Given the bumbling we saw in the Brown University shooting investigation -- wrong suspect detained, missing cameras, self-satisfied university administrators -- it's kind of a miracle that the mystery was solved of who did the heinous spray-shooting against students studying for finals at the elite university several days ago.
What wasn't surprising is who did it -- a disgruntled former student who dropped out of Brown and who not only shot up the school out of apparently a long-festering rage, but also later went on to murder an MIT professor he knew from his school days in Portugal, who had become a successful scientist. He wasn't the first weirdo or loser to turn up around the science department of an elite university. Think: Unabomber. It's just a shame he wasn't caught earlier.
What was surprising was who laid the groundwork for solving the case -- a reportedly homeless man identified in police reports as "John" living in a university building's basement who did all the things an intelligent investigator or a vigilant security guard would do: He spotted something amiss, he followed the suspect -- he watched the suspect -- he engaged the suspect -- he gathered information -- and he contacted authorities with enough of it to enable them to blow "the case wide open," as one said. Before that, they had almost nothing.
Look how meticulous his observational skills were with this first encounter, according to the Providence Police Department affidavit:
John voluntarily accompanied police officers to the station where he agreed to a recorded interview. At the outset of his recorded interview, detectives reminded John that he was free to leave at any time and that he was there voluntarily. John expressed that he would provide all the information he had on the individual. John recounted that he first encountered the Suspect (the same person of interest released to the public through multiple images and videos), inside a bathroom on the ground floor of the Barus Holley building immediately to the right of an entrance of the building on December 13, 2025 at approximately 13:45-14:00. John described the Suspect's clothing as inappropriate and inadequate for the weather. Specifically, he described thejacket and gloves as flimsy. He described the clothing, including the jacket as baggy, with at least two undergarment shirt layers (one ofwhich has a brand style logo in the bottom right corner; John believes the logo was a name brand, possibly L.L. Bean). He described the pants and shoes as kitchen/restaurant worker style, of poor quality or would be associated with Walmart (John cast no judgment as to the quality). John described large facemask covering the entire lower part of the Suspect's face. He believed that the Suspect was wearing glasses. John described the Suspect's skin as "weathered" and a "cinnamon color complexion." He believed that Suspect's eyes are brown and his facе appeared to be chubby. From the interview, there were several instances where John made eye contact with the Suspect or stood in close proximity to him. The initial encounter involved John locking eyes with the Suspect. After this initial encounter, John observed the Suspect exit the building into the parking lot.
He didn't just leave it there. He knew the guy didn't belong in the building, and not just because the doors were unlocked (which they should not have been) but because he was dressed for Florida, so out of curiosity, he followed him to find out more.
John remained the entrance until he observed the Suspect go up Manning Street and then followed him.
John then described an encounter with the Suspect near the RI Historical Society. He watched the Suspect approach a grey or silver sedan bearing a Florida registration plate. John assumed the Suspect had a key fob because the lights of the Nissan lit up as the Suspect approached, as if the vehicle was being unlocked by a key fob. The Suspect suddenly turned around from the vehicle and walked in the opposite direction, taking a left at the nearby intersection. John stated that the Suspect "looked at [him] like he knew [him.]" John approached the sedan and observed two fanny pack style bags on the rear floorboard on the passenger side. John remained on that block and observed the Suspect looping back to the area, then switching directions every time they saw each other. John described this pattern as "a game of cat and mouse" between himself and the Suspect.
At some point, they encountered each other on George Street, at which time, the Suspect ran in the opposite direction. John then ran up behind the person of interest, slowed to a speed-walk and walked past the Suspect. John then turned to face the Suspect. John estimates that they were standing approximately two feet away from each other. John asked the Suspect, "Your car is back there, why are you circling the block?" The Suspect responded, "I don't know you from nobody," then Suspect repeatedly asked, 'Why are you harassing me?" During this exchange, John detected a cadence or accent to the Suspect's voice that he believed to Hispanic. John saw the Suspect approach his car one more time, but then John continued onto Waterman Street and did not have any subsequent encounters with the Suspect.
If he had called the cops then, they would have dismissed him as having no crime to report. But as the news of the shooting got out and no suspect was named, it must have dawned on him that this was the bad guy they were looking for, particularly when photos came out of the bad guy, and himself as a potential witness. He did call the cops, but posted his work on Reddit, too, apparently by using someone's wi-fi on his cell phone, so the tip would not be lost in the shuffle:
"I'm being dead serious. The police need to look into a grey Nissan with Florida plates, possibly a rental. That was the car he was driving. It was parked in front ofthe little shack behind the Rhode Island Historical Society on the Cooke St side. I know because he used his key fob to open the car, approached it and then something prompted him to back away. When he backed away he relocked the car. I found that odd so when he circled the block I approached the car that is when I saw the Florida plates. He was parked in the section between the gate of the RIHS and the corner of Cooke and George St."
From there, the cops had all they needed to check cameras, get the license plate, and track the bad guy -- even when he switched to a Maine license plate by the time he got to Massachusetts for his second killing spree -- and finally catch him just after his suicide in some storage locker in New Hampshire.
Does he deserve the reward -- a relatively $50,000 given the size of the crime? Absolutely. He did what a real security guard would have done had Brown had credible ones who weren't caught up likely in wokester baloney, racial profiling yellings, or simply not there when they should have been. He observed, he questioned, he gathered accurate information that was easy to confirm, and the cops were able to take it from there.
He not only should get the reward (others helped with tips and should get some, too) but he should be rewarded with an apartment at Brown, given the huge numbers of useless administrators on bloated salaries there who have them. He's the guy they need around there to protect the students, and should be given a security role, too, if he is interested in one.
Other than that, he's job material for investigative work and ought to be hired by a good company; the university is loaded with connections and needs use them to get him placed in a productive role. That's the least they can do for him. Their uselessness in preventing the mass shooting and solving the crime when it happened demands this from them. This guy shouldn't be homeless. They owe him and need to acknowledge his heroism in a material way.
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