Providence Releases Redacted Bodycam and Audio From Fatal Brown University Shooting

On Monday, Providence officials released redacted body camera footage and audio from the Dec. 13, 2025, shooting at Brown University that killed two students and wounded nine others. City leaders said they removed the most graphic images and audio to protect victims and preserve community trust while complying with the state’s public-records law. The newly released material includes a campus police audio call at 4:07 p.m. reporting confirmed gunfire at 184 Hope Street and later updates describing a suspect wearing all black and a ski mask. Officials also made public roughly 20 minutes of heavily redacted bodycam video from the officer who led the initial response.

Key Takeaways

• Two Brown students were killed and nine were injured in the Dec. 13, 2025, attack; the deceased students were 19-year-old Ella Cook and 18-year-old MukhammadAziz Umurzokov.
• Campus police audio captured a 4:07 p.m. call reporting gunshots at 184 Hope Street and a later update that the suspect was wearing black and a ski mask.
• Providence released about 20 minutes of bodycam footage from the first-response officer; large portions are blacked out or have audio removed.
• First-response video depicts chaotic evacuation efforts, scattered personal items, and officers warning that the shooter might still be in the building.
• The alleged shooter, 48-year-old Claudio Neves Valente, was found dead in a New Hampshire storage facility days after the attack.
• Authorities say Valente also fatally shot MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro at his Boston-area home; the FBI recovered confession videos from a device at the storage site.
• The city delayed release at victims’ families’ request until after a memorial service held on Brown’s campus.

Background

The mid-December attack prompted widespread requests from national and international outlets for body-worn camera footage, dispatch audio and police reports. Under Rhode Island’s Access to Public Records Act, Providence is obligated to release certain records but can redact material to prevent further harm to victims and witnesses. Mayor Brett Smiley framed the city’s decision as an effort to remain transparent while minimizing retraumatization for families and the campus community.

Brown University, local law enforcement and federal investigators were simultaneously managing a criminal probe and public-information demands. The suspect, Claudio Neves Valente, had attended Brown as a graduate student in 2000–01, and investigators later linked him to the separate homicide of MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro in the Boston area. Federal officials recovered an electronic device containing videos in which Valente confessed but did not state a clear motive.

Main Event

According to released records, at 4:07 p.m. a campus officer called city police to report confirmed gunshots at 184 Hope Street and an initial victim whose location was not yet known. Four minutes later, campus police provided a suspect description: clothing all black and a ski mask, with travel direction unknown. Within the first minutes of the response, officers were attempting to move evacuated students to safe staging areas while searching hallways for additional victims or a suspect.

The body-worn camera footage of the lead response officer—roughly 20 minutes long—was heavily redacted. The visible segments show officers moving through corridors, directing rescues and calling for caution when the possibility of an active shooter remained. At one point the officer on camera asks about rescue staging; later he warns colleagues that the shooter “might still be in the building, so use caution alright.”

Other released audio includes reports of a possible sighting on a second floor of another building and a later radio call about an apparent arrest. Officers quickly moved to re-evaluate that contact, with one instructing teams to proceed “on the premise that that’s not him” and to conduct a secondary search. The city said it withheld other bodycam streams and records from public release.

An incident report released Monday also documents victims’ responses when shown photos of the suspected shooter. One hospitalized victim froze and began to cry after identifying the person in the images; another altered his breathing before confirming the person matched the shooter he had seen in a hallway. Those excerpts were used by investigators while interviewing victims and assessing emotional impacts.

Analysis & Implications

The Providence release highlights tension between government transparency and survivor-centered privacy after mass-casualty events. Public-records statutes push for openness, but officials and families often argue that graphic footage can compound trauma and hinder recovery. City leaders opted for a heavily redacted release to balance those competing imperatives, a choice likely to shape local debate about standards for police transparency.

For campus safety and emergency operations, the footage offers a compressed case study in early incident command, evacuation staging and information flow between campus and municipal police. Reviewers can see how officers prioritized rescue and area searches while facing uncertainty about the shooter’s location. The material may be used in after-action reviews to refine joint university–municipal response protocols, communications and training for active-shooter scenarios.

Legally, the criminal case has a different trajectory because the suspected attacker was found dead; federal investigators have framed the event as premeditated and recovered confession videos but reported no clear motive. That constrains some prosecutorial options but does not end scrutiny of investigative thoroughness, interagency coordination, or how evidence—including digital materials—was handled and preserved.

Comparison & Data

The table summarizes the direct human toll that investigators have connected to the suspect: two students killed on campus and one academic killed off campus. Together, these entries underscore the cross-jurisdictional nature of the probe, which involved campus police, municipal departments and federal agencies. Officials have cited the recovered electronic device and recorded statements as central pieces of evidence in reconstructing the suspect’s actions.

Reactions & Quotes

City leaders and community members emphasized the need to balance transparency with care for victims. Providence’s mayor framed the release as compliant with state law while acknowledging the potential harm of unredacted material to grieving families and neighbors.

“It is incredibly important to me that the city of Providence remains fully transparent, accountable and compliant with the state’s Access to Public Records Act,”

Brett Smiley, Mayor of Providence (official statement)

Smiley’s office said the decision to redact graphic content was informed by conversations with victims’ families and by legal requirements. The mayor’s phrasing reflects a common municipal posture when releasing sensitive records: affirm legal duty while signaling protective restraint.

First-response audio captured the immediacy and confusion of officers arriving on scene. Dispatch and campus-to-city exchanges show how quickly information—sometimes incomplete or later corrected—traveled among teams working to secure the area and assist victims.

“This is Brown police. We have confirmed gunshots at 184 Hope Street,”

Campus police dispatch audio (4:07 p.m.)

The 4:07 p.m. call and a follow-up describing clothing and a ski mask helped shape initial operational priorities, including searching likely egress routes. Audio also documents a brief misidentification and a rapid pivot to a secondary search, illustrating the fog that can accompany active incidents.

“Shooter might still be in the building, so use caution alright.”

Lead response officer (bodycam/audio)

The officer’s cautionary remark, heard in the released footage, captured the familiar operational dilemma: protect civilians while ensuring officers do not enter avoidable risk. Such verbatim lines are routinely cited in after-action reports to assess command-and-control decisions and protective measures taken for responders and evacuees.

Unconfirmed

• Exact timeline of when officers realized the person briefly detained was not the suspect remains unclear from released records.
• Motivation for the attacks has not been publicly established; federal reports note confession videos but no stated motive.
• Whether additional bodycam or surveillance footage exists beyond what Providence released has not been disclosed.

Bottom Line

The city’s redacted release provides a window into the early response to the Dec. 13 shooting while deliberately limiting graphic material to protect victims and preserve community trust. The footage and audio confirm key operational facts—the 4:07 p.m. gunshot report, a suspect description, and the chaotic effort to evacuate and search buildings—while leaving some questions unresolved.

For the Brown community and municipal partners, the episode will likely prompt renewed reviews of campus security protocols, interagency communications and public-records practices after mass-casualty events. Federal findings that the suspect planned the attack for years and left behind confession videos add complexity to understanding motive and to discussions about prevention, mental-health interventions and threat assessment on and off campuses.

Sources

• NBC News — national news outlet reporting on the release and records (journalism).
• U.S. Department of Justice — federal law-enforcement agency cited for investigative findings (official).
• Federal Bureau of Investigation — federal investigative agency involved in evidence recovery (official).
• Brown University — the campus community and administrator statements referenced (academic institution).