Brown University College Republicans Vice President Ella Cook, 19, was one of the two victims killed in the Saturday shooting at the Ivy League school, multiple reports confirm.
A shooter opened fire inside a classroom on Brown University’s campus in Providence, R.I., on Saturday afternoon while final exams were taking place, killing Cook and one other person while injuring nine others. The gunman remained at large as of Monday morning after authorities released a man alleged to be a “person of interest” in connection to the shooting less than a day after he was arrested.
Cook was a sophomore from Alabama and was active in both conservative politics and her Christian faith community, according to reports.
“We are devastated to learn of the loss of our Brown College Republicans Vice President, Ella Cook,” College Republicans of America (CRA) President Marin Bertao said in a statement CRA’s X account posted to the platform Sunday night. “Ella was known for her bold, brave and kind heart as she served her chapter and her fellow classmates. Our prayers are with her family, our Brown CR’s, and the entirety of the campus as they heal from this tragedy.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to CRA’s X post on early Monday morning, writing, “There are no words.”
“Thinking of her family and friends, especially her parents. God please bless them,” Leavitt added.
Cook was a parishioner at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham, Alabama, the Episcopal church’s Rev. Craig Smalley said during a Sunday morning service, according to ABC News. Smalley referred to the 19-year-old as a “bright light” in his remarks.
“She was engaged and involved in our worship and in our community, and as she served here at the church and in the wider community, in all sincerity, just a tremendous and bright light in there at Brown University as well, in the time that she was there, was such a light and such a witness,” the pastor said.
Republican Alabama Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth wrote in a Sunday night post to X, “Ella was a devoted Christian and a committed conservative who represented the very best of Alabama.”
“A bright future was ended much too soon. Join me in lifting up her family in prayers of comfort,” Ainsworth added.
The other victim killed in the still-under-investigation shooting is reportedly a male freshman neuroscience student who was later identified as Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, 18, an Uzbek immigrant and naturalized U.S. citizen, according to the Washington Post. The student’s roommate, Khimari Manns, had told WPRI-TV, a Providence-based CBS affiliate that the freshman was among one of the two deaths.
U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan Jonathan Henick said in a statement Monday, “We extend our sincere condolences to Mr. Umurzokov’s family, friends, and fellow students and mourn the loss of his bright future.”
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