The investigation into the mass shooting at Brown University was thrown into chaos and a manhunt is back on after police released the person of interest previously arrested by the FBI.
Nearly 30 hours after the attack, which killed two and injured nine on Saturday, authorities sought to reassure a rattled Rhode Island public while admitting that the evidence ‘now points in a different direction’.
The dramatic developments mark the latest in a series of missteps involving the FBI, whose director Kash Patel has faced intense scrutiny since he prematurely announced that a suspect in Charlie Kirk‘s assassination had been caught.
There were echoes of that error in Patel’s social media statement claiming credit for the capture of person of interest Benjamin Erickson, reigniting debate over whether hasty announcements in high-stakes investigations erode public confidence in the FBI or provide much-needed transparency.
Erickson, a 24-year-old Army sniper originally from Wisconsin, had been detained for questioning over the attacks. But within hours of his name leaking to the public, authorities disclosed at a hastily convened 11pm press conference that he would be freed.
Earlier, 19-year-old Ella Cook was identified as one of the two victims killed in the Saturday afternoon shooting at the Ivy League campus.
The release of the lone person of interest leaves law enforcement without a known suspect, with officials pledging to redouble efforts in the investigation by canvassing for video surveillance that could help identify the gunman.
‘We have a murderer out there,’ Attorney General Peter Neronha said.