PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Federal investigators say advanced cellphone analysis played a key role in locating a person of interest detained in connection with the deadly shooting at Brown University.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team used mobile data to geolocate the individual, leading authorities to a hotel room in Coventry, R.I., early Sunday.
“As a result, early this morning, FBI Boston’s Safe Streets Task Force, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals and the Coventry Police, detained a person of interest in a hotel room in Coventry, RI, based off a lead by the Providence Police,” Patel posted on social media.
Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez confirmed the multi-agency operation at a news conference but declined to provide additional details, citing the active investigation.
“We have deployed local and national resources to process and reconstruct the shooting scene — providing HQ and Lab elements on scene,” Patel added. “This FBI will continue an all-out 24/7 campaign until justice is fully served.”
Here’s what we know so far, according to sources who spoke with CNN:
• The detained individual is a male in his 20s from Wisconsin, law enforcement officials said.
• Investigators believe he traveled from Wisconsin to Rhode Island to carry out the shooting at Brown University on Saturday night.
• Law enforcement tracked him to a Coventry hotel, where officers ordered him to open the door. When questioned, he claimed he had been in the room all day.
• Inside the room, police recovered two firearms — a revolver and a small Glock handgun equipped with a laser sight, according to multiple federal sources.
• The FBI’s specialized cellphone-tracking unit was instrumental in pinpointing the suspect’s location, Patel said.
Authorities have not yet announced charges, and the investigation remains ongoing.
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