HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 16, 2025--
CraneWorks, a leading provider of heavy lifting solutions in North America, announced today a strategic partnership with Hammar Lift Inc, the U.S. division of Hammar, global leader in Sideloader trailers and superstructures. Under the agreement, CraneWorks will serve as the U.S. installation, service, and parts support partner for Hammar Sideloaders, helping bring the company’s advanced “smart and simple” container‑handling and heavy lift solutions to a wider audience through CraneWorks’ nationwide network. In October 2023, CraneWorks partnered with and received an investment from Equity Group Investments, the private investment firm founded by Sam Zell.
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“We’re excited to join forces with Hammar Lift because their best‑in‑class Sideloader technology complements our goal of expanding lifting solutions beyond traditional crane models and into broader logistics, transport, and specialized lifting applications,” said Mike Evans, President & COO of CraneWorks. “This partnership allows us to help provide a versatile, efficient, and safe product line that aligns with our values of reliability, performance, and service.”
Hammar brings more than 50 years of innovation and has delivered Sideloaders to over 125 countries worldwide. A Hammar Sideloader combines two hydraulic sideloading cranes with a semi-trailer or truck, enabling efficient handling and transport of containers, flat racks, and more. Key capabilities include high lifting capacities, container stacking, and transfer of units on and off other vehicles. The machine is operated by a single person, is easy to learn, and is equipped with a comprehensive safety system.
“Joining with CraneWorks is a key step in broadening our footprint in the United States,” said David Gustafsson, Vice President, Hammar Lift Inc. “CraneWorks’ nationwide service network, heavy‑equipment expertise, and customer‑first culture make them an ideal partner for supporting our Sideloader solutions in the U.S. marketplace.”
The partnership will begin with U.S. installations, service support, and localized parts supply to support Hammar equipment nationwide.
About CraneWorks, LLC
CraneWorks is a full‑service provider of crane rental, sales, parts, and service across North America, headquartered in Houston, Texas. With a commitment to safety, integrity, and reliability, CraneWorks supports businesses in construction, oil & gas, infrastructure, and industrial markets.
About Hammar Lift
Hammar Lift Inc. located in Dallas, Texas, is the U.S. division of Hammar, the world leading manufacturer of Sideloader semi-trailers and superstructures. The Hammar Sideloader is a flexible solution for lifting and transporting containers, flat racks, and more, up to 110k lbs. With more than 50 years’ experience Hammar stands for quality, performance, and safe operations.
About Equity Group Investments
Equity Group Investments (EGI) is the private investment firm founded by Sam Zell in 1968. Backed by private capital, EGI is flexible and opportunistic with a focus on control, buyout, private investment opportunities. As a longer-term investor, EGI actively partners with portfolio company executives to execute strategic planning, implement operational efficiencies, and scale businesses. EGI has grown companies across numerous industries into multi-billion-dollar businesses throughout economic cycles. EGI’s current portfolio includes investments in healthcare, transportation and logistics, infrastructure, energy, consumer, industrial, manufacturing, and agri-business. For more information, visit www.egizell.com.
Hammar Lift in use, loading a shipping container.
Building Hammer Lift at CraneWorks in Houston, TX
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Police released new video and a description of a potential suspect and renewed their search for the shooter who killed two Brown University students and wounded nine others, a day after they released a person of interest in the case.
Here's a look at what to know about the shootings and the search:
Authorities announced the detained man's release during a news conference late Sunday. That marked a setback in the investigation of Saturday's attack on the Ivy League school's campus and added to questions about the shooting and investigation.
Police had detained the man at a Rhode Island hotel. State Attorney General Peter Neronha acknowledged the seriousness of the situation, saying, “We have a murderer out there.”
On Monday, Providence police released three videos of the suspect in the attack that show him wearing a mask and a dark two-tone jacket. The footage from about two hours before the shooting provided the clearest images yet of the suspect.
The FBI said the man is about5 feet, 8 inches (173 centimeters) tall, with a stocky build.
The shooting occurred as students were in the first-floor classroom of the engineering building studying for a final.
The gunman fired more than 40 rounds from a 9 mm handgun, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. Two handguns were recovered when the person of interest was taken into custody and authorities also found two loaded 30-round magazines, said the official, who was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke to AP on the condition of anonymity.
The students who died were MukhammadAziz Umurzokov, an 18-year-old freshman from Brandermill, Virginia, and Ella Cook, a 19-year-old sophomore from a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama. Umurzokov was an aspiring neurosurgeon and Cook was a student leader of Brown University’s campus Republicans. They were in a study group preparing for an economics final.
One of the nine wounded students has been released from the hospital, university President Christina Paxson said Sunday. 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 and that her parents were with her.
Another wounded student, 18-year-old freshman Spencer Yang of New York City, told the New York Times and the Brown Daily Herald from a hospital bed that there was a mad scramble after the gunman entered the room where he and the other students were studying for finals. Many students ran toward the front of the room, but Yang said he wound up on the ground between some seats and was shot in the leg.
Law enforcement officials were still doing basic investigative work two days after the shooting, such as canvassing local residences and businesses for security camera footage and looking for physical evidence. That has left students and some Providence residents frustrated at gaps in the university’s security and camera systems that helped allow the shooter to disappear.
Kristy dosReis, a spokeswoman for the Providence Police Department, said that at no point did the investigation stand down even after officials appeared to have a breakthrough in the case when they detained a Wisconsin man who they now believe was not involved.
But a lack of campus footage left police seeking tips from the public.
Authorities asked neighborhood residents and businesses for surveillance video that might help identify the attacker. They said Sunday that one reason they lacked video of the shooter was because Brown's engineering building doesn't have many cameras.
Law enforcement on Monday traced the suspect’s movements in the minutes after the attack and searched for physical evidence near the crime scene.
Additional police were sent to Providence schools on Tuesday to reassure worried parents that their kids will be safe with the Brown University shooter on the loose and no indication yet that investigators have zeroed in on a specific suspect in the weekend attack.
Brown University junior Mia Tretta was 15 years old when she was shot in the abdomen during a mass shooting at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California. Two students were killed, and she and two others were wounded.
On Saturday, Tretta was studying in her dorm with a friend when the first message arrived warning of an emergency at the university’s engineering building. As more alerts poured in urging people to remain locked down and stay away from windows, the familiarity of the language made clear what she had feared.
“No one should ever have to go through one shooting, let alone two,” Tretta told the AP by phone Sunday.
Levi Neuwirth, who said he was a Brown senior who used to have class in the room where the shooting happened, said the campus is on edge. But he said students and the rest of the Brown community have been supporting each other and displaying extra kindness in the wake of tragedy.
“Campus is on edge, mourning, grieving, processing, all of the above that folks would expect,” said Neuwirth, of Wallkill, New York. “But I would really highlight that the major sentiment I feel and I know many of my peers feel is a strong sense of community, of love. We have each other’s backs.”
Whittle reported from Portland, Maine. Contributing were Associated Press reporters Kimberlee Kruesi, Amanda Swinhart, Robert F. Bukaty and Jennifer McDermott in Providence; Michael Casey in Boston; Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas; Kathy McCormack and Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire; Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; and Alanna Durkin Richer, Mike Balsamo and Eric Tucker in Washington.
A community member looks at flowers, notes and mementos in a makeshift memorial display sitting in front of Brown University's Van Wickle gates, in Providence, R.I., two days after a shooting took place on the university's campus, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (Lily Speredelozzi/The Sun Chronicle via AP)
This combo image made with photos provided by the FBI and the Providence, Rhode Island, Police Department shows a person of interest in the shooting that occurred at Brown University in Providence, R.I., Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. (FBI/Providence Police Department via AP)
Members of the FBI Evidence Response Team search for evidence near the campus of Brown University, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
A police vehicle is parked at an intersection near crime scene tape at Brown University, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Providence, R.I., following a Saturday shooting at the university. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
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)
Police tape off hotel rooms where the person of interest was arrested in a shooting, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Coventry, R.I. (AP Photo/Kimberlee Kruesi)
People hold candles during a vigil, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Providence, R.I., for those injured or killed during the Saturday shooting on Brown University campus. (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)
