By Svea Herbst-Bayliss, Nate Raymond and Brad Brooks
PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island, Dec 18 (Reuters) – Law enforcement officers are investigating a link between a mass shooting at Brown University in Providence that killed two people last weekend and the shooting death of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor two days later near Boston, a person familiar with the matter said.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss the matter, did not provide more details on why investigators think the two cases may be linked.
The new twist comes five days after the shooting at Brown University and during a manhunt for the shooter. The violence shook Rhode Island’s capital city of Providence, and brought pressure on investigators to crack open the case.
The Brown shooting occurred on December 13 inside a classroom building, killing two students and wounding at least eight others.
Two days later, MIT professor Nuno Loureiro, 47, was fatally shot in his home in Brookline, Massachusetts on Monday evening. Brookline is 49 miles north of Brown’s campus.
Earlier this week, an FBI official said authorities did not believe there was any link between Saturday’s shooting at Brown and the MIT’s professor’s murder. Loureiro was a member of the departments of nuclear science and engineering and physics as well as MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center.
SEEKING THE PUBLIC’S HELP
Investigators in Providence said the suspect in the Brown University shooting escaped on foot into nearby streets, prompting a search that relied heavily on residential security footage because of a lack of surveillance cameras in the classroom building and surrounding area.
Police released images and video of a masked man believed to be the shooter, based on survivor accounts, and have repeatedly asked for the public’s help in identifying that man. The footage showed the suspect walking in a nearby neighborhood both before and immediately after the attack, including moments when police vehicles arrived with flashing lights.
“He could be anywhere,” Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez said on Wednesday, adding that authorities did not initially know the suspect’s identity or motive.
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said residents and students had grown “restless and eager” for an arrest as the search stretched into several days.
Police also circulated photos of another unidentified man seen near the area, saying they wanted to speak with him as a potential witness who may have relevant information.
Authorities initially announced a person was in custody a day after the shooting, but later released that individual after determining he was not involved.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond and Brad Brooks; additional reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss in Providence; editing by Donna Bryson and David Gregorio)
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