By Curt Devine, John Miller, Evan Perez, Allison Gordon and Yahya Abou-Ghazala, CNN
Brown University Photo: SCOTT EISEN/AFP
Saying the "evidence now points in a different direction," law enforcement officials have released a man they had detained in connection with the Brown University shooting, which left two dead and nine injured.
"This is what these investigations look like," said Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha at a news conference. "Sometimes you head in one direction and then you have to regroup and go in another and that's exactly what has happened over the last 24 hours or so."
Neronha said "there was a quantum of evidence which justified detaining this person as a person of interest".
"That evidence needed to be corroborated and confirmed," Neronha said. "That evidence now points in a different direction. So what that means is that this person of interest needs to be and should be released."
Law enforcement sources had earlier Sunday (local time) identified Benjamin Erickson as a person of interest. Erickson is a decorated soldier who served in a position at Arlington National Cemetery, according to his LinkedIn profile. Officials never publicly identified the man they detained.
Erickson, a 24-year-old Wisconsin native, served as an infantry soldier in the US Army, where he passed sniper training, had experience with firearms instruction and had served as a rifleman between 2021 and 2024, according to the profile.
Erickson also received a good conduct medal, participated in "security duties" near the president and assisted with funeral ceremonies at Arlington, the profile stated.
The LinkedIn page stated he planned to continue his college education at Brown University in the fall 2025 semester.
A spokesperson for the US Army said Erickson had no deployments and left last year with the rank of specialist. Brown University did not immediately respond to questions about Erickson's record.
Authorities said the person of interest was not a current student at Brown, but law enforcement sources indicated to CNN that he might have been recently enrolled.
Erickson took online classes with a focus on psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee after graduating from high school in July 2020, and then transferred to Brown for this fall semester after his military service ended, according to the profile, which noted a variety of interests including animal welfare, veteran support and helping the poor.
The profile further noted that he had interned as a carpenter and helped out at a horse rescue centre.
A staff member at the rescue, the Gentle Giants Draft Horse Rescue in Maryland, told CNN that Erickson was part of an Army unit that learned horse handling techniques at the rescue center between 2023 and 2024. Erickson was training with the Caisson Detachment of the US Army's 3rd US Infantry Regiment, the staff member said - a unit that provides escorts for military and state funerals.
A high school yearbook included a photo of Erickson on his school's wrestling team. A profile on X that appeared to belong to Erickson posted in 2016 and 2017 about wrestling, music and political satire.
One of Erickson's former high school classmates, Bryce Jankowski, said he recently exchanged texts with Erickson, who said he was studying at Brown.
"He said he was doing good," Jankowski said. "He said he was living at a hotel because his apartment flooded," though he said that did not seem to bother him.
Jankowski described Erickson as a well-behaved, smart individual. He did not recall Erickson making any concerning statements, harbouring extremist views or having any behavioural challenges. "He was wicked smart."
After high school, he said Erickson had told him that he was in sniper school with the US military.
A former wrestling teammate from high school, who asked not to be quoted by name, described Erickson as a "pretty nice guy, he was quiet… he becomes really outgoing when you get to know him, but he's pretty quiet when you don't".
On Sunday afternoon, CNN observed the FBI at a Wisconsin home owned by Erickson's family.
A search of court databases showed no clear criminal history for Erickson aside from a 2023 case in which he was cited for driving on a sidewalk, a charge that was dismissed.
-CNN
