UPDATE: The "person of interest" identified and detained by police has since been released. More details here.
***Original Post***
The man who is a person of interest in the Brown University shooting that killed two people and wounded eight others has been identified as Benjamin Erickson, 24, of Wisconsin.
Law enforcement allegedly used cell phone geolocation to track the suspect to a hotel in Coventry, about 20 minutes away from Brown University.
🚨 BREAKING: The Brown University “person of interest” who has been detained by law enforcement has been identified as 24 year old Benjamin Erickson, per NBC
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) December 14, 2025
Erickson, born October 10, 2001, has a potentially extensive mental health history, and may have a connection to Brown,… pic.twitter.com/BOX1ZdgVlr
BREAKING: The suspect in the Brown University shooting has been identified as 24-year-old Benjamin Erickson of Wisconsin, according to WaPo and NBC.
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) December 14, 2025
🚨 JUST IN: It's been confirmed that Kash Patel's FBI surged to find the current person of interest in the Brown University mass shooting investigation, utilizing geolocation tools to track the cellphone to a hotel in Coventry, RI.
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 14, 2025
About 20 minutes from Brown University.… pic.twitter.com/jjazf4c5CY
WATCH: CNN's "chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst" John Miller fear-mongers about "laser sights" on pistols in the wake of the Brown University shooting.
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) December 14, 2025
"One of those firearms, we are told, was equipped with a laser sight device. ⁰This has significance, because… pic.twitter.com/n1eJaeGX2y
Several things to note.
— Amy Swearer (@AmySwearer) December 14, 2025
(1) The "person of interest" was captured in a hotel. They've clarified the person was in his 20s, not his 30s, as previously reported. Assuming this is the actual gunman, the younger age would seem to skew back toward the potential of just being an… https://t.co/UTLuaYKbnp
Townhall reported that the attack might have targeted a Jewish economics professor's classroom.
Erickson is believed to have traveled from Wisconsin, more than 1,000 miles from Brown University.
Traveling 1,000+ miles suggests a pre-planned attack against a very specific target with a very specific motivation. Increases the odds that this suspect harbored a deep grievance against the University, generally, or against someone in that classroom, specifically. https://t.co/HvwkD2jIy8
— Amy Swearer (@AmySwearer) December 14, 2025