The first victim of the deadly school shooting at Brown University has been identified as a sophomore student and vice president of the school’s college Republican club, Ella Cook, according to her Alabama parish and a former classmate.

The news of Cook’s death was shared during a service at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in her hometown of Birmingham.

Cook was one of the church’s parishioners who fostered a deep engagement with the community through her frequent service at the church, a priest said during the Mass.

He described her as a “tremendous bright light” who brought peace and faith to all those around her, according to a livestream shared on the parish’s Facebook.

Cook is survived by her parents and two siblings, he said.

Ella Cook, nạn nhân vụ xả súng tại Đại học Brown.

The coed was the vice president of Brown University’s Republican club, according to former Brown student Alex Shieh, who dropped out of the university last semester.

Cook was one of the only people who dared to associate with him after he came under fire for sending a DOGE-inspired email to thousands of administrators at the school, he said.

“Everyone at Brown who knew Ella, regardless of their politics, found her to be friendly and kind. My thoughts are with Ella’s family. Ella was a promising young leader taken too soon,” Shieh wrote on X.

She was one of two students gunned down during a finals review session at Brown University on Saturday afternoon. The other student has not been publicly identified.

Nine others were injured during the shooting. Kendall Turner, a student from North Carolina, is the only one listed in critical condition, her high school confirmed to WRAL. The other eight have stabilized, and one was discharged.