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An aspiring neurosurgeon and a student leader of Brown University’s campus Republicans were in a study group preparing for an economics final as the end of the semester neared.
But the life of Muhammadaziz Umarzokov and Ella Cook cut on saturday when a gunman fired shots inside a classroom In the engineering building. Nine others were injured before the gunman fled. Investigators were still searching for him on Monday.
As the questions wandered Regarding the gunman’s intentions and how he managed to escape after the attack, relatives and friends of Umurzokov, an 18-year-old freshman from Brandermill, Virginia, and Cook, a 19-year-old sophomore from a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, tried to make sense of the loss.
Umurzokov decided at an early age that he wanted to pursue a career in medicine.
He made up his mind after suffering from a neurological condition that required him to undergo surgery as a child and wear a back brace due to scoliosis. With a double-major in biochemistry and neuroscience, he hoped to go to medical school.
“He had a lot of hardships in his life, and he got into this amazing school and he worked hard to fulfill the promise he had when he was 7 years old,” his sister Samira Umurzokova told The Associated Press by phone on Monday.
Umurzokov was helping a friend in an economics final review session when someone walked into the classroom and opened fire.
“It’s absolutely unfair that all of that was taken away from her in one second because of someone,” Umurzokova said.
She took it upon herself to help students who had just immigrated to the United States and were not fully familiar with the culture and language, said Umurzokova, whose family came to the country from Uzbekistan when she, her brother and sister were very young.
He said he might have been using his phone at the dinner table and when his parents asked him to put it away, he said, “No, I’m helping my friend with calculus homework.”
When he wasn’t busy with school work, he played video games with friends and hung out at the bookstore with his family. She had plans to show her sisters the movie “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” which releases Friday.
“He was a thoughtful person,” Umurzokova said. “He always tried to include everyone in everything. And always thought about other people before he thought about himself.”
Cook, of Mountain Brook, Alabama, was beloved in her Birmingham church and was vice president of the Brown College Republicans.
While announcing his death at the Cathedral Church of the Advent congregation on Sunday, Rev. R. Craig Smalley described her as “an incredibly down-to-earth, loyal, bright light” who encouraged and “lifted up those around her.”
“The light shines in the darkness,” he told the congregation, urging members to love and pray for his parents.
Members of the Brown College Republicans are “devastated,” club president Martin Bertao said in a statement. post on x,
“Ella was known for her bold, courageous and kind heart as she served her chapter and her fellow classmates,” Bertao said.
Cook’s relatives did not immediately respond to emails and phone messages seeking comment.
Brown President Christina Paxson said that as of Sunday, only one of the nine injured had been released. One was in critical condition and the other seven were in critical but stable condition.
Durham Academy, a private K-12 school in Durham, North Carolina, confirmed that recent graduate Kendall Turner has been seriously injured. The school said his parents were with him.
“Our school community stands united with Kendall, her classmates, and her loved ones, and we will continue to offer our full support in the days ahead,” the school said in a statement.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without any modifications to the text.
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