. It's very quiet, but lots of lights on inside of the homes around Brown University.

SANDOVAL: Leigh, I noticed just a few moments ago the city of Providence even issuing that that advisory to people if they have any information to reach out to them. You're there. Do you get any sense that police are really encouraging people to perhaps check their home surveillance cameras? I mean, there is -- those few seconds of footage that we saw of him, of the suspect who police believe to be a suspect, walking down the sidewalk.

I mean, do you think, based on what you see there, that there may be more potential leads that could be generated in the coming hours?

WALDMAN: Absolutely. So what we know from the backside walking that way, we're going to let this officer pass. From the backside onto Hope Street, Polo, where this building actually backs up its neighborhoods, its communities, and we see from homes just around us right now, people appear to have cameras on their doors. So hopefully that encourages people to send in this information to law enforcement.

We know there's over 400 law enforcement members combing this community, blocking off at least 15 areas around Brown University, searching those areas thoroughly. This being one of them. So we know that they've called in tips already. They're working with the community. They have one goal in mind here with the community and with law enforcement working together, is to find the person responsible for the shooting.

SANDOVAL: Yes. Obviously that manhunt shows no signs of stopping right now, though we may not hear from authorities the rest of the night. But clearly you see evidence there that there is that manhunt underway.

Have you seen any, I'm curious, Leigh, have you seen any parents perhaps gone up to the yellow tape trying to actually retrieve some of their children there on the campus?

WALDMAN: So we haven't seen people going up to the yellow tape, but I'm glad you mentioned that because we did actually see, it looked like a student walking down this way being escorted by an officer. Our photographer, Bob Crowley, he was at the reunification center earlier today, and he noted that there was city buses taking busloads of kids from the campus to that reunification center.

And just about a half an hour ago now, Polo, we saw an officer guiding two more of those buses. They didn't have anyone inside, but we know there are still efforts underway to try and get students out of this campus. But that lockdown is still in place. We've heard from students sharing that, you know, we've been on lockdown for hours now, not knowing when we're going to get a chance to go home.

So people are desperate for information, desperate to find some kind of comfort tonight. But there's not a lot of comfort to be had here with this person responsible still on the loose.

SANDOVAL: As yet again, gun violence affects another community.

Leigh Waldman, with that reporting on the ground, our thanks to you and our colleague who's also there on the ground. Thank you. We'll check back.

Earlier, CNN's Jessica Dean spoke to Brown University student Sophia Holman about her harrowing experience as she witnessed the shooting. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SOPHIA HOLMAN, BROWN UNIVERSITY STUDENT, SHOOTING WITNESS: I was walking through the halls. I was by the Hope Street entrance and exit when I first heard the gunshots. When I first heard them, I thought it was, you know, as a college student would in an engineering building, I thought it was just maybe something from the wood shop or it was something, you know, it was an experiment gone wrong.

But once I continually heard them, and I heard someone, and I saw someone run past me, I thought it, you know, I thought it was better to be safe than sorry. So I started running behind the girl that ran by me. I could tell she was a student by the athletics park that she was wearing so I ran out of the Hope Street exit. I ran one block east, and then I called the police at 4:04 p.m.

[00:10:07]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. And that is among the first calls that they have a record of, that that is about as early as they had a record of being called. And so did you see any anyone or anything? You heard the gunshots. What else did you see?

HOLMAN: Yes. So I just walked in. I heard the gunshots. There was a girl walking towards me in the hallway, in the building. And then she started running, and I kept on walking a little bit, and then, I was like, oh, crap, I should, you know, this could be what I think it is. And so I just started running after her, but the hallways were empty.

DEAN: Yes. And you saw some baseball players at one point that were telling you something?

HOLMAN: Yes. So I ran one block east of the building past Hope Street. And so I saw a group of baseball players, and I was friends with one of them. He, I think he had a shoulder injury. And so he was lagging a little bit behind the rest of them. And so he told me that they were walking to a house for one of the upperclassmen. So at Brown, upperclassmen live off campus. And so they were -- they were walking to one of those off campus houses. And he told me that one of the freshman team had seen someone that had been shot inside of the building on the floor.

DEAN: That's really -- so he, and did he know if it was a student or it was just somebody that had been shot? They didn't know any more?

HOLMAN: They had -- they didn't really know. I think they assumed it was a student because it's mostly students that were in the building.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And already Rhode Island state officials are raising some important questions about whether or not appropriate steps were taken to ensure the safety of some of those buildings on campus. In fact, Rhode Island's governor says that authorities will be reviewing campus safety at Brown University, and this after officials confirmed that the building where the shooting took place that the doors, at least some of those were unlocked.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. DANIEL MCKEE, RHODE ISLAND: Well, everything needs to be looked at on a daily basis. And we do that and we prepare for these emergencies. And this is no exception. I'm sure there will be a debriefing with all the authorities to take a look at what was going on. And until we kind of -- until we actually know more, it's difficult to make comment in terms of whether the what the situation was as safe as it should be.

It's a tragedy. Like I said, it's an unthinkable act. It's a nightmare. But we're -- we are fortunate to have very well-prepared first responders. And we're grateful for their service right now. But our hearts are with the families. As I said, as a parent I just can't imagine what parents have gone through today, that are here in Rhode Island that have students there, people on campus. But how about all over the country, all over the world?

We are small and mighty state. But this becomes a worldwide event because of the nature of the student base and the population that's at Brown University.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: All right, let's go now to CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller joining me at this hour. John, good to have you with us. You've seen this footage that was

released in the last hour by authorities there in Providence. What is your initial assessment as we play it for viewers around the world right now? You know, unfortunately, it doesn't show any recognizable facial features. But is there anything looking through your law enforcement lens that stands out to you?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Sure. A video that doesn't show much is better than no video at all. And what I mean by that, Polo, is it doesn't say anything to us. We can't look at it and say, I know that guy, but it may say something to someone in the area who said, oh, I saw a guy dressed like that. Black jacket, black pants, black hat, you know, mask, getting out of a car in the parking lot on the far side of the Barus Building or something like that.

I mean, you never know what visual stimuli will cause someone to recognize something where they may have seen more or can direct them to another better angle from a different camera. So it's worth putting out. You'll also remember whether it was the Charlie Kirk assassination or the Luigi Mangione shooting of Brian Thompson in New York City, they'll go with an image that they have, and then as they expand that video canvas outward, they may come up with better and better images and release them as they get them. So this is the beginning, not the end.

SANDOVAL: Yes. Just off of one of those points, when I was watching that video, I mean, if I lived on that street and I had a ring camera, I mean, you better believe that I would be poring over my footage to see if maybe there's a better shot. It is obviously not unusual --

MILLER: They'd be looking for that front side.

[00:15:09]

SANDOVAL: Correct. And it is certainly not unusual, especially at this point in the investigation for authorities to not release everything that they have. I mean, hours later, do you believe that perhaps they already have begun to collect some of that ballistic information, especially some of the spent casings were recovered, and maybe they have a pretty good idea of what kind of weapon was used?

MILLER: So they're going to know the caliber of the weapon just by the shell casings. Unless there were no shell casings, at which point they'll know the caliber of the weapon by the bullets they recover at the scene and from victims at the hospital that it was a revolver. But, you know, looking at that video, one of the things we see is we see a guy who is walking briskly but not running.

Now you see a guy who is dressed in such a way that he's not going to attract attention. You might not notice him at all, but you also see that his left hand is free, but his right hand seems to be at least from behind, from the angle I saw seems to be jammed in his pockets. So you have to -- you have to ask yourself, is his hand still holding that smoking gun in the pocket? Is he worried about being stopped or confronted by somebody? Is he willing to shoot more people at that moment to get away? It tells us we're looking at an individual who had a plan.

SANDOVAL: Yes. John, you and I have too much experience covering mass shootings. However, I can't recall a moment or an incident which was a shooting on campus, which then led to a massive and prolonged manhunt. I mean, how unusual is that, you think?

MILLER: So that's unusual. Look, you pointed it out. These have three common outcomes. All too common. But we'll acknowledge that. Number one, the shooter is confronted by police and neutralized or shot and wounded or killed. Number two, the shooter is cornered by police and takes his or her own life. Number three, the shooter surrenders or is subject to arrest right then right there.

The shooter getting away into the ether and being the cause of a manhunt, highly unusual. So they're going to be looking for, while they are searching for this image, they're going to be looking for other things. Sure, they'll look at the shell casings. They'll run them through NIBIN. See if that gun has been involved in any other shootings. They can link that brass to. But they're also going to be looking for who has been fired from a staff job at the university?

Who was suspended? Who was accused of something? Is there someone who has been making persistent threats to a teacher, to a class, to a student? They're going to be going back through everything that the Brown University police has, everything that the human resources people at Brown have, anything that's popped up on social media to see while we're trying to figure out who the shadowy image is, is there someone out there who is presenting to us as a threat, who we can start down the road of taking a look at this person and see if that person is someone with a motive and someone who should be looked at in this?

SANDOVAL: It was also quite notable what we heard from authorities just a few moments ago, that that shelter in place order will remain in place. Obviously, they want to make sure that they have the ability to carry on with the investigation, that people do remain safe, but also that's, I mean, is that also unusual to you? We are -- it's already 12:18 in the morning there, and it's likely going to remain in place for the rest of the night. I mean, what can people expect in that community?

MILLER: I mean, your two questions are connected. One, the shelter in place is usually lifted because the gunman is in custody or down, and they've eliminated that very common thing of whether there was a second gunman. Here, you've got an individual dressed in dark clothing who is still out there and presumably still armed and definitely dangerous, and moving in the darkness, perhaps within a close proximity.

I think the shelter in place, at least until daylight, is probably a logical conclusion for the college and the police based on the safety issue. On the other hand, you know, when the light comes out tomorrow and crowds are going to be out there and life is resuming, as the mayor said, people have to go about their lives.

Providence is not a place that hasn't had a shooting or two in its time. It's a city that has struggled with crime. This is just a different kind of crime. And, you know, they're going to have to recover from it come tomorrow.

SANDOVAL: John, before we wrap things up, perhaps a final thought at least for tonight. I mean, how confident are you that authorities will likely make an arrest, perhaps in the next, at least the next 24 hours.

MILLER: I think that -- I can't say within the next 24 hours because they're off to a very challenging start.

[00:20:07]

But I think as they expand that video canvas further, they're going to come up with a better image, I think, as they go through those other investigative steps. They're going to come up with somebody who emerges on the radar screen or more than one somebody that's going to be a potential suspect. This is not the kind of crime that goes unsolved, not on this level. Look at Luigi Mangione and Brian Thompson. Look at Charlie Kirk. Look at any number of these things that we've started in the same place with.

A lot of technology, a lot of talent out there, a lot of FBI resources flooding in there to plug any gaps in terms of material or resources the police don't have in terms of technology or other things. This will get solved.

SANDOVAL: Yes. John Miller, thanks as always for sticking with us for hours now, what was an extremely busy and absolutely tragic night there. We'll check back with you in the morning. Appreciate you, John.

MILLER: Thanks, Polo.

SANDOVAL: We do continue our breaking news coverage of the shooting at Brown University. Still ahead, we will show you a dramatic scene that played out just shortly after the gunfire erupted on that campus. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:25:39]

SANDOVAL: Want to get your recap now of the breaking news that's happening right now out of Providence, Rhode Island.

This is some of the footage that was taken on Saturday afternoon. Video of an early emergency response after the deadly shooting at Brown University on Friday afternoon. The person that you may have just seen on that footage was an armed police officer that was running near the scene, one of dozens, if not perhaps hundreds that are now there on the ground. Police have also released the first video of the suspect, which shows him near the scene.

Now, unfortunately, it does not show his face, but investigators say that they believe that this person killed two people, two students, and injured nine others on Friday afternoon there on the Brown University campus. And he is still on the run with authorities keeping that shelter in place order right now, as is.

I want to go now to FBI retired supervisory special agent and CNN law enforcement contributor Steve Moore, joining us now with more analysis.

Steve, thank you so much for joining us again.

STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: Sure.

SANDOVAL: So I'll pose to you the same question I asked my colleague John Miller just a short while ago about that footage that was released in the last hours by investigators. Authorities said it may not be much, but they hope that somebody out there may perhaps recognize the way he walks. Perhaps an article of clothing, anything really.

For you, though, as a seasoned member of law enforcement, what do you see? Is there anything that's remarkable and noteworthy here?

MOORE: It's hard to tell at this point. What it really is, is kind of a puzzle to open up because you can actually take that. You can take that film, you can enhance it, you can work on what type of clothing, what brand of clothing, and go from there. You can get the person's height. You might be able to estimate their weight. And so there's -- it's not useless information, but it's not going to solve your case for you.

SANDOVAL: Look, that's a great metaphor. You're putting a puzzle together. It has to start with two pieces. And then from there, you begin to get a more accurate picture. And hopefully this is perhaps something that could happen in the coming hours.

We heard from the White House say that is their plan, and they have already activated federal agents, different federal resources that are headed right now to Rhode Island. I mean, how much do you think that could potentially help in the investigation from ATF resources, the FBI? I mean, do you think that will provide some significant help?

MOORE: I think so, and I hope so. What the FBI can do and what the ATF can do is provide laboratory and scientific support that Rhode Island may or may not have. I heard the special agent in charge of the area there speaking about getting an evidence response team on site. Well, these are -- these are dozens of people who are literally almost scientists as far as, it goes for picking up evidence.

It's like "CSI" on steroids. And so what they're going to be able to do with these casings that have been found, it just provides a treasure trove of information. It will tell you what type of gun, what caliber it is. The type of chemicals left the residue in the casing could tell you whether they were hand-loaded or -- just so many things that they're going to pick up from this. And that's the kind of thing that feds can give you.

SANDOVAL: In covering these kinds of cases it's almost all but a guarantee that investigators will hold a lot of different parts of the case close to their vest as they try to protect the integrity of the case. What, based on that and your previous experience, Steve, what do you think investigators likely already know, but not quite prepared to release publicly yet?

MOORE: Well, I think they probably know the weapon he used, the caliber he used, might even know the make of the weapon he used.

[00:30:01]

They also have individual characteristics on each of the casings that will later identify the gun. They probably have more video than they're letting on. And they are working it from so many directions that what they're looking for is to find synergy between them. When one direction starts to match up with something, say, from forensics, you start to realize a direction in which you need to go.

SANDOVAL: Steve Moore, as always, grateful for your expert analysis on all of this, and we can certainly hope that they have much more evidence than they're sharing right now. Thank you.

We're going to have much more part of our breaking news coverage here on CNN, including a live report from Providence, Rhode Island, in just a few moments. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:35:34]

SANDOVAL: All right. Let's get you caught up on the breaking news that we are closely following out of Providence, Rhode Island, where at least two students have been killed after a shooting at Brown University on Saturday. Nine people have been admitted into the hospital with gun related injuries, according to authorities. The shooter believed to have fled on foot and remains at large. In the last hour authorities releasing some footage of who they believe is responsible. No recognizable facial features, but at least authorities consider it a start.

As part of their investigation, police believe that he opened fire inside a seven story building that houses classrooms and a lab space. Authorities say that they still don't know why that particular building was targeted, and they also are not sure if the -- if they believe the suspect was or is a student.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF OSCAR L. PEREZ, PROVIDENCE POLICE DEPARTMENT: That's something that we need to look at, right? What was this building? Why was this classroom? And that's where we work very closely with police to see what type of resources they have in the building, so that we can utilize to find the evidence that we need to follow and identify who this individual was.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: One quick follow up.

PEREZ: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: When you look at that video.

PEREZ: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: He's going right down Waterman, comes up Hope- Waterman, what does that tell you? He seems fairly calm. He's not running. He's walking at a brisk pace. Your background, what does that tell you about this suspect?

PEREZ: I'll tell you, this individual, you see it nationwide. You never think it will happen here in the city of Providence. But that's the dynamic actions that they do. And it's exactly what you saw. And it's something that we have to investigate further to figure out who this individual was. But we'll take that into account.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Let's check back in with CNN's Leigh Waldman, who is joining us live from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

Leigh, I mean, some of these students have been sheltering in place since 4:00 p.m. That's nearly nine hours or so sheltering in place. Have you seen perhaps any indicator that authorities have established maybe some of these so-called safety corridors to try to get them out so they don't have to spend the night in a library or elsewhere?

WALDMAN: Polo, we actually just moments ago before speaking with you, we saw two city buses filled with people who looked like students coming down from where there's a library, according to a map of the campus, just down the street from where we are. They took them down the street and headed in the direction where we know there is a reunification center that's been established off of the campus here.

So two buses completely filled with students. That's positive for these students, like you mentioned, who have been on lockdown for hours now. Now we've seen a flurry of law enforcement activity. It's now past midnight here in Rhode Island, but they're still continuing to search this area that we're in. I believe we have a map indicating where all of those focuses of activity are by law enforcement.

At 15 red boxes, showing you where they're focusing their search efforts on now. We've seen state police, we've seen the K-9 unit. We've seen people with tactical gear on combing through this area. It's all part of the 400 plus law enforcement agents that are working together, all with one mission in mind to find the person who is responsible for killing two students inside of this building behind us and hurting nine others.

Take a listen to what one local FBI agent had to say earlier at a press conference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TED DOCKS, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, BOSTON FIELD OFFICE: We brought every resource to bear here. We have tactical individuals here. We have investigative. We have intel that also has integrated with the locals here as well. We have also a reconstruction team flying in from D.C. to also be a part of that scene to help to figure out maybe what happened there. We have evidence response team here as well.

And so we have the full breadth of the FBI integrated into this team to try to find out what has happened and absolutely bring this individual to justice. When someone messes with this community. I think the mayor and the governor, they stated it very well that we stick together. And so that message will be that for anyone who has committed this heinous act, we will turn over every stone to make sure that we bring this individual to justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALDMAN: And Polo, they're sticking together, working to make sure they find the person responsible, but they're also asking for help from the community members here. They've set up, the FBI has set up a tip line asking for photos, videos, any information that leads them to the person who is responsible for this deadly attack here.

[00:40:03]

SANDOVAL: CNN's Leigh Waldman reporting from the police lines of what is still a very active manhunt for a mass shooter. Thank you, Leigh.

I want to go now over to Brown University itself, where we're joined by Carlos Munoz. He joins us actually via telephone. He's a digital and audience engagement editor at the "Boston Globe."

Thank you so much for taking some time to check in with us, Carlos.

CARLOS MUNOZ, THE BOSTON GLOBE: Hi. Great to talk to you.

SANDOVAL: So I'm wondering if you can -- if you can hear me OK, I'm wondering if you could just tell me a little bit about what you've seen in the last several hours, where you are, some of the stories that you've heard from some of the people where you are.

MUNOZ: Sure. I mean, I got down here I think around 6:00. We had gotten down to the -- I think it was the Hope and Waterman area, but it was near the science library. And when I got down there, there were I would say maybe 100 police officers standing in the middle of the road with rifles and shields, waiting for some news, I suppose, but also students who were coming out of the building.

There were people looking out of the tower of the library building, and we talked to a couple of students who were actually inside one of the science labs, a PhD student, and he said he hid for two hours in his lab until police arrived. And then they searched the lab for a suspect, which they didn't find.

SANDOVAL: My understanding is that you at one point were or may still be at a family reunification center, at a fitness center on the campus that's being used for that purpose, to reunite some of these students with their parents. I mean, you were there, what was that like? I cannot imagine what it was like for both these parents and these children after experience such a horrifying afternoon.

MUNOZ: I'm still here right now. And, you know, it actually just started snowing out, which is the first snow we've had this year. And students are standing outside waiting to be reunited with their families. We just had two busloads, full city bus loads, full of Brown students who arrived and went inside, and there are still parents trickling in from all sides of the center who are looking for, you know, their kids.

And, you know, we've seen a couple walk out and some of them arm in arm with their parents just, you know, rushing to get out of here.

SANDOVAL: You know, for the last several hours, we've heard from investigators, we've heard from authorities, from students. Wondering if you may be able to just provide some context about the community as viewers see this around the world. I mean, what should people know about not only Providence, Rhode Island, but also Brown University, which is very much a part of that city? It is literally built into that city.

SANDOVAL: Brown is kind of the heart of Providence, and College Hill is right next to downtown. There's a river separating it, and once you cross that river, you're on the Brown campus. Right next to also the Rhode Island School of Design campus. And students over here are extremely social. I mean, constantly in the summertime, you see people out on the lawn. In the winter time, you see people walking across the pedestrian bridge nearby and they're just, you know, they're just being students on one of the most elite I guess high schools in the country, just studying.

And this week is finals. So, you know, I think people are particularly just, you know, busy this week, and usually the area where the campus is and where this shooting took place is a food area. In general there's a lot of places to eat right there and you'll see people walking around. But today it was completely chaos. I mean, and the scene keeps getting bigger and bigger. I mean, from where we were, we were pushed back several blocks as the night went on. And now it's kind of expanded for several miles around the campus.

SANDOVAL: You know, you describe this idea of community and then you sort of compare it to what we're seeing tonight with these blue and red lights. And unfortunately, we've seen this over and over again in communities throughout the country in the event of these mass shootings, where you see these communities really just shattered by this violence. Nonetheless, though, we're so grateful to you especially that you're there and provide some of that assistance to these people who need that assistance and that support, and certainly thankful and thinking about you and your entire community tonight, that's still facing what could be a very scary night for many.

Thank you for your time, Carlos Munoz.

MUNOZ: Thank you. Thank you.

[00:45:03]

SANDOVAL: When we return here on CNN, we're going to continue to follow this breaking news and bring you any potential updates that emerge in the coming hours. When we return, what the mayor is saying about how the suspect gained access at the building where the shooting took place, and the questions that are now -- that this is raising. Plus an ambush in Syria killing two U.S. soldiers and a civilian interpreter on Saturday. Still ahead, the latest on how President Trump is responding to this apparent ISIS attack.

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[00:50:12]

SANDOVAL: Let me get you back to our breaking news that we're closely following out of Providence, Rhode Island, where a shooting at Brown University left two students dead and nine people injured. Law enforcement officials say they have released the first video of the suspect. This is him. He's seen walking down a street not far from where the shooting took place.

He is wearing dark clothes, his face, unfortunately, is not visible, but investigators are releasing this footage, as they put it, hoping that somebody may recognize something or perhaps encourage others with surveillance cameras along that street to call in any potential tips. Police say that witnesses believe that he may also have been wearing a gray camo mask. And the school says the shooting happened at an engineering and physics building where multiple exams were scheduled to take place this weekend.

The city's mayor told CNN earlier that the building was not hard to get into.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SMILEY: The provost at Brown reported that because there were exams taking place, the doors would have been unlocked. Maybe not every door inside the building, but the exterior doors and they have badge access to the building after hours. But since it was during regular hours and there were exams taking place, the exterior doors were unlocked. And so based upon what we heard from officials at Brown, anybody could have accessed the building at that time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: We're also closely following a developing story overseas where President Trump is vowing very serious retaliation, as he put it, after two U.S. soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed in an ambush in Syria. U.S. Central Command and the Department of Defense say that the attack was carried out by a lone ISIS gunman, who also wounded three other people on Saturday.

And according to the Pentagon, the soldiers were operating as part of a regional counterterrorism support mission. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has since confirmed that the attacker was killed by partner forces on the ground. And so far, ISIS has not claimed responsibility for the attack.

I want to go now to retired U.S. Air Force colonel and CNN military analyst Cedric Leighton, who is joining us. Cedric, thank you so much for being so patient on what's been an

incredibly busy Saturday night. Shifting gears to Syria here and with your expert analysis here, what role have U.S. forces kept inside of Syria, particularly since the fall of the al-Assad regime?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, that's a great question, Polo. And yes, this -- the tragic events at Brown, of course, are ones where we all, you know, hope and pray that, you know, the students can recover those that are wounded and of course those that are killed, we think of their families. But going to Syria, the U.S. forces have been working in that area not only since the fall of Assad, but even before that to fight ISIS.

And so their mission, a very dangerous mission, is one in which they have really been working with a lot of partner forces. Those include Kurdish forces. And now include forces from the new Syrian government of President al-Sharaa. So that is, you know, a major change in terms of some of the alliances that we have there. But obviously that was not enough to keep this attack from happening.

And, you know, like you mentioned earlier, this was an attack by a lone gunman and that lone gunman was taken out by Syrian forces. So this is, you know, still a very dangerous area. But what we're doing here is basically counterterrorism.

SANDOVAL: And staying on, Syrian President al-Sharaa was recently in Washington. From your perspective, do you know if he's been able to counter some of the ISIS presence that remains in his country? I mean, he hasn't been in office long, but has there been any noticeable change on that front?

LEIGHTON: You know, it's been very difficult for him because he's not only got to worry about what ISIS is doing, but he also has competition from other elements, including elements from the former Syrian regime, the regime of al-Assad. And that really stretches his forces pretty thin right now. Then he also has to deal with separatist movements in several parts of the country, including the southern part.

And of course, we also have issues where Israel is attacking elements of the Syrian Armed Forces as well. So the short answer is that, no, he has not been able to deal with ISIS in the way that he would want to. He, al-Sharaa, the president of Syria, used to be, of course, affiliated with al Qaeda. But he is definitely now in the camp of those who are fighting ISIS and that makes him an ally of the U.S., at least for that particular element right there.

[00:55:06]

So he has a long way to go before he can actually say anything that, you know, means that he's actually conquered ISIS or even limited its effectiveness in that country.

SANDOVAL: It was remarkable to see him in the Oval Office after that. Finally, I have a couple of seconds with you, Cedric. The president has said that he will likely respond to this. Any idea how that could potentially look like?

LEIGHTON: Probably an airstrike is what I'm guessing. He's, of course, has to use targeting that, deals directly with ISIS so it has to be an ISIS target. But that's what I'm suspecting will happen. But it could also be a special operations strike.

SANDOVAL: Cedric Leighton, as always, thank you for your analysis. Appreciate your time.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Polo.

SANDOVAL: I want to thank you so much for joining us. I'm Polo Sandoval. Joining in just a few moments with more NEWSROOM.

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