Brown University police chief placed on leave after deadly shooting as Trump admin opens investigation
Brown University placed its police chief on leave after a deadly campus shooting claimed the lives of two people and left another nine injured.
Vice President for Public Safety and Emergency Management Rodney Chatman was placed on administrative leave, Brown University President Christina H. Paxson announced on Monday. Her action comes just over a week after authorities said 48-year-old Claudio Manuel Neves Valente opened fire at the university's Barus and Holley engineering and physics building on Dec. 13. Five victims remain at Rhode Island Hospital in stable condition.
Former Providence Police Department Chief Hugh T. Clements was appointed to replace Chatman on an interim basis. Paxson's decision came as the Department of Education opened an investigation into Brown University for potential violations of the Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Act (Clery Act).
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The Clery Act requires colleges to meet certain campus safety and security-related requirements as a condition of receiving federal student aid.
"After two students were horrifically murdered at Brown University when a shooter opened fire in a campus building, the Department is initiating a review of Brown to determine if it has upheld its obligation under the law to vigilantly maintain campus security," Education Secretary Linda McMahon said.
"Students deserve to feel safe at school, and every university across this nation must protect their students and be equipped with adequate resources to aid law enforcement," she added. "The Trump Administration will fight to ensure that recipients of federal funding are vigorously protecting students’ safety and following security procedures as required under federal law."
Paxson also announced that an "After-Action Review" will take place following the deadly mass shooting, and announced a number of campus security enhancements. The enhancements include additional security camera coverage, which will include the Barus and Holley building.
According to the most recent data available, Paxson was the second-highest paid Ivy League president in 2023, earning an estimated $3.1 million. Her total compensation has increased by over 700% since 2012, according to data compiled by the Brown Daily Herald.
"As we work to heal and recover, our primary focus is to nurture a thriving campus by attending to the psychological and social health of all members of our community while we also demonstrate that Brown is still Brown — a safe, inclusive, caring community of talented students and scholars and dedicated staff," Paxson wrote.
During an earlier news conference, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said there were few or no cameras in the area of the building where the shooting happened.
"So, there's the back part of the building, the old part, and the front part, the new part," Neronha told reporters. "The shooting occurs in the old part towards the back… and that older part of the building, there are fewer, if any, cameras in that location, I imagine, because it's an older building."
Additional details about the shooting have since emerged, including:
- A Brown University custodian said he saw the suspected gunman almost a dozen times beginning in November.
- Brown University retained former U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island Zachary Cunha as it prepares for possible lawsuits.
Chatman was placed on leave following a report from The Boston Globe, which spoke with the custodian, Derek Lisi, who said he saw the alleged shooter at Barus and Holley weeks before the shooting and alerted a security guard.
"I said, ‘Something’s off with this guy, so I gotta say something,’" Lisi recalled thinking when he saw the man on Dec. 1 before going on vacation. "I told my friend, ‘I hope it’s not the guy I’ve been seeing. I hope it’s not.'"
A Brown University spokesperson said it works with outside counsel on some issues.
"Brown works routinely with outside counsel whose expertise complements that of the University's Office of the General Counsel. In this case, we retained Zachary Cunha, the former United States Attorney for the District of Rhode Island, to assist the University in coordinating with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies," a Brown spokesperson said.
Fox News Digital reached out to Brown University for comment.
Fox News Digital's Louis Casiano contributed to this report.