Rodney Chatman placed on administrative leave after Brown University shooting

Brown University has placed its police chief on leave after two people were killed and nine others injured in a deadly shooting on campus.

Brown University President Christina H. Paxson announced Monday that Vice President for Public Safety and Emergency Management Rodney Chatman has been placed on administrative leave. His action comes a week after authorities said 48-year-old Claudio Manuel Neves Valente opened fire at the university’s Barus and Holley engineering and physics building on Dec. 13. All five victims are in stable condition at Rhode Island Hospital.

Former Providence Police Department Chief Hugh T. Clements has been appointed to replace Chatman on an interim basis. Paxson’s decision comes as the Department of Education launches an investigation into Brown University for possible violations of the Jeanne Clery Campus Security Act (Clery Act).

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The Clery Act requires colleges to meet certain requirements regarding campus safety and security as a condition of receiving federal student aid.

“Following the horrific deaths of two students at Brown University when an attacker opened fire on a campus building, the Department is launching an investigation into Brown to determine whether it has met its obligation under the law to vigilantly maintain campus security,” Minister of Education Linda McMahon said. he said.

“Students deserve to feel safe at school, and every university in this country must protect its students and be equipped with adequate resources to assist law enforcement,” he added. “The Trump Administration will fight to ensure that recipients of federal funds strongly protect the safety of students and follow the security procedures required by federal law.”

Paxson also announced an “After-Action Review” following the deadly mass shooting and a number of campus security improvements. Improvements include additional security camera coverage that will include the Barus and Holley building.

Paxson became the second-highest-paid Ivy League president in 2023, earning an estimated $3.1 million, according to the most recent data available. His total compensation has increased by more than 700% since 2012, according to data compiled by . Brown Daily Herald.

“As we work to heal and heal, our primary focus is to nurture a thriving campus by engaging in the psychological and social health of all members of our community while demonstrating that Brown is still Brown—a safe, inclusive, caring community of talented students, faculty, and dedicated staff,” Paxson wrote.

At an earlier news conference, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said there were few or no cameras in the area of ​​the building where the attack occurred.

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This composite image, created with photos provided by the FBI and the Providence, Rhode Island, Police Department, shows a person of interest in the shooting that occurred at Brown University on Saturday, December 13, 2025. (FBI/Providence Police Department via AP)

“So there is the back part of the building, the old part, and the front part, the new part,” Neronha told reporters. “The shooting takes place in the old part towards the back… and in the old part of the building, I think there are fewer cameras in that area because it’s an older building.”

Additional details about the shooting have since emerged:

– A Brown University official said he saw the suspected gunman nearly a dozen times since November.

– Brown University appointed former U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island Zachary Cunha as it prepares for possible lawsuits.

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A law enforcement officer walks past clothing items on the sidewalk near the entrance of Brown University during a shooting investigation on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. (Steven Senne/AP Photo)

Chatman placed on leave following a report Boston GlobeLisi, who met with guard Derek Lisi, said he saw the alleged attacker at Barus and Holley weeks before the shooting and notified a security guard.

Lisi recalled thinking when she saw the man before leaving for vacation on December 1: “I said, ‘There’s something wrong with this guy, so I have to say something.'” “I said to my friend, ‘I hope this isn’t the guy I’m seeing. I hope he isn’t.'”

A Brown University spokesman said it was working with outside consultants on some issues.

“Brown regularly works with outside counsel whose expertise complements that of the University’s Office of General Counsel. In this case, we retained former U.S. Attorney for the District of Rhode Island, Zachary Cunha, to assist the University in coordinating with federal, state and local law enforcement,” a spokesperson for Brown said.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Brown University for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report.