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 released after law enforcement authorities determined there was no basis to keep the individual in custody, officials said Sunday night.

The disclosure, made at a hastily convened late night news conference, represents a dramatic setback in an investigation into killings that set off hours of chaos on the Ivy League campus and unravels progress that authorities thought they had made earlier in the day when they detained a man at a Rhode Island hotel in connection with the attack.

The release of the lone person of interest leaves law enforcement without any known suspect, with officials pledging to redouble efforts in the investigation by canvassing for video surveillance that could help pinpoint the killer's identity.

“We have a murderer out there,” said Attorney General Peter Neronha, while Providence Mayor Brett Smiley acknowledged that ”the news is likely to cause fresh anxiety for our community."

Despite an enhanced police presence at Brown, officials are not recommending another shelter-in-place order like the one that followed the Saturday afternoon shooting, when 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 authorities had not yet released information about a potential motive.

On Sunday morning, officials took into custody a person of interest at a Hampton Inn hotel in Coventry, Rhode Island, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from Providence. Two people familiar with the matter identified that individual as a 24-year-old man from Wisconsin, though authorities never released the individual's name.

"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 24 hours or so,” Neronha said.

He said that “certainly there was some degree of evidence that pointed to the individual” who'd been taken into custody but “that evidence needed to be corroborated and confirmed. And over the last 24 hours leading into just very, very recently, that evidence now points in a different direction.”

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 told 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, many students remained barricaded in rooms while others hid behind furniture and bookshelves. One video showed 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 said 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 40 rounds from a 9 mm handgun, a law enforcement official told AP. Two handguns were recovered when the person of interest was taken into custody and authorities also found two loaded 30-round magazines, the official said. One of the firearms was equipped with a laser sight that projects a dot to aid in targeting, said the official, who was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke to AP on the condition of anonymity.

One student of the nine wounded students had been released from the hospital, said Paxson. Seven others were in critical but stable condition, and one was in critical condition.

Durham Academy, a private K-12 school in Durham, North Carolina, confirmed that a recent graduate, Kendall Turner, was critically wounded. The school said her parents were with her.

“Our school community is rallying around Kendall, her classmates, and her loved ones, and we will continue to offer our full support in the days ahead,” the school said.

On Sunday evening, city leaders, residents and others gathered at a park to honor the victims. 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 community to shine a little bit of light tonight, there’s nothing better that we can be doing,” Mayor Brett Smiley said at a news conference earlier in the day.

Smiley said he visited some wounded students and was inspired by their courage, hope and gratitude. One told him that active shooting drills done in high school proved helpful.

“The resilience that these survivors showed and shared with me, is frankly pretty overwhelming,” he said.

Investigators were not immediately 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 100 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 said.

Emma Ferraro, a chemical engineering student, 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 released by police showed a suspect, dressed in black, walking from the scene.

Eva Erickson, a doctoral candidate who was the runner-up earlier this year on the CBS reality competition show “Survivor,” said she left her lab in the engineering building 15 minutes before shots rang out.

The engineering and thermal science student 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 student 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 said, watching through the window as officers surrounded his dorm.

Brown, the seventh-oldest higher education institution in the U.S., is one of the nation’s most prestigious colleges, with roughly 7,300 undergraduates and more than 3,000 graduate students.

Ramer reported 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.

Passers-by walk past crime scene tape at an entrance to Brown University, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Providence, R.I., following the Saturday, Dec. 13, shooting at the university. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

A bouquet of flowers rests on snow, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, on the campus of Brown University not far from where a shooting took place, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

A pedestrian walks across the intersection of Waterman St. and Hope St. Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, after a shooting on Saturday in Providence, R.I. (Lily Speredelozzi/The Sun Chronicle via AP)

Pedestrians walk past and glance at the scene of a shooting at Brown University Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, after a shooting on Saturday in Providence, R.I. (Lily Speredelozzi/The Sun Chronicle via AP)

Police caution tape lays askew at Brown University's Ittleson Quad Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, after a shooting on Saturday in Providence, R.I. (Lily Speredelozzi/The Sun Chronicle via AP)

Police tape off hotel rooms where the person of interest was arrested in a shooting in Coventry, RI., (AP Photo/Kimberlee Kruesi)

Police tape off hotel rooms where the person of interest was arrested in a shooting in Coventry, RI., (AP Photo/Kimberlee Kruesi)

A police officer hangs yellow crime tape at Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Emergency personnel gather on Waterman Street at Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Police vehicles rest in intersections in a neighborhood near Brown University, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Providence, R.I., following a shooting at the university Saturday, Dec. 13. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

A police vehicle rests at an intersection near crime scene tape at Brown University, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Providence, R.I., following a Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025 shooting at the university. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Mayor Brett Smiley speaks to reporters during a Brown University news conference, in Providence, R. I., Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Kimberlee Kruesi)

Law enforcement officials carry rifles while walking on a street in a neighborhood near Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025 during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Brown University President Christina H. Paxson attends a news conference addressing the investigation following a shooting on Brown University's campus Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Providence, R.I. (Lily Speredelozzi/The Sun Chronicle via AP)

Students are escorted by law enforcement officers to a building at Brown University after a shooting, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Providence, R.I.. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Law enforcement officials carrying weapons gather near Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

A law enforcement official walks past articles of clothing on a sidewalk near an entrance to Brown University, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Providence, R.I., during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is drifting in mixed trading on Friday, as a zigzag week punctuated by loud threats and pullbacks heads toward a quieter close.

The S&P 500 rose 0.1% but remained on track to finish a second straight week with a modest loss. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 288 points, or 0.6%, with a little less than an hour remaining in trading, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% higher.

The majority of stocks on Wall Street fell, and Intel weighed on the market after tumbling 17.8%. The chip company reported better results for the end of 2025 than analysts expected. But investors focused instead on its forecast for the first three months of this year, which fell short of Wall Street’s expectations.

Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner said shortages of supplies are affecting the entire industry, and Intel expects available supply to hit a bottom early this year before improving in the spring and beyond. CEO Lip-Bu Tan highlighted the company’s opportunities created by the artificial-intelligence era.

Moves in the U.S. bond market were relatively modest following sharp swings early in the week, but other markets were still showing potential signs of nervousness.

The U.S. dollar’s value fell against the Japanese yen, Swiss franc and many other currencies. It had slid sharply early in the week after President Donald Trump threatened 10% tariffs on European countries for opposing his push to own Greenland.

That drop, paired with declines for prices for U.S. Treasury bonds, had suggested global investors may have been backing out of U.S. markets. But some relief came on Wednesday after Trump announced “the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland” and called off the tariffs, though few details are available about it.

Gold’s price nevertheless rose to another record Friday and neared $5,000 per ounce in a signal that investors are still looking for something safer to own. It’s already up nearly 15% for the year so far.

On Wall Street, Capital One Financial sank 6.9% after reporting a weaker profit for the end of 2025 than analysts expected. It also said it was buying Brex, which helps businesses issue corporate cards, for $5.15 billion in cash and stock.

On the winning side of the market was CSX, which climbed 3.4% even though the railroad reported a weaker profit than analysts expected. Some analysts highlighted the company’s forecast for how much more operating profit it expects to retain from each $1 of revenue during 2026.

Clorox gained 1.2% after saying it was buying the maker of Purell, GOJO Industries, for $2.25 billion in cash.

In the bond market, Treasury yields inched lower as prices for U.S. government bonds rose.

A survey said expectations for inflation in the upcoming year among U.S. consumers improved to 4%. While that's well above the 2% inflation that the Federal Reserve targets, it's the lowest such reading in a year for the University of Michigan's survey.

That kind of improvement could help avoid a worst-case scenario the Fed has been desperate to avoid, one where expectations for high inflation trigger a vicious cycle of behavior that only worsens inflation.

Overall sentiment among U.S. consumers, meanwhile, was a touch stronger than economists expected. That could help keep them spending and the main engine of the U.S. economy humming. A separate preliminary report from S&P Global suggested growth is continuing for U.S. business activity.

The yield of the 10-year Treasury slipped to 4.23% from 4.26% late Thursday. The Fed's next chance to move the short-term interest rate it controls will come on Wednesday, but the widespread expectation is that it will hold steady.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe after rising across much of Asia.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.3% after the Bank of Japan kept its key interest rate unchanged, as many investors expected. The central bank has been slowly pulling its policy rate higher from below zero and had raised it to 0.75% in December.

Global markets have calmed after struggling with a quick surge for long-term government bond yields in Japan early in the week. The move higher came on worries that Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi might make moves that would add heavily to the government’s already big debt.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

Traders John Romolo, left, and Michael Conlon work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Chris Dattolo, center, works with fellow options traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Traders Joseph Lawler, left, and Niall Pawa work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Vincent Napolitano works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Morning commuters pass the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Morning commuters pass the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)