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Search For Suspect After Two Students Killed, Nine Injured In Brown University Shooting; Police: Video Shows Shooting Suspect Walking Down Street; Trump Vows Retaliation After Two U.S. Soldiers Killed In Syria; Zelenskyy To Meet With Western Leaders Ahead Of Peace Summit. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired December 14, 2025 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:23]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Polo Sandoval joining you live in New York, where we are closely following breaking news out of Providence, Rhode Island, where it is currently one in the morning and there is an urgent manhunt underway after a deadly shooting at Brown University, an Ivy League school. Officials saying that at least two students were killed and nine others injured on Saturday afternoon.

Authorities have released the first video of the suspect. You can see that footage for yourself. Unfortunately, there are no recognizable facial features, but investigators are hoping that someone may recognize perhaps an article of clothing or the way the suspect is walking and that could lead them to additional leads.

He is estimated to be in his 30s, according to investigators.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEPUTY CHIEF TIM O'HARA, PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND POLICE: It is of who we believe is the suspect leaving that area, walking on Hope Street and taking a right on Waterman, towards the 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, 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, seen him earlier, recognize his gait. Obviously, we want to know about that as soon as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: I want to show you a map, to give you a sense of where that campus is, you can see it's right in the middle of Providence, Rhode Island. A professor telling "The New York Times", a professor at Brown, saying that the shooting started to unfold in a classroom and that building that you see there as students were taking some of their final exam review sessions. A lockdown order, it is still in place for the surrounding community now, about nine hours after the shooting. But the mayor says that he is not recommending residents cancel any of their weekend plans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRETT SMILEY, PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND MAYOR: 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 -- 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 earlier, we did hear from the Providence police chief and what they said will likely be their last news conference of the night, subject to any major developments. Here's more of what they shared.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OSCAR PEREZ, CHIEF, PROVIDENCE POLICE DEPARTMENT: When the call came in, immediately our officers responded. Providence police was here within minutes. At that point, obviously, we communicated with Brown police and we did what we needed to do.

At this point, as the mayor stated, we're going to continue to canvass the area. We have enhanced enforcement in the city. The individual responsible is brought to justice. I think that as a father, as a -- as a brother, as an uncle, I think that we want to bring justice in sort of a relief to these families. And again, my heart goes out to them. These are fluid, dangerous situations, and we need to make sure that operationally, the police department can do their job. That's canvasing the area, identifying suspects. If we need to continue to stop vehicles, if we need to.

At this point, we want to make sure that everyone is safe. And then once we realize that that's the case, we'll make sure that that's lifted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Let's take you back out live now to Providence, Rhode Island, for the very latest and CNN's Leigh Waldman.

Leigh, hours after the shooting. Do you still see any efforts to retrieve some of those students who have been sheltering in place? I mean, I assume that if they don't, they'll have to potentially spend a night in a library if they're not in their dorms.

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Polo, I'm glad you bring that up. So last time we talked last hour, we saw two buses bringing students out of an area that we saw on a map is indicated as a library. We just about ten minutes ago saw another bus completely filled with students taking them in the direction of that reunification center.

So, we know that there are still efforts underway. We've seen other students walking from the area of Brown University behind us, making their way off of that campus.

[01:05:05]

So, students are still locked down in some areas. Other areas, they're being released to get out of the campus. I'm messaging with one student who says she's locked down in her dorm. She hopes that they release that lockdown sometime in the morning.

But we know this area that were in is one of 15 areas indicated by the university that they're having this enhanced effort to search this community.

Behind us, you can see law enforcement here. They're driving through this area almost constantly. We've seen a medical examiners truck coming through here. We've also seen ambulances coming through here, K-9 units. It just shows you the breadth of effort that's happening here to try and search this area, to find the person who was responsible for this shooting.

Polo, where we are right now, you can see the building that's lit up behind us. That is Morris Hall. That is the area of this campus that authorities have indicated. This shooting actually happened in took place. We see some other people leaving now with some backpacks from the area of this university. So, we know that there's a lot still going on here in this area, as more than 400 law enforcement agents are working together to try and figure out who is responsible for what happened.

SANDOVAL: Some of that new information coming from CNN's Leigh Waldman on the ground. Leigh, stay with us. We'll check back with you in a few minutes.

I want to go now to retired FBI special agent Daniel Brunner, who's president of the Brunner Sierra Group, joining us now for just more analysis.

As we continue, Daniel, to get a further understanding of the events of Saturday afternoon, these awful events, without losing focus, certainly on the -- on the families of those two students. I'll pose a question that I've posed to many of our law enforcement experts tonight, which is you've seen a few seconds of that video, Daniel. What do you make of it? Do you, through your law enforcement lens, see anything noteworthy there? DANIEL BRUNNER, PRESIDENT, BRUNNER SIERRA GROUP: Well, what I see is

the potential for leads because we have a height, we have an approximate weight of the individual. So that's something to start with. Previously up until this, we've had this video. We've had nothing.

So, now we have a height and weight. And as a person of suspicion does not necessarily mean that this is the only person involved. Obviously, this is an ongoing manhunt. There could be other individuals that are supporting this, the shooter. So, what it does is, does give the investigators leads because they'll see the direction of travel that he was coming from and the direction of travel that not necessarily him because it could be female. So the direction of the shooter that was there was going to.

So, they're going to canvass the neighborhood. They're going to be looking at the Ring door cams. Everybody has their doorbell cams. Everybody has security cameras around their house. They are going to be canvasing the neighborhood around that area to look for additional footage.

And most importantly, they've set up a tip line, exactly like the Boston bombing situation, they're asking for information and any modern in incident that's going on right now, they're going to be looking for information from the community. What did you see? Did you capture something on your home videos that we have not been able to canvass?

So they're going to be looking for more leads to come in. This is going to generate conversation. This is going to -- this will give direction to the investigation.

SANDOVAL: And as you were speaking, Daniel, we were seeing some images from the scene where you can clearly see some FBI agents there on the ground assisting in the investigation. But we also heard from the White House and the Trump administration saying that they plan to send in reinforcements, additional assets.

With your experience with the bureau, what kind of assets do you think will supplement the investigation? And those agents that are coming essentially from out of town, what do you think will be some of their first questions they will hope -- that they hope to tackle?

BRUNNER: Well, the most important thing is these assets are going to augment the Boston division. The Boston division of the FBI is going to lead this. They have a tremendous team there. They've got evidence response team. They have computer analysis team.

These people that are going to be coming up from Quantico are going to be their reinforcements, their backup, additional people on scene. So, they're not necessarily going to be leading the investigation. Boston division, they've got amazing resources in the Boston division. I know them, some of them are my good friends.

So, what they're going to be looking for is a lot of the same tips that led to the discovery of the pipe bomber in D.C. They're going to be looking at cellular analysis. They're going to be looking at different types of analysis that different cell phones and towers. They're going to be looking at different connections.

So, where this individual was standing is a great lead because they're going to look at the cell phone towers at that exact time and location. And then they're going to be able to geolocate and say, okay, what cell tower was covering this. And they may have 200, 300, 400 cell phones, but they know that amongst that 200 or 300, 400 is the individual may not be he may have shut off his cell phone at the time, but it's definitely going to be one of the aspects. They're going to be looking at interviews.

[01:10:01]

They're going to interview people in the area. They're going to -- evidence response teams are going to be looking at all the physical evidence that may have been left behind.

So, there's a lot of different capabilities here at the FBI.

SANDOVAL: And given what we've seen on campuses in the past, sadly, it is not unusual to see a shooting on -- on a campus. What I did think was certainly noteworthy is that you have an incident on campus that's followed by a prolonged manhunt. I mean, oftentimes these awful incidents will end almost immediately when the shooter is either detained or potentially takes their life.

But the fact that this has now led to a nine-hour manhunt. I mean, are you confident in some of those colleagues on the ground to be able to hopefully shorten the amount of time that this uncertainty will continue for this community?

BRUNNER: I think that the -- absolutely, and what I've said in previous manhunts that have occurred where individual is still on the run, the -- what they're going to be looking for is the shooter to make a mistake. So, unless this is a professional individual, which is highly unlikely that this was a professional hit, it was highly unlikely, this individual is on the run.

He's moving. He's either back at his home base or he's trying to attempt to flee the area. This individual is going to be stressed. This individual is going to know that everyone in law enforcement is looking for them.

Eventually, they will make a mistake. Luigi Mangione made a mistake. He was on the run for a number of days, but he made a mistake at the McDonald's. That's where they get tired. They get cold, they get hungry and they make a mistake that trips them up. And somebody from the community sees them.

So that's going to be the most important part. These individuals, the law enforcement, FBI and Boston division is going to be looking for them is going to be -- they're going to be working hard. And that's the point, which is going to cause them and they're going to keep putting pressure on this individual until they make a mistake. And when that mistake happens, it'll be most likely local law

enforcement that will detain him, because somebody from the community had their eyes open and saw something suspicious that doesn't fit in their neighborhood. They'll contact local law enforcement and local law enforcement will probably, I'd say, in my opinion, make the capture and then bring this individual to justice.

SANDOVAL: And we've seen that. We saw that in the Mangione case.

Daniel Brunner, thank you so much for staying up late with us. Some really important perspective on the FBI side. Really appreciate your time.

BRUNNER: My pleasure.

SANDOVAL: And we're going to have much more on this deadly shooting at Brown University. Plus, more. And the active manhunt that's currently underway still there in Providence, Rhode Island, after a very short break.

Stay with us. You're watching breaking news coverage here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:17:04]

SANDOVAL: One-seventeen in the morning in Providence, Rhode Island, and the manhunt continues for a shooter who killed two students and wounded nine people at that city's Brown University. Footage from the campus now showing the chaos that unfolded just moments after that Saturday afternoon attack.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

SANDOVAL: The video shows an officer running with a long gun as police responded to that scene at Brown University. You can also see multiple police vehicles parked along the street, along with paramedics carrying a stretcher. And the shooting happened at a building about three minutes away from where some of this footage was filmed.

And there's still much to be learned about the nation's latest mass shootings. We still don't know the names or the stories of those two innocent young lives that were taken away by this latest mass shooting incident. Certainly hope to learn that in the coming days.

And there's still questions that are being asked about what was done to make sure that that building is kept safe. 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 some of the doors were unlocked.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIEL MCKEE, GOVERNOR, 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 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.

SANDOVAL: 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 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.

[01:20:02]

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 of a car in the parking lot on the far side of the 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: Yeah, yeah. 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, 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: You'd be looking for that --

(CROSSTALK)

SANDOVAL: Correct. And it is certainly not unusual, especially at this point in to 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 recovered 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.

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 -- 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: Yeah. 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: I 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.

[01:25:10]

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's 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. 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: Yeah.

CNN's John Miller, thanks as always for, for sticking with us for hours now on 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: And joining me now is Brown University student Ethan Schenker. He joins us from Brown University Athletic Center, joining us on the phone with what he's experienced.

Ethan, can you hear me okay?

ETHAN SCHENKER, BROWN UNIVERSITY STUDENT, PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND (via telephone): Yes. Hi.

SANDOVAL: Thank you so much for taking the time to check in with us. It goes without saying, we're very relieved that you're doing okay, that that you're -- you're safe. I'm wondering just if you could tell me a little bit about where you are. Is this where authorities are taking some of the students that they've been able to retrieve from some of those university spaces where they've been sheltering in place?

SCHENKER: Exactly. So I'm in an athletics complex, on Brown's north campus, where you have several hundred students that have all been bused or transported somehow from wherever they were. If they were not in their dorms.

So I was when the shooting happened, I was in a library about library about eight minutes from that site, and me and all the students who were there studying for finals were, in lockdown for about five hours. And so we had public buses that were escorted by police to this complex where we were patted down and our bags were searched, our IDs were checked, we were asked where we were at the time of the shooting, and now we've been here for several hours, and are being told that they're working on a plan to maybe get some of us out. But right now, undergrads who live on campus like me are still we need to be here.

SANDOVAL: I'm so sorry to make you relive that nightmare from earlier, but I'm wondering if you could just give us a sense of what you saw, what you heard. And we also have some of the footage that you've -- you've been nice enough to share with us. Just to give viewers a sense of what you saw.

SCHENKER: Yeah. So, at about 4:15, I started hearing from a friend that their mom had seen something on Facebook, and I went and looked it up. I saw from the police blotter that there was a report of a shooting, and then the next minute, I got a text from Brown saying to lockdown, everyone started getting the news. I was -- like I said, in the library, and everyone kind of started immediately calling their parents.

It was -- I mean, it was scary because you wanted to check on your friends. You wanted to see if they were okay. And I think that's what everyone was doing.

And then the next thing was kind of, well, what do we do now? How do we like, make it? Like, how do we make this area like, safe for us to be in, and we have no idea what's going on.

SANDOVAL: Yeah. I'm -- I'm so sorry that you and your fellow students are dealing with this. I mean, you were preparing for exams, and then one moment, and then you're having to shelter in place and have to be evacuated by authorities. But at least you're okay. Now, if you could just give me a sense of maybe some of the conversations that are happening, happening right now among students, what are you -- I mean, how are you dealing with that and wrapping your head around what took place there?

SCHENKER: I think when, you know, in the first few hours after it, everyone was kind of feeling this sense of shock and also just fear. I mean, fear -- I mean, every time a door opens, every time we heard a loud noise, we all just kind of were instinctively like, startled because we didn't know what it could be. At one point, I mean, we heard police banging on the doors and we heard loud noises that turned out to be police banging on the doors to clear every classroom and room in the library.

But now, like, it's been almost nine hours since then, I think people are just trying to figure out, like, what's next? Like, are they going to are we going to be here the night? We don't know.

People are napping. People are playing basketball in here. Everyone's trying to cope. As like as best they can.

SANDOVAL: Yeah. We wish you peace as you struggle to cope with that. We know that some tough times are certainly ahead, not only because of that manhunt continues, but also as we -- as we hope to learn more about those two innocent students whose lives were taken away and those nine others whose lives were also impacted. But certainly hoping that they recover.

Thank you so much, Ethan. We really appreciate your time and wish you and the entire Brown University campus the best.

SCHENKER: Thank you so much.

SANDOVAL: Well, CNN is covering every aspect of this breaking news story as that manhunt continues at this hour. Still ahead, we go live to Providence, Rhode Island, where the gunman is still on the run.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:36:19]

SANDOVAL: And welcome back to CNN's breaking news coverage, as we continue to follow developments out of Providence, Rhode Island, where at least two students have been killed after a mass shooting at Brown University. Nine people have been admitted into the hospital with gun- related injuries. The shooter is believed to have fled on foot and remains at large. In fact, investigators released footage of who they believe to be the suspect fleeing the scene.

Police say he opened fire inside a seven-story building on campus that houses classrooms and lab space. Students were preparing for their final exams before the holiday break. Earlier, the university provost spoke about how school officials are responding.

(BEGIN VIDO CLIP)

FRANK DOYLE, BROWN UNIVERSITY PROVOST: This is as the mayor and the governor pointed out, an unthinkable, unthinkable act -- incomprehensible, right? None of us could prepare our kids for this. The parents -- we've been in touch with, the parents. The president is not here right now because she was at the hospital tending to the students, and she's now at the Nelson shelter in place location.

We've communicated and put the word out to the parents. The perimeter that was spoken about earlier is part of the safe approach to managing the campus and getting students back in their dorm rooms. We'll continue to support them. That's our top priority.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: We want to take you back out live to Rhode Island and the very latest on this deadly shooting with CNN's Leigh Waldman.

Leigh, as you and I are speaking right now, I mean, is there an indication that there are still students in the campus behind you sheltering in place and will likely have to do that for the rest of the night?

WALDMAN: Polo, absolutely. We've seen several students leaving these buildings off in the distance behind us. We stopped two young men who didn't want to speak on camera. They've gone through a lot this evening. They're both PhD candidates.

And they said they were sheltering in their office and were then moved by officials into a gym area in the campus just off the across the street there. They said that's where most of the undergrad students are being held, who were in this area and where some of those PhD candidates, students were being held.

And I asked him, what's it like in there? And he said, it's chaos. You know, obviously they're shaken up by what happened. They didn't want to talk much about it. It's snowing out here. They just want to get back home. But we do know and we've seen those efforts to get students off of this area of the campus to that reunification center, utilizing these buses that have just been packed with students.

And it's also been a flurry of law enforcement activity here. You can see law enforcement blocking this road here behind us. Some people are driving around asking questions about what's going on, but all of this is centered around that building, that Norris Hall that's behind us there in the distance with the lights on. We know that according to officials, that's where the alleged gunman went out the back toward Hope Street, ran down that street and turned right onto Waterman Street.

We've seen that short 10-second clip that they've showed us. We can't see his face, but that's what law enforcement is doing here while also trying to help students get someplace off of this campus so they don't have to sleep here.

SANDOVAL: CNN's Leigh Waldman, our thanks to you and our photojournalist, Bob Crowley, for that continuing coverage in a community that faces a very uncertain night tonight. Thank you.

In the last hour, I spoke with Carlos Munoz. He's a digital and audience engagement editor at "The Boston Globe". He joined me on the phone from the area at the university that's being used to reunite some of these Brown University students with their families. Here's what he told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLOS MUNOZ, THE BOSTON GLOBE (via telephone): 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.

[01:40:09]

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 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 experiencing 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 they're still parents trickling in from all sides of the center who are 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 with their parents just, you know, rushing to get out of there.

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.

MUNOZ: Brown is kind of the heart of Providence, and College Hill is right next to downtown. Theres 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, see people out on the lawn. In the wintertime, you see people walking across the pedestrian bridge nearby, and they're just, you know, they're just being students and so on, one of the most elite 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 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 that 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 still facing what could be a very, very scary night for many.

Thank you for your time, Carlos Munoz.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: You want to stay close as we continue to follow this breaking news out of Rhode Island. When we return, what the mayor in that city is saying about how the suspect may have been able to gain access into the building where the shooting happened.

Plus, were also following another incident, this one overseas, an ambush in Syria killed two U.S. soldiers this weekend, as well as the civilian interpreter. Still ahead, the latest on how President Trump is planning to respond to this attack.

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SANDOVAL: And we want to get you back to our breaking news out of Providence, Rhode Island, where a shooting at Brown University left two students dead and nine people injured. The suspect still on the run and that massive manhunt is still underway now, about nearly 10 hours since those shots rang out on the Brown University campus.

Officials are still telling residents and some of those students that are on campus, be it at the library or perhaps some of their dorms, to continue to shelter in place. The university says the police officers they plan to go into some nonresidential buildings to help escort people to safety throughout the night, authorities do describe the suspect as a male. He's -- they believe that he's likely in his 30s.

[01:50:01]

And he was last seen wearing dark clothing, as you can see in some of this footage that was released on Saturday night by authorities. It doesn't show much, but investigators are hoping that if someone knows this suspect, they may recognize something about him in this footage.

And the governor says that authorities will also be looking at whether the school's buildings were safe enough.

The city's mayor told CNN on Saturday that the building was easy 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: And there's another major developing story that we've been following this weekend in Syria. President Trump is vowing very serious retaliation after two U.S. soldiers, as well as a civilian interpreter, were killed in an ambush in that country. U.S. Central Command and the Department of Defense say that the attack was carried out by a lone ISIS gunman there in Syria who also wounded three other people on Saturday.

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. So far, ISIS has not claimed direct responsibility for the attack.

Retired U.S. Air Force colonel and CNN military analyst -- military analyst Cedric Leighton is joining us.

Cedric, thank you so much for being so patient on what's been an incredibly busy -- 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 (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yeah, that's a

great question. Polo. And yeah, 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 in 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, who has recently in Washington, from your perspective, do you know if he's been able to counter some of the ISIS presence that remains in this 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 Baath regime of al-Assad. And that really stretches his forces pretty thin right now.

Then he also has to deal with a 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.

So, he has a long way to go before he can actually say anything. That means that he has 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. [01:55:01]

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: Our thanks to Cedric Leighton for that.

Let's stay overseas. In the coming hours, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be meeting with Western leaders in Berlin for the latest round of peace talks. Among those in attendance will be U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff. They will be joined by European and Ukrainian delegations for further discussions of a U.S.-backed plan for ending the war.

And with that, we do want to thank you so much for joining us the last hour of news. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York. I'll join you right back here again in just a few moments with much more of CNN's breaking news coverage of that deadly shooting at Brown University, right after a short break.

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