😱 She was tracking her best friend’s location… praying it was just a dropped phone. Then the unthinkable happened.

A heartbroken Brown University student breaks down in tears, sharing the terrifying moments she feared for her friend Ella Cook during the campus shooting – and now delivers a gut-wrenching tribute to the ‘bright light’ who was taken too soon.

Was this random… or something more sinister? Young conservatives on campus are reeling. You HAVE to watch this emotional interview – it will leave you speechless.

WATCH NOW 👇 (Warning: Tearjerker)

In a raw and emotional interview that has gripped viewers nationwide, Brown University senior Phoebe Peus fought back tears as she recounted the horrifying moments she worried for her close friend Ella Cook during the deadly campus shooting on December 13, 2025, and paid a poignant tribute to the 19-year-old sophomore who was one of two students killed in the attack.

Peus, appearing on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” just days after the tragedy, described Cook as an “outspoken” and “bright light” who welcomed everyone, regardless of whether they’d met before. The two bonded deeply through the small Brown Republican Club, where they were among the few women in the group, and Cook served as vice president.

“It’s just such a devastating loss. I can’t believe that she’s not with us anymore,” Peus said, her voice cracking. “Ella was the type of person that, regardless if you’ve never met her before, she just really, she was just such a bright light. She was extremely welcoming.”

The interview, which quickly went viral, captured the raw grief rippling through the Ivy League campus after a masked gunman stormed the Barus and Holley engineering building during finals week, opening fire in a classroom and killing Cook and 18-year-old freshman Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov while wounding nine others.

Peus revealed she first learned of the active shooter not from official university alerts, but through a private student app called Sidechat and frantic calls from friends. She was just minutes away from the science library when warned to turn back.

Knowing Cook was likely in the area, Peus began tracking her friend’s location on her phone. For hours, it remained frozen in the same spot. “We were all just hoping that she had dropped her phone running out,” Peus said, choking up.

Tragically, that hope was dashed. Cook, a talented sophomore from Mountain Brook, Alabama, studying French and economics, did not survive.

Peus honored her friend’s legacy, vowing to carry on Cook’s outspoken spirit. “Ella really was outspoken, and I just want to live through her in that way and try to make a difference,” she said. “I spoke with our mutual friend, who was also in Brown Republicans, and he just said, we just have to live a purposeful life, for Ella.”

The tribute came as authorities continued a massive manhunt, releasing surveillance images of a person of interest and offering a $50,000 FBI reward. Questions swirled about campus security, communication delays, and potential motives, especially given Cook’s prominent role in the College Republicans on a predominantly liberal campus.

Brown University President Christina Paxson called the victims “brilliant and beloved,” canceling the remainder of fall semester classes and exams to allow the community to grieve. Vigils drew hundreds, with candles lit for Cook and Umurzokov.

Cook’s death hit hard in her Alabama hometown. Her church, the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham, remembered her as an “incredible, grounded, faithful bright light.” Rev. Craig Smalley announced her passing during a service, praising her kindness and faith.

Friends and family described Cook as a gifted pianist fluent in French, a former ice cream shop worker, and a member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority. She was homeward bound for Christmas break when tragedy struck.

Umarzokov, an aspiring neurosurgeon from Uzbekistan who had overcome brain surgery as a child, was remembered as kind and intelligent by his family.

As the investigation intensified, new details emerged. On December 18, police identified 48-year-old Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a Portuguese national and former brief Brown graduate student from 2000-2001, as the suspect. He was found dead in a New Hampshire storage unit from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, with weapons linking him to the shooting.

Ballistics tied one gun to the Brown attack and another to the December 15 killing of MIT professor Nuno Loureiro, a former classmate of Valente’s in Portugal. Authorities said Valente had been spotted suspiciously on campus weeks prior and rented a car used in the crimes.

Motive remains unclear, with investigators probing why Valente targeted the classroom. Some speculated ties to academia or personal grudges, but no manifesto or clear ideology emerged.

The shooting, occurring on the eve of early decision notifications and just before holidays, shattered the Providence campus. Flags flew at half-staff in Alabama and Virginia. Politicians, including Alabama Sens. Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville, mourned Cook, with Tuberville suggesting she may have been targeted for her conservative views.

National College Republicans hailed Cook’s “bold, brave, and kind heart.” White House statements offered condolences.

Criticism mounted over Brown’s alert system and camera coverage in the older engineering building. Students like Peus noted peer apps spread news faster than official channels.

In the aftermath, support poured in. Counseling centers opened, memorials grew, and the community grappled with loss.

Peus’s interview encapsulated the pain: two young lives cut short, futures stolen. “She was so bright she could have done what she wanted,” Peus said of Cook’s potential career in policy or beyond.

As Brown begins healing, Peus’s words resonate: live purposefully, honor the lost. For Cook, described as graceful, positive, and kind, her light endures in tributes like her friend’s.

The tragedy adds to 2025’s grim tally of campus violence, prompting renewed debates on security and mental health. Yet amid sorrow, stories of victims like Cook — faithful, welcoming, outspoken — remind of lives full of promise.

Services for Cook were held in Alabama, drawing mourners. Umurzokov’s family launched fundraisers.

Providence police, FBI, and state officials closed the case with Valente’s death, but questions linger. Why now? Why Brown?

For Peus and countless others, closure comes slowly. “You’ve got an angel in heaven,” host Bill Hemmer told her.

In a season meant for joy, Brown’s community clings to memories of two “brilliant and beloved” students, forever changed.