AILSA CHANG, HOST:
The person who killed two students and injured nine at Brown University over the weekend is still at large. Classes are canceled and vigils are being held across Providence and the Ivy League. Authorities have released grainy images of a person of interest. They show a stocky figure dressed in dark clothing, wearing a beanie and a black surgical mask. I'm joined now by the mayor of Providence, Brett Smiley, who also serves as the city's public safety commissioner. Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us, Mayor.
BRETT SMILEY: Good afternoon.
CHANG: So first, do you have any updates on this ongoing manhunt?
SMILEY: Today, we released an image of an additional person that we believe may have information useful to our investigation. So we're asking the community's help if they have information about this individual. Photo's being shared widely, and our chief of police shared and will continue to share updates about the investigation, which does continue to make progress.
CHANG: I do have to ask, though. We are on Day 5 of this search for the suspect. How concerned are you that the trail is getting cold and that it's going to be less and less possible to find this person?
SMILEY: Certainly, it's frustrating that this investigation continues to take time, and I, along with all of my fellow residents, would love to have a suspect in custody and charges pressed. But the investigation is progressing. We're communicating that progress to the community. We're showing new video evidence, new photos as we start to piece together the events of Saturday.
CHANG: I am also curious about how your city's collaboration with the FBI is going. Director Kash Patel has posted on X about details of the investigation, which is unusual compared to how former FBI directors have done things. So I'm wondering - do you think sharing this kind of information publicly is having any impact on the investigation?
SMILEY: The professionals here in Providence that are working around the clock are working very well together. The special agent in charge from the Boston office and his team are working seamlessly with the Providence Police and the Rhode Island State Police and some other federal partners. And I'm spending plenty of time in our public safety complex right now, and what I see is a team that is entirely focused and working well together. Providence Police has been working federal partners for years. These are preexisting relationships. We know how to work with other agencies, and it's showing. And so I don't have any concerns about the way in which they're working together and the level of cooperation.
CHANG: As we mentioned, you serve both as mayor and as the public safety commissioner for Providence. What steps are you taking to bolster security around the city with this suspect still at large?
SMILEY: Yeah. We have a pretty significant police presence throughout the city right now, and it's been aided by our neighbors here in Rhode Island. Rhode Island's a small, close-knit community. Providence is a small, close-knit city. I was at a high school for the bell yesterday morning, and there was a Cranston, Rhode Island, police officer there just helping out. This is a very safe city, and things like this don't happen here and have never happened here before. And so it really sort of shook our foundation.
CHANG: Yeah.
SMILEY: And as we rebuild that foundation, we're helping them do so by making sure that they see people in a position of authority really everywhere right now because we know kids need to go to school, and people need to go to work. And so we're taking those first, sometimes shaky or tentative, steps forward, but we're moving forward.
CHANG: You mentioned that this community has long felt like a safe community. So I want to talk about the challenge of messaging here, as mayor. On one hand, I know you want to reassure your community that they can move about their lives and feel secure in their city. On the other hand, this shooter is still at large. So naturally, everyone is still on high alert. How do you square those two things as you're trying to offer comfort to your city?
SMILEY: It's a very legitimate question and a very difficult message to try to convey to the community, and their fears are valid. And the reality is, is that we are a strong community. We are a resilient community. We've tried to help them take those first steps with extraordinary law enforcement presence around to bolster that confidence. But that doesn't mean the fear is unfounded. It just means that we need to find that inner strength and help one another as neighbors and as fellow residents of the city that we're so proud to call home and find the strength and courage to start to move forward because that's what we have to do.
CHANG: Brett Smiley, mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us right now.
SMILEY: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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