Last Saturday, a masked gunman opened fire on a group of Brown University students who were studying for their final exams. Two students were murdered, while nine others were wounded (including several with critical injuries). Following a campuswide lockdown, Brown cancelled its remaining fall classes and sent students home. The shooter remains at large at the time of writing, though images of the suspect have been released. A manhunt is underway as media outlets are raising concerns about Brown’s campus security.
The two murder victims are now identified as Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov and Ella Cook. Umurzokov was a freshman from Uzbekistan who was majoring in biochemistry and neuroscience. Ella Cook was a sophomore from Birmingham, Ala., who was studying French and math. Unfortunately, murder has dominated the news cycle in recent days. The Brown shooting occurred the same weekend as the horrific mass murder of 15 Jews in Australia by Islamic terrorists.
Most of the media’s attention has focused on Ella Cook, who was vice president of Brown’s chapter of the College Republicans. Brown was founded in 1764 by Baptists in Providence, R.I. Today, like the other Ivy League universities, Brown is a bastion of progressive ideology, so openly conservative students are uncommon. For this reason, some on social media have speculated that Cook was targeted, though at present there is no evidence to support that theory.
While the potential political dynamics of Ella Cook’s murder may well prove newsworthy, the most important thing about this young woman was her faith in Christ. Cook was a member of the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham, Ala. The Rev. Craig Smalley, the church’s rector, announced her death to the congregation on Sunday. His comments were reported by local news outlets.
Click Here to Read More (Originally Published at World Magazine)