TARGET 12: A veteran deputy sheriff charged with second-degree sexual assault and simple assault is accused of committing the alleged acts inside a Providence courthouse. www.wpri.com/target-12/po... @wpri12.bsky.social

As RI colleges and universities are evaluating campus security after the deadly Dec. 13 shooting at Brown University, Rep. William O’Brien has once again filed legislation that would require state colleges to have armed police officers on campus. www.wpri.com/target-12/af... @wpri12.bsky.social

BREAKING: $14.9 billion @govdanmckee.bsky.social budget is out • 3% surtax on millionaires • WSJ ed board unhappy • Trump blamed for HR1 costs • Climate rollback saves $1B • Tax cuts for seniors, parents • $600M in bond Qs 2,000+ words, at your service > www.wpri.com/news/politic...

NEW: A Taunton-based soccer gear retailer will temporarily open up shop at Waterplace Pavilion, which has been vacant for over a year. Meanwhile, two upscale restaurant groups are still vying for a long-term lease. www.wpri.com/business-new... @wpri12.bsky.social

NEW: Mayor Brett Smiley said the city will hire an outside consultant to review the city’s response to the Dec. 13 shooting at Brown. Full story here + live report at 5 & 6 on @wpri12.bsky.social www.wpri.com/target-12/sm...

BREAKING: A Superior Court judge has thrown out an administrative panel’s decision to reinstate Providence police sergeant Joseph Hanley. The decision means this long-running case will continue to drag on. www.wpri.com/news/judge-r...

NEW: Colleges and universities are in talks with the Providence Police Department to allow campus video feeds to be used by Real-Time Crime Center. Only one school, Johnson and Wales, had signed an agreement prior to the Brown University attack. www.wpri.com/target-12/co...

RI health insurance officials said enrollment in the state’s health exchange HealthSource RI is down, and thousands still haven’t made payments to renew their coverage ahead of the Jan. 31 open-enrollment deadline. www.wpri.com/target-12/he... @wpri12.bsky.social

UPDATE: Days after Target 12 reported on the arrest of RI deputy sheriff Winston Cruz, we learned the 59 year-old resigned from his job. Updated story👇 www.wpri.com/target-12/ve... @wpri12.bsky.social

NEW: RISP confirms Winston Cruz, the RI deputy sheriff charged with second-degree sexual assault and simple assault, resigned effective on Jan. 6. Previous reporting: www.wpri.com/target-12/ve... @wpri12.bsky.social

TARGET 12: RISP & 15 police departments from across RI provided mutual aid to Providence police in response to the 12/13 shooting at Brown and the manhunt that followed. A Target 12 analysis found overtime for all agencies totaled more than $646K. www.wpri.com/target-12/an... @wpri12.bsky.social

NEW: Improving Providence’s financial health, addressing the housing crisis, and once again, attempting to end the state takeover of Providence schools by summer are among Mayor Brett Smiley’s legislative priorities for 2026. www.wpri.com/news/local-n... @wpri12.bsky.social

Phone and PA system outages at four district schools last year prompted the Providence Public School Department to seek a contract for additional technical support. www.wpri.com/news/local-n... @wpri12.bsky.social

BREAKING: The Brown University gunman recorded videos documenting his state of mind and motivation for the shooting, according to transcripts just released by the Massachusetts US attorney's office We will update this story as we go through the transcript www.wpri.com/top-stories/...

UPDATE: The RI K-12 Council gave preliminary approval to De La Comunidad Bilingual Charter School, but did NOT approve an application for New England Tech Academy Charter School. @wpri12.bsky.social

Tonight, the RI Council on Elementary and Secondary Education will vote to approve opening two new charter schools and expanding seats at a third school. Gov. Dan McKee declined to say if the Council should vote one way or the other. MORE: www.wpri.com/news/new-exp... @wpri12.bsky.social

TARGET 12: A veteran Rhode Island deputy sheriff is on paid administrative leave after being charged with second-degree sexual assault and simple assault. www.wpri.com/news/veteran... @wpri12.bsky.social

21 community learning centers are expected to be fully operational across Rhode Island by the end of this year. I sat down with Gov. Dan McKee to talk about the nearly $82 million investment. www.wpri.com/target-12/mc... @wpri12.bsky.social

NEW: A grand jury handed up an indictment charging a 16-year-old with first-degree murder and other new charges related to the death of a Providence teenager last February. www.wpri.com/target-12/16... @wpri12.bsky.social

As we published, Brown responded in the form of a press release to say that it will conduct an after-action review of the Dec. 13, plus that an an external assessment of the campus and surrounding area will be initiated. W/ @elisherman.bsky.social: www.wpri.com/news/trump-a... @wpri12.bsky.social

NEW: Mayor Brett Smiley is asking the FBI to give the man only identified as “John” the entirety of the $50,000 reward money for his help in leading law enforcement to the Brown gunman. www.wpri.com/news/local-n... @wpri12.bsky.social

NEW: I sat down with Mayor Brett Smiley, who reflected on the city’s response to last Saturday's shooting at Brown. www.wpri.com/top-stories/... @wpri12.bsky.social

I spoke one-on-one with Providence Mayor Brett Smiley about the manhunt for the Brown University shooting suspect. Hear more from my interview coming up on @wpri12.bsky.social at 6. www.wpri.com/target-12/su...

ICYMI: I interviewed PPD Col. Oscar Perez after police announced the Brown U shooting suspect was dead. He left Brown in 2001. I asked Perez, why now? www.wpri.com/target-12/su... @wpri12.bsky.social

A press conference in Providence is imminent. I am standing by. We will take it live on air. www.wpri.com/news/local-n...

SOON: 9:15 presser. Possible 9:30. The room is buzzing. www.wpri.com/news/local-n... @wpri12.bsky.social

UPDATE: Josh Estrella, the city’s director of communications, came into the briefing room at 6:35 pm to tell us that there will be a briefing, but we don’t know what time yet. We will get 20 minute heads up. We are standing by. www.wpri.com/news/local-n... @wpri12.bsky.social

Speakers/people expected at tonight’s briefing, per the tape near the podium: PPD Col. Oscar Perez, RI AG Peter Neronha, FBI, ATF, Mayor Brett Smiley, Gov. Dan McKee and Brown U President Christina Paxson. No time announced yet. www.wpri.com/news/local-n... @wpri12.bsky.social

We are still waiting. www.wpri.com/news/local-n... @wpri12.bsky.social

A police spox just announced in the briefing room that there will be”press availability at some point this evening,” but it will not be 4 p.m. We are standing by. www.wpri.com/news/local-n... @wpri12.bsky.social

I’ve been at Providence PD all week, where though the lobby is business as usual, law enforcement have been walking in and out for days. Investigators have been working out of a command center on the third floor. Investigation still very active. www.wpri.com/news/local-n... @wpri12.bsky.social

HOUR 96: Media are ready for a 4 p.m. briefing on Day 5 of the manhunt for the Brown U shooter. New today, an enhanced image of a person spotted near the POI. Plus, police have a map where they want home video from. Airing live on @wpri12.bsky.social and online. www.wpri.com/news/local-n...

NEW: PPSD preliminary data shows an 80% attendance rate for Monday 12/15, per spox. For 2024, the official RIDE dashboard shows an 88% attendance rate on the Monday before holiday break.  www.wpri.com/news/local-n... @wpri12.bsky.social

Today’s press conference will happen at 4 pm, a city spox confirms. Media members were told to leave the briefing room while they test something on the projector. www.wpri.com/news/local-n... @wpri12.bsky.social

We’re about an hour away from today’s briefing. @wpri12.bsky.social will carry it on air and online. www.wpri.com/news/local-n...

12/16 UPDATE: A city spokesperson tells me the city will hold its first briefing of the day at 5 p.m. www.wpri.com/news/local-n... @wpri12.bsky.social

Brown U Pres. Paxson just formally identified the 2 students that died in Saturday's shooting. "Before releasing their names, it was important that we give their families some space to grieve, but now it is important that we never forget them." www.wpri.com/news/local-n... @wpri12.bsky.social

NOW: I am in place for today's first briefing on the Brown U shooter. A person of interest was released less than 24 hours ago and the federal, state and local agents have been searching for evidence and chasing down tips all day. www.wpri.com/news/local-n... @wpri12.bsky.social

NEW: Providence Police are expected to release additional video related to the Brown U shooting today, a spox confirms. Staff are setting up a screen in the briefing room in preparation. Briefing expected at 5 p.m. www.wpri.com/news/local-n... @wpri12.bsky.social

WATCH: @magaziner.house.gov tells @wpri12.bsky.social (while he is donating blood) that the @ribloodcenter.bsky.social is still in need of donations. Of significance, he said the director there said yesterday was possibly the busiest day for donations since 9/11. www.wpri.com/news/local-n...

GOOD NEWS: Rhode Island Blood Center tells me there were nearly **700** booked appointments made Sunday, compared to an average of 75. Donations are still encouraged. www.wpri.com/news/local-n... @wpri12.bsky.social

Neronha: “We have a murderer out there… we’re not going to give away the game plan.” www.wpri.com/news/local-n... @wpri12.bsky.social

Neronha asked if the person of interest is cleared from the investigation entirely. “There is no basis to consider him a person of interest," he said. www.wpri.com/news/local-n... @wpri12.bsky.social

Smiley adds that there will be regular briefings, but unclear on the exact frequency of those. www.wpri.com/news/local-n... @wpri12.bsky.social

Mayor Brett Smiley: “when we lifted the shelter in place earlier it was because we felt it was an appropriate time to do so.” He said POI in custody was not the reason it was lifted, but because “we have not received a single additional threat.” www.wpri.com/news/local-n... @wpri12.bsky.social

Mayor Brett Smiley says the video from yesterday is the “most useful that we have at this time.” www.wpri.com/news/local-n... @wpri12.bsky.social

Neronha: “Some of that lab testing can take an entire day… Here they came back negative.” www.wpri.com/news/local-n... @wpri12.bsky.social

Providence Mayor Brett Smiley asked if police know if the shooter is still in the community. “We have no way of knowing," Smiley said. www.wpri.com/news/local-n... @wpri12.bsky.social

PPD Col. Oscar Perez: “This was a very complex investigation and it still is.” www.wpri.com/news/local-n... @wpri12.bsky.social

RI Attorney General Peter Neronha: "It was really unfortunate that this person’s name was leaked to the public. It’s hard to put that back into he bottle." Person of interest is released. Evidence took investigators in a different direction. www.wpri.com/news/local-n... @wpri12.bsky.social