A makeshift shrine of flowers and condolence cards has gone up outside of the Brown University building where a gunman killed two students and wounded nine others, with the Ivy League school and surrounding community trying to make sense of the tragedy.
As investigators pursue clues about the gunman, who remained at large Tuesday after fleeing the scene of the Saturday shooting, new details emerged about the victims, with friends, former pastors and teachers speaking glowingly about the students who died, MukhammadAziz Umurzokov and Ella Cook.
“Both were brilliant and beloved — as members of our campus community, but even more by their friends and families,” university President Christina Paxson said in statement Tuesday. “Our hearts continue to be with them in their profound sorrow.”
Students and staff were busy Tuesday planning tributes to the victims, most of whom are still hospitalized. Among the events planned are an online interfaith prayer service scheduled for Wednesday and a larger service when classes resume after the winter break.
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MukhammadAziz Umurzokov
Umurzokov, an 18-year-old freshman from Brandermill, Virginia, decided at a young age that he wanted to go into medicine.
He made up his mind after suffering a neurological condition that required him to undergo surgery as a child and having to wear a back brace due to scoliosis. With a double-major in biochemistry and neuroscience, he hoped to go to medical school.
“He had so many hardships in his life, and he got into this amazing school and tried so hard to follow through with the promise he made when was 7 years old,” his sister, Samira Umurzokova, told The Associated Press by phone.
Umurzokov took it upon himself to help students who recently immigrated to the United States and weren’t fully acclimated to the culture and language, said Umurzokova, whose family came to the country from Uzbekistan when she, her brother and sister were very young. When the attack happened, her brother was helping a friend prepare for an economics final, she said.
Shawn Abel, the principal Midlothian High School, said he first met Umurzokov when he asked to skip a grade in math so he could take calculus before senior year.
“He had only just completed trig,” Abel said. “He said: ‘I will get a ‘5’ on the AP test and I will get an ‘A’ or higher in that AP class.’ And, I said: ‘Ok let’s do it.’
“Sure enough: ‘A+’ in the class and highest mark on the test,” Abel said.
He said Umurzokov was determined to be the best student he could be and that it was difficult to see such a promising life cut short.
“There’s a lot of students that are driven and hard workers, and there are also kids with high aptitudes,” Abel said. “He was both.”
Ella Cook
Cook, a 19-year-old sophomore from Mountain Brook, Alabama, was an accomplished pianist who was studying French, math and economics at Brown, where she also served as vice president of the college Republicans.
When announcing her death Sunday to the Cathedral Church of the Advent congregation in Birmingham, the Rev. R. Craig Smalley described Cook as “an incredible grounded, faithful, bright light” who encouraged and “lifted up those around her.”
“Light shines in the darkness,” he said, urging congregants to love and pray for her parents.
Cook tutored young people in academics and taught youth Bible studies and Sunday School, according to her obituary, which noted that a service for her has been scheduled for next Monday.
“Ella dearly loved children. In fact, she believed her highest calling would one day be to have children of her own,” it said.
Members of the Brown College Republicans were “devastated,” the club’s president, Martin Bertao, said in a post on X.
“Ella was known for her bold, brave, and kind heart as she served her chapter and her fellow classmates,” Bertao said.
The wounded are recovering
Only one of the nine students who were wounded had been released as of Sunday, Paxson said. One was in critical condition and the other seven were in critical but stable condition. Providence’s mayor said none of their conditions had worsened as of Monday.
Among those who remained hospitalized Tuesday was Jacob Spears, a freshman from Evans, Georgia, majoring in computer science and economics.
“He did have surgery, but is doing well and is expected to make a full recovery,” the Rev. Chuck Mann said at the start of Sunday’s service at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Spears’ hometown.
A GoFundMe site organized for Spears said he had been shot in the stomach, “but through sheer adrenaline and courage, he managed to run outside, where he was aided by others.”
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 in a statement.
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. Many students ran toward the front, but Yang said he wound up on the ground between some seats and was shot in the leg. He expected to be discharged within days.
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Associated Press reporter Olivia Diaz contributed to this story.
