Brown University faces US investigation over security after deadly shooting
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WASHINGTON – The Trump administration will investigate Brown University after the shooting rampage in December that killed two students
“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,” US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement on Dec 22.
The Education Department’s Office of Federal Student Aid will review whether Brown violated the Clery Act, a 1990 law that requires colleges to uphold certain safety and security standards.
If a school is found to have violated the Act, it could be subject to fines or suspended from accessing federal aid.
Ms McMahon’s department said that reporting in the wake of the incident showed that Brown’s surveillance and security systems may not have met adequate standards, allowing the suspect to escape.
It added that Brown students and staff reported that emergency notifications about the active shooter were delayed.
Brown University president Christina Paxson on the evening of Dec 22 announced immediate steps that the university will take to address campus security, including installing more cameras and “panic alarms”.
The school is also commissioning external reviews of its handling of campus safety before, during and after the shooting as well as its security protocols more broadly, she said.
The university is placing its vice-president for public safety and emergency management, Mr Rodney Chatman, on administrative leave effective immediately, Ms Paxson revealed.
Mr Hugh Clements, a former police chief of Providence, will lead public safety at the school on an interim basis.
Brown representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Department of Education investigation. Ms Paxson announced the moves in a note to students, faculty and staff.
The body of the suspected shooter, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, was found after a multi-day manhunt in a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire.
The police say Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national who attended Brown as a student
