An aspiring neurosurgeon and a ‘faithful bright light:’ What we know about the two students killed in the Brown mass shooting

By Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN

(CNN) — As college students across the country wrap up their fall 2025 semesters, finishing grueling finals and preparing to head home for the holidays, students at Brown University in Rhode Island ended theirs abruptly after a mass shooting on campus Saturday killed two of their own and wounded nine others.

The campus remains on edge, plagued with fear and overwhelming anxiety with the perpetrator still at large. Authorities are pursuing a new lead based on photos and videos of someone taken hours before the attack, and the FBI has announced a $50,000 reward leading to an arrest and conviction. A person of interest was previously detained in connection with the attack but has since been cleared.

While they come from different backgrounds, the two teen victims who died in the shooting – an aspiring neurosurgeon who attended high school in Virginia and an Alabama church’s “bright light” – are now bound by the same tragedy as loved ones mourn their loss.

“These were two young people whose amazing promise was extinguished too soon,” Brown University President Christina H. Paxson said of the victims in a statement Tuesday.

Here’s what we know so far about the victims, who were at the forefront of their collegiate experience:

A soul that reverberated throughout the community

MukhammadAziz Umurzokov, 18, was identified as a Brown student killed in Saturday’s shooting, according to Paxson and a GoFundMe organized by his family.

Despite being a first-year student, Umurzokov left an impression on everyone he met. He was known for being “driven, conscientious and disciplined,” Brown’s president said.

Umurzokov, a dual citizen of the US and Uzbekistan, planned to study biochemistry and molecular biology to further his dream of being a doctor, Paxson said.

The freshman’s roommate, Khimari Manns, told CNN affiliate WBZ Umorzokov reached out as soon as roommate assignments were made as the young man began his first semester of college.

“He was kind,” Manns said, but, “most importantly, he was just present. Whatever you asked him to do, he was always there for you.”

“His soul truly did reverberate throughout the community,” the roommate said.

In its early days, the GoFundMe for Umurzokov has become an online collection of personal tributes with friends and acquaintances sharing memories that range from applying to college together to small acts of kindness they say defined how he showed up in their lives.

“I have been moved by his current and former classmates’ descriptions of him as someone who generously shared his intelligence, humor and kindness with all those who knew him,” Paxson said.

His family, devastated by their loss, described him as “incredibly kind, funny and smart” in the GoFundMe.

“He continues to be my family’s biggest role model in all aspects,” the GoFundMe from his family continued. “He always lent a helping hand to anyone in need without hesitation, and was the most kind-hearted person our family knew.”

The spokesperson for Uzbekistan’s Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov and the US ambassador to Uzbekistan, Jonathan Henick, extended condolences to Umurzokov’s family and loved ones.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin offered his prayers for the victims, including Umurzokov, who he said attended Midlothian High School in the Commonwealth.

An involved student ‘who radiated kindness’

Ella Cook, 19, was the other student who was fatally shot Saturday, according to Paxson and her church in her Alabama hometown of Mountain Brook.

Cook was an accomplished pianist and was “a passionate and intellectually curious member of our community,” Paxson said.

The sophomore was interested in French and Francophone studies, according to Brown’s president. And despite only being in her second year, she was actively involved in student life, serving as vice president of the Republican Club of Brown University and a member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority.

She was “known for her bold, brave, and kind heart as she served her chapter and her fellow classmates,” the College Republicans of America said in a statement. “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 reposted the group’s statement, adding, “There are no words. Thinking of her family and friends, especially her parents. God please bless them.”

Friends and former coworkers at an ice creamery in Mountain Brook, Alabama, remembered Cook’s constant smile and kindness, they told CNN affiliate WBMA.

“She’s like one of those people you come across a few times in a lifetime,” Luke Christopher, a former coworker, said. “She was always a person who radiated kindness.”

Another friend, Gavin Thornhill, told the station Cook was widely recognized and known on campus.

“As I learn more about the vitality she radiated, I wish so much that I had the opportunity to know her,” Paxson said.

More than a thousand miles away from Brown, Cook’s church in Mountain Brook remembered her during Sunday’s service, with church leaders describing the teenager as “an incredible, grounded, faithful bright light.”

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in the state until Friday in honor of Cook, she wrote on X: “As all of Alabama wraps our arms around Ella’s family in prayer, I also join in mourning her loss.”

This is a developing story and will be updated as we learn more about the victims and their lives.

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CNN’s Sara Smart and Sharif Paget contributed to this report.