How one Maryland student is dealing with being at Brown University during the deadly shooting

A gunman shot and killed two students and wounded nine others at Brown University’s School of Engineering in Providence, Rhode Island, on Dec. 13.

This shooting highlights the issue of gun violence that is affecting students across the U.S.

“I don’t think entering Brown anyone could have possibly expected this. I don’t think anyone does expect this to happen at their school until it does happen,” Teo Miranda-Moreno, of Ellicott City, Maryland, told WTOP.

Miranda-Moreno is a freshman at Brown University and was in the school library when the gunfire began and was kept under lockdown for seven hours.

He knew one of the two students — Muhammad Aziz Umurzokov and Ella Cook — that were shot and killed by a gunman, who was later found dead.

“I was robbed of ever getting the chance to get a closer bond with Muhammad, ever getting the chance to meet Ella,” Miranda-Moreno said. “As a community, we were robbed of these two beautiful people who were friends with anyone they met.”

As a student now associated with a school shooting, he’s been impacted in such a way that he doesn’t know if he can ever fully heal. Even though he appreciates the university for supporting the students during this horrific situation, Miranda-Moreno wants to add his voice to those calling for some action to stop gun violence.

“We have to sit down and work together to try to stop these firearms from being put out into our communities,” he said.

WTOP’s Matt Small contributed to this report. 

Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

© 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

Sandy Kozel

Sandy Kozel is an anchor at WTOP. She came to WTOP after a long career as an anchor/correspondent with the Associated Press. She also worked in local radio in the Cleveland area — and in Buffalo, where she was an award-winning anchor and reporter with WGR Radio and entertainment reporter at WGRZ-TV.

Federal News Network Logo
Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.

Sign up