On Monday (Dec. 22), Brown University President Christina Paxson placed its campus police chief on leave, per the Associated Press. Rodney Chatman will be out while the Rhode Island university reviews its security policies. The update comes after a gunman killed two students and injured nine others earlier this month.
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Who Will Replace Brown University’s Police Chief?
Questions surrounding Brown University’s security policies have only intensified since the Dec. 13 shooting. The incident not only rocked the Providence community but also led to a lengthy search for the killer.
Much of the focus has centered on whether the Ivy League school had security cameras installed in the building where the attack happened and the overall ease of accessing campus buildings.
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President Paxson announced that Hugh T. Clements, the former police chief of the Providence Police Department, will replace Rodney Chatman. In October, Rodney Chatman had previously faced a vote of no confidence by the union representing school police officers. Local media outlets reported at the time that the union said the vote reflected “serious concerns over the failed leadership, contract violations, and policies that jeopardize public safety.”
More Agencies Are Investigating The Shooting
The backlash over the school’s security has led to an investigation by the U.S. Department of Education. The agency said earlier Monday that officials are asking Brown University for information to help determine if school officials violated federal campus safety and security requirements. This has included seeking security reports, audits, dispatch and call logs, and when emergency notifications have been utilized.
What Happened To The Gunman?
On Dec. 13, gunman Claudio Neves Valente entered a study session in a Brown University academic building and opened fire on students. The 48-year-old killed a sophomore named Ella Cook and an 18-year-old freshman named MukhammadAziz Umurzokov. Additionally, he wounded nine others. The gunman was a graduate student at Brown studying physics during the 2000-01 school year.
Two days later, authorities say Neves Valente also fatally shot Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro at Loureiro’s Boston-area home. Neves Valente had attended school with Loureiro in Portugal in the 1990s. Valente, the shooter, was found dead days later in a New Hampshire storage facility. Authorities say he killed himself. An autopsy determined that Neves Valente died Dec. 16, the same day Loureiro died in a hospital.
Brown University Family Mourns During The Holidays
Meanwhile, hundreds gathered at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in downtown Birmingham, Alabama, on Monday to commemorate the life of Ella Cook.
Her family invited attendees to wear “Easter colors,” a nod to Cook’s Christian faith. The Episcopal funeral service also incorporated elements of the Christmas season, according to AP. The Rev. Paul F.M. Zahl read from several letters written by members of the Brown University community to Cook’s parents, Anna Bishop Cook and Richard Cook.
“Ella was smart, confident, curious, kind, principled, brave. She had a big impact on campus in only three semesters,” David Skarbek, Brown professor of political economy, wrote. “I used to tell Ella, ‘We need an Alabama to Brown pipeline.’ In fact, her nickname on campus was Ellabama.”
Rev. Zahl told the congregation that the funeral was “a kind of bigger stage, a kind of more amplified mic” for Ella Cook to spread her Christian faith.
“I pray now that everyone who has loved Ella so much in this life would be given a vivid, individual feeling of Ella’s love, still present with us,” Zahl said. “Because Ella’s love is eternal and entirely altruistic.”
Ella Cook was an accomplished pianist who was studying French, math and economics at Brown. On campus, she also served as vice president of the college Republicans. Her political activity brought a wave of reaction from national and Alabama Republicans. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey ordered flags to be flown at half-staff statewide in Cook’s memory.
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Associated Press writers Kimberlee Kruesi and Jeff Amy contributed to this report via AP Newsroom.
