Brown University gunman was familiar with target and enraged, criminal profiler says
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Brown University offered a “soft target” to the “psycho killer” who opened fire during a weekend study session, according to a criminal profiler, who cited unsecured doors, limited cameras and the fact that the gunman remained at large Monday.
The unidentified gunman barged into a lecture hall at the campus in Providence, Rhode Island, around 4 p.m. Saturday, according to authorities, killing two students and injuring nine more.
“College was a soft target — doors open and no security,” said John Kelly, a criminal profiler and the president of STALK Inc. “The killer was familiar with the area, enraged, probably at the college or engineering program. Organized. Dressed for the occasion — and very comfortable with a semiautomatic.”
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Authorities have said there were few security cameras in the Barus and Holley building, where the shooting took place.
The FBI released surveillance video showing a person of interest wearing dark clothes at an intersection to the northeast of the crime scene. He remained at large Monday afternoon, after police questioned but released someone else in connection with the incident.
“They don’t know if he’s 500 miles away or five doors down the street,” Kelly told Fox News Digital. “What they do know is he’s a psycho killer and mass shooter. If they don’t get him, there is a lot of fear for people living there, and there will be a lot of scared kids returning to campus.”
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Police and federal agents were seen canvassing a wider area, including the neighborhood surrounding the Terrence Murray Baseball Stadium about five blocks to the northeast.
Forensic investigators wearing Tyvek suits were seen combing through a dumpster outside the Barus and Holley building.
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The two victims who died were identified as Ella Cook, a 19-year-old from Alabama, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, originally from Uzbekistan but a naturalized U.S. citizen from Virginia.
Bondi Beach shooting suspects had bombs, ISIS flags and traveled to Philippines: police
Australian authorities said Tuesday that the father and son who opened fire on families during a Hanukkah event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach had packed their vehicle with improvised explosive devices and homemade ISIS flags, deepening fears that the massacre was part of a broader attack plot than initially believed.
During a press conference, investigators called the father-and-son gunmen, ages 24 and 50, “cowards” who hunted Jewish Australians “in broad daylight.” Fifteen people were killed and more than two dozen were injured in the shootings, which police are now formally describing as an ISIS-inspired terrorist attack.
New South Wales Police confirmed the younger attacker’s vehicle contained IED’s and two homemade ISIS flags, evidence authorities said points directly to extremist inspiration and an apparent intent to carry out a larger, coordinated assault. Forensic teams are still conducting ballistic and chemical examinations of the items.
“This was a barbaric attack against Jewish Australians,” Australia’s federal police commissioner Krissy Barrett said. “They were hunted down in broad daylight.”
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Authorities said they are still working to determine whether the devices were functional or intended for secondary targets.
Mal Lanyon, the Police Commissioner for New South Wales state, said the suspects traveled to the Philippines last month. Their reasons for the trip and where in the Philippines they went would be probed by investigators, Lanyon said.
The region has long been home to ISIS-linked networks. Groups of Muslim separatist militants, including Abu Sayyaf in the southern Philippines, once expressed support for ISIS and have hosted small numbers of foreign militant combatants from Asia, the Middle East and Europe in the past.
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Decades of military offensives, however, have considerably weakened Abu Sayyaf and other such armed groups, and Philippine military and police officials say there has been no recent indication of any foreign militants in the country’s south.
Officials said there is currently no evidence that additional attackers or facilitators were involved in Sunday’s massacre but officials cautioned that this assessment could change as investigators review digital devices, travel records and thousands of seized documents.
Tuesday marked the first time that officials confirmed their beliefs about the suspects’ ideologies.
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There are more than two dozen people, ranging in ages from 10 to 87, still being treated in hospitals after Sunday’s massacre. Ten of them, including three who are patients in a children’s hospital, are in critical condition.
Among the injured is Ahmed al Ahmed, a 42-year-old Syrian-born fruit shop owner who was captured on video tackling and disarming one assailant, before pointing the man’s weapon at him and then setting it on the ground. He had surgery scheduled on Wednesday for shotgun wounds to his left shoulder and upper body.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who met earlier with Ahmed, hailed him as “a true Australian hero.”
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“We are a brave country. Ahmed al Ahmed represents the best of our country. We will not allow this country to be divided. That is what the terrorists seek. We will unite. We will embrace each other, and we’ll get through this,” Albanese added.
The older gunman was shot dead while his son was also being treated at a hospital on Tuesday.
Albanese and the leaders of some of Australia’s states have pledged to tighten the country’s already strict gun already strict gun laws in what would be the most sweeping reforms since a shooter killed 35 people in Port Arthur, Tasmania in 1996. Mass shootings in Australia have since been rare.
Officials divulged more information as public questions and anger grew on the third day following the attack about how the suspects were able to plan and enact it and whether Australian Jews had been sufficiently protected from rising antisemitism.
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Albanese announced plans to further restrict access to guns, in part because it emerged the older suspect had amassed his cache of six weapons legally.
“The suspected murderers, callous in how they allegedly coordinated their attack, appeared to have no regard for the age or ableness of their victims,” Barrett said. “It appears the alleged killers were interested only in a quest for a death tally.”
Erika Kirk reveals update following private sit-down with Candace Owens
Erika Kirk announced Monday that she had a productive conversation with Candace Owens, signaling a possible thaw in their rift following weeks of public tension in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
Kirk shared the brief update in a statement on X and hinted that more details would come.
“Had a very productive conversation with @RealCandaceO.” Kirk said. “More to come from both of us. Looking forward to AmFest this week. Time to get back to work.”
In a separate update on X, Candace Owens echoed the same message, saying that the hours-long conversation involved more agreements than Owens had anticipated.
“Erika and I had an extremely productive 4 1/2 hour meeting that I think we both feel should have taken place a lot earlier than it did,” Owens said.
“We agreed much more than I had anticipated. Of course, we also disagreed on various points and people as well. Most importantly, we were able to share intel and clarify intent.”
She added that their conversation immediately helped ease tensions and said she would provide further updates on Tuesday.
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“I will of course have a full rundown for you all tomorrow as I am currently exhausted, but I wanted to quickly let you guys know that absolutely nothing was held back and the immediate result was that tensions were thawed,” Owens said.
The conversation represents a bid by both women to address weeks of online conspiracy-related tensions following Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
Doctor and mom of two found dead in Dollar Tree freezer, reportedly naked
A female doctor was mysteriously found dead and possibly naked inside a freezer at a Dollar Tree store in Miami, Florida, on Sunday, according to police and media reports.
An employee at the discount store’s Little Havana location reported discovering a “deceased woman inside the business” during opening hours at 8 a.m., the Miami Police Department told Fox News Digital on Monday. The woman was identified as 32-year-old Helen Massiell Garay Sanchez.
“Female was located inside a walk-in freezer/cooler located in the store’s stockroom,” Public Information Officer Michael Vega said.
Sanchez was also naked when she was discovered, CBS News reported, citing police scanners.
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“Complainant found a naked female in the cooler of the store,” dispatchers were heard saying over police scanners.
Authorities added that surveillance footage indicated no foul play was involved. The investigation remains ongoing. It also remains unclear why Sanchez entered the restricted stockroom area.
According to a GoFundMe page, Sanchez was an anesthesiologist specializing in congenital heart disease and was originally from Nicaragua. Her friends and family are now working to have her body returned to her home country, where her two children live.
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“Dr. Helen Garay passed away following a tragic accident while abroad,” the GoFundMe page said. “Her family’s greatest wish is to bring her back to Nicaragua for a proper funeral and final resting place, surrounded by her loved ones. The family is currently raising funds to cover the costs of repatriation, transportation, and funeral services in Nicaragua.”
Roughly $9,200 had been raised as of Monday evening to support the late doctor’s family.
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The Dollar Tree store remained closed during the investigation but reopened later Sunday, according to the Daily Mail.
Dollar Tree did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Ex-college football star with iconic hairstyle and great career dead at 52
Former South Carolina quarterback Steve Taneyhill, who played for the Gamecocks from 1992-95, has died at 52.
The Gamecocks athletic department confirmed on Monday that Taneyhill died overnight in his sleep, though no cause of death was provided.
“Taneyhill was inducted into the University of South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006,” the Gamecocks said in a statement about his death. “He was named Freshman of the Year by Sports Illustrated and Football News Freshman All-America in 1992.
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“An exciting player, Taneyhill was known for his iconic mullet hair and his ‘home run swing’ after touchdown passes.”
Taneyhill led the Gamecocks to its first-ever bowl victory in program history in 1994, his junior season at South Carolina. They defeated West Virginia in the Carquest Bowl.
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And when Taneyhill threw touchdowns, he would perform his famous “home run swing,” as the statement read, in celebration.
A native of Altoona, Pennsylvania, Taneyhill notched South Carolina records with 753 completions and 62 passing touchdowns over his four seasons. He also was second with 8,782 passing yards and seventh with a 60.5 completion rate.
Taneyhill’s senior season in 1995 saw him lead the SEC in completions (261), pass attempts (389) and completion percentage (67.1) on his way to 3,094 passing yards with 29 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
For his performance as a Gamecocks star, Taneyhill was later inducted into the South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006.
To this day, Taneyhill is responsible for three of the top four highest-passing-yardage games in school history, including a 471-yard day against Mississippi State in 1995.
Taneyhill was never able to break into the NFL, though, joining the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent in 1997. However, he was released during the preseason and never once played in the league.
He later became a high school football coach, leading his Chesterfield High to the South Carolina state title for three straight seasons in 2007-09.
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South Carolina’s statement said that he also purchased and operated businesses in Columbia and Spartanburg, South Carolina after his coaching days were over.
Omar lashes out at ‘sick’ Republicans for investigating her alleged marriage to brother
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., called those concerned about whether she married her brother “sick” after the far-left lawmaker was approached by Fox News Digital about border czar Tom Homan, signaling that federal officials have started digging into records pertaining to the matter.
Homan said last week that records and files related to Omar’s potential immigration fraud were being pulled and looked at after President Donald Trump revived the years-old scandal amid an ongoing debate over the Somali Medicaid fraud scandal taking place in Omar’s state of Minnesota.
While Homan suggested that fraud likely took place, he also signaled that the crime’s statute of limitations could present a problem when it comes to prosecuting Omar for any potential violations.
“Any response to what [Homan] is saying? And the public?” Fox News Digital asked Omar as she was walking through the halls of Congress.
“I have no response because I don’t know what they’ll be investigating,” Omar shot back.
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“So you don’t think they would find anything?” she was asked.
“Absolutely not,” Omar responded.
“Why do you think they keep bringing this up?” Omar was then asked before she walked onto an elevator and out of sight.
“Because they’re sick!” she exclaimed.
But, according to a top Senate Republican, if the allegations against Omar – that she married her brother to enter the U.S. – were true, she’d be breaking several laws.
“If this is true, then Omar faces criminal liability under three different statutes,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
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Cruz has argued that Omar could have committed federal marriage fraud, which makes knowingly entering into a marriage to evade immigration laws illegal, and could result in up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and deportation.
Omar was born in Somalia and came to the U.S. in 1995 after her family was granted asylum. She became a naturalized citizen in 2000.
In 2002, Omar entered a religious marriage with Ahmed Abdisalan Hirsi, while, in 2009, she legally married Ahmed Elmi, a British citizen, despite maintaining her religious union with Hirsi and continuing to have children with him.
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Omar and Elmi separated in 2011 and did not legally divorce until 2017, according to reports. In 2020, Omar married political consultant Tim Mynett.
In addition to marriage fraud, Cruz said Omar could also be breaking Minnesota’s state incest law, a felony in the state punishable by jail time up to 10 years. Cruz also indicated Omar could be liable for tax fraud, specifically if joint tax returns were filed while she was not legally married, a violation that could lead to a $100,000 fine and up to three years in prison.
Liberal newspaper warns Chicago has ‘lost its mind’ while calling out Mayor Johnson
The editorial board of the Washington Post called out Mayor Brandon Johnson on Monday, arguing he has mismanaged Chicago to the point the city has financially “lost its mind.”
The board argued that Chicago has an extensive history of using short-term economic gimmicks, and Johnson and his allies are more of the same.
The board said that Chicago’s net operating budget increased almost 40 percent between 2019 and 2025, which, according to Grant McClintock of the Civic Federation, was “subsidized in large part by temporary federal pandemic funding that kept the City financially afloat.”
However, he indicated times have changed in 2025.
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“The pandemic is over, but many of the programs and personnel positions established during that time remain, and without the benefit of the federal funding that previously supported them,” he said.
The board, in an editorial bluntly headlined, “Chicago has lost its mind,” called out one particular policy it warned could be disastrous for the city’s finances.
“The mayor proposes to increase the tax on the lease of ‘personal property’ like computers, vehicles and software from 11 percent to 14 percent, and to bring back the city’s ‘head tax,’ which would result in large employers paying $33 per worker, per month,” the board said. “By making it more expensive to do business or hire workers in the city, these measures threaten Chicago’s future economic growth and tax collections.”
Johnson was asked about a quote from the piece during a press conference on Monday and offered a scathing reply.
“Their assertion is just way off base,” he said. “In fact, we just saw the Civic Federation also substantiate what I’ve been saying all along, that there is no empirical evidence that somehow the revenue that we would generate from less than one percent of the largest corporations lead to causing harm within our job growth.”
He went on to argue that the very same Civic Federation that some of his critics rely on actually told the city last year not to pay the full pension amount, and they said that the community safety surcharge he proposed is a legitimate option. He underlined his point, saying that the very group that critical aldermen point to as fiscal experts disagrees with the Post’s argument — and even supports the tools he has been trying to use to stabilize the budget.
He proceeded to argue that despite what critics say, he can point to numerous indicators showing that Chicago’s economy is improving.
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But the above is but one of many other “gimmicks” the city has engaged in this year, the board wrote.
“Other gimmicks include a temporary hiring freeze that will do nothing to address the long-term mismatch between spending and revenue, diverting surplus funds earmarked for economic development of blighted areas into the general fund and the school system (once again sacrificing future growth to fund today’s expenditures), and slashing additional payments the city has been making to shore up the city’s underfunded pensions,” it summarized.
But there reportedly appears to be little democratic consent among the Democratic stronghold, with city aldermen releasing an alternative proposal that, among other things, raises garbage fees.
Johnson, the Post reported, has threatened to veto any budget plan that raises trash collection fees.
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Fox News Digital reached out to Mayor Johnson’s office and did not receive immediate reply.
Bongino considers FBI departure as agents push back against ‘mission-first’ reforms
Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino will make a decision about his future at the bureau within the next few weeks, two sources familiar with his considerations tell Fox News.
The sources deny recent reports that Bongino’s office at the FBI is empty, but they say his departure is a possibility in the near future.
A source familiar with the situation told Fox News Digital that Bongino has not made any decisions about his future.
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Bongino’s tenure at the FBI has come under fire in recent weeks, alongside FBI Director Kash Patel. Earlier this month, a report from an alliance of active-duty and retired FBI personnel portrayed the bureau as directionless under its new leadership.
Bongino and Patel pushed back on the report, however, defending sweeping reforms they say have delivered major gains in accountability and public safety.
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“When the director and I moved forward with these reforms, we expected some noise from the small circle of disgruntled former agents still loyal to the old Comey–Wray model,” Bongino told Fox News at the time.
“That was never our audience. Our responsibility is to the American people. And under the new leadership team, the bureau is delivering results this country hasn’t seen in decades — tighter accountability, tougher performance standards, billions saved and a mission-first culture. That’s how you restore trust.”
New York Post columnist and Fox News contributor Miranda Devine said last week that an internal 115-page report from FBI active-duty and retired agents and analysts heavily criticized Patel and Bongino since they took on their respective jobs earlier this year.
Bongino hit back at the report, saying Devine “loves attacking our reform agenda with gossipy anecdotes from disgruntled former employees because she’s upset that her ‘reporting’ keeps falling apart under scrutiny.”
“You can always count on Miranda for a timed hit piece when the Director and I make big changes,” Bongino wrote on X. “Miranda prefers tbe old-guard. I don’t. Full steam ahead.”
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Pentagon launches full command probe of Sen Mark Kelly amid ‘serious misconduct’ allegations
The Office of the Secretary of War on Monday escalated its preliminary review of Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., to a full command investigation, according to a report.
The investigation into Kelly for “serious allegations of misconduct” has intensified, according to a Pentagon official, first reported by Punchbowl News, with a new probe in conjunction with the Department of War’s Office of the General Counsel.
The department previously announced it had launched a formal review into allegations of misconduct against Kelly over a video calling on service members to “refuse illegal orders.”
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A War Department official confirmed to Fox News Digital that the Office of the Secretary of War is “escalating the preliminary review of Captain Mark Kelly, USN (Ret.), to an official Command Investigation.”
“Retired Captain Kelly is currently under investigation for serious allegations of misconduct,” the official said. “Further official comments will be limited to preserve the integrity of the proceedings.”
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Kelly said in a statement that “it should send a shiver down the spine of every patriotic American that the president and secretary of defense would abuse their power to come after me or anyone this way.”
“It wasn’t enough for Donald Trump to say I should be hanged,” he continued. “It wasn’t enough for Pete Hegseth to threaten me with a court martial. Now they are threatening everything I fought and served for across twenty-five years in the U.S. Navy—all because I repeated something every service member is taught.”
Kelly added that he will “keep doing my job representing Arizona.”
“If Trump and Hegseth think this will stop me from doing what I’ve done every day of my adult life—fighting for this country—then they’ve got the wrong guy. Tomorrow, and the next day, I will keep doing my job representing Arizona.”
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Fox News Digital has reached out Kelly’s office for comment.