Central Florida family says they were on campus the day of Brown University shooting
TONIGHT OF A PERSON OF INTEREST IN THE SHOOTING AT BROWN UNIVERSITY OVER THE WEEKEND. AND HERE YOU CAN SEE THERE IS A PICTURE OF A MAN IN A MASK AND A BEANIE. POLICE BELIEVE THAT HE MAY HAVE BEEN IN THE AREA FOR HOURS BEFORE THE SHOOTING. THAT CLAIMED THE LIVES OF TWO STUDENTS AND INJURED NINE MORE. THIS HAPPENED AS ONE LOCAL FAMILY WAS ON CAMPUS. WESH 2’S HAYLEY CROMBLEHOLME IS LIVE AFTER SPEAKING EXCLUSIVELY WITH THE FATHER TONIGHT AND HAYLEY. THEY WERE JUST VISITING THE SCHOOL. YEAH THAT’S RIGHT. SO THE WHOLE MILLER FAMILY WAS THERE. TWO OF THE SONS, THEIR LAKE HIGHLAND GRADUATES, THEY WERE ACTUALLY STUDENTS AT BROWN THIS SEMESTER, AND THEIR OTHER SON, WHO’S A STUDENT AT EDGEWATER. HE WAS THERE WITH HIS PARENTS, MAKING AN OFFICIAL VISIT. NOW THE WHOLE FAMILY, THEY’RE OKAY, BUT AT LEAST ONE OF THE SONS KNEW SOMEONE WHO WAS HURT. AND IT WAS ALMOST LIKE YOU DIDN’T KNOW WHAT WAS HAPPENING. SAMUEL MILLER SAID. HE WAS ON CAMPUS AT BROWN UNIVERSITY THE DAY A SHOOTER KILLED TWO STUDENTS ON CAMPUS AND INJURED NINE OTHERS. YOU NEVER, EVER. YOU CAN’T SIMULATE PUTTING YOURSELF IN THAT SITUATION. MILLER AND HIS WIFE WERE THERE WITH THEIR THREE SONS, SON, SAMUEL AND SOLOMON WERE LAKE HIGHLAND GRADUATES. ONE GRADUATED FROM BROWN THIS MONTH. THE OTHER IS SET TO GRADUATE IN MAY, AND THEIR LITTLE BROTHER SAPHIR, A SENIOR AT EDGEWATER, IS COMMITTED TO BROWN FOR NEXT FALL TO JOIN THE FOOTBALL TEAM. LIKE HIS BROTHERS, THE FAMILY WAS ALL ON CAMPUS FOR SEVIER’S OFFICIAL VISIT, MILLER SAID. WHEN THE FAMILY WAS IN THE ATHLETIC CENTER, THEY FOUND OUT SOMETHING WAS TERRIBLY WRONG. EVERYBODY’S PHONES BLEW UP AND, YOU KNOW, THE COACHES DID A REALLY GREAT JOB OF CORRALLING EVERYBODY AND MAKING SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, NOBODY LEFT THE BUILDING, LIKE KIND OF FREEZE IN PLACE TYPE THING AND THEN ANNOUNCED THAT THEY WERE, YOU KNOW, WE WERE IN AN ACTIVE SHOOTER SITUATION, MILLER SAID. EVERYONE WAS TAKEN TO A CENTRAL LOCATION INSIDE, AND THEY DIDN’T LEAVE THE BUILDING FOR ABOUT FIVE HOURS AFTER THE SHOOTING. IT’S SOMETHING PEOPLE HOPE NEVER TO EXPERIENCE. BUT HE WAS GRATEFUL HE COULD BE WITH HIS KIDS. I CANNOT IMAGINE HAVING BEEN A PARENT AND WATCHING THE NEWS AND HAVING MY CHILDREN IN THAT ENVIRONMENT AND NOT KNOWING, YOU KNOW, WHERE THEY ARE, IF THEY’RE OKAY, WHAT’S GOING ON WITH THEM? HE DOESN’T THINK HE SLEPT THAT NIGHT. I’M SO HAPPY THAT MY KIDS ARE OKAY. AND IT WAS MORE LIKE THAT KIND OF OVERWHELMING EMOTION THAT, YOU KNOW, AND THEN THEN THE OTHER EMOTION OF MY GOD, LIKE THE KIDS THAT THAT DIDN’T MAKE IT HOME. AND THEN THE, THE SHEER, YOU KNOW, THE TRANSITION OF, OF EMOTION TO ANGER THAT THIS COWARDLY ACT HAS TAKEN PLACE. HIS SONS ARE ALL HOME NOW. AND HE SAID THEY’RE STILL PROCESSING WHAT HAPPENED. ONE OF THEM SET TO RETURN TO CAMPUS NEXT SEMESTER TO SAY THAT HE’S UNAFFECTED. I DON’T THINK THAT THAT’S A REALITY. I THINK THAT HE’S FOREVER AFFECTED, AND I THINK THAT IT’S GOING TO CHANGE THE WAY HE OPERATES IN PUBLIC SPACES FOREVER. I THINK IT’S THE SAME WITH SAMUEL. AND AND I THINK THAT’S AN EYE OPENER FOR HER GOING INTO IT. NOW, UNDERSTANDABLY, THE FAMILY RETURNED TO CENTRAL FLORIDA EARLY, AND AT THIS POINT, LOCAL AND FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ARE STILL LOOKING FOR THE PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS SHOOTING
Central Florida family says they were on campus the day of Brown University shooting
Updated: 10:17 PM EST Dec 16, 2025
A Central Florida family tells WESH 2 they were on campus at Brown University when a shooting claimed the lives of two students and injured nine others. “It was almost like you didn’t know what was happening,” said Samuel Miller, who lives in Dr. Phillips. “You never ever… you can’t simulate putting yourself in that situation…” he said. Miller and his wife were at Brown with their three sons. Sons Samuel and Solomon were Lake Highland graduates. One graduated from Brown this month, the other is set to graduate in May. And their brother Saphir, a senior at Edgewater, has committed to Brown for next fall to join the football team like his brothers. The family was all on campus for Saphir’s official visit. Miller said when the family was in the athletic center, they found out something was terribly wrong. “Everybody’s phones blew up,” Miller said. “The coaches did a really great job of corralling everybody and making sure that you know nobody left the building, like kind of freeze in place type thing and announced that they were, you know, we were in an active shooter situation.”Miller said everyone was taken to a central location inside. They didn’t leave the building for about five hours after the shooting. It’s something people hope never to experience. But he was grateful he could be with his kids. “I cannot imagine having been a parent and watching the news and having my children in that environment and not knowing you know where they are, if they’re okay, what’s going on with them…,” Miller said. He doesn’t think he slept that night. “I am so happy that my kids are okay, and it was more like that kind of overwhelming emotion… and then the other emotion of my god, the kids that didn’t make it home. And the sheer, the transition of emotion to anger that this cowardly act has taken place…” Miller said. His sons are all home now, and he said they’re still processing what happened. One of them set to return to campus next semester. “To say that he is unaffected, I don’t think that’s the reality,” Miller said. “I think that he is forever affected, and I think it’s going to change the way he operates in public spaces forever. I think it’s the same with Samuel, and I think that’s an eye opener for Saphir going into it.”
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. —
A Central Florida family tells WESH 2 they were on campus at Brown University when a shooting claimed the lives of two students and injured nine others.
“It was almost like you didn’t know what was happening,” said Samuel Miller, who lives in Dr. Phillips.
“You never ever… you can’t simulate putting yourself in that situation…” he said.
Miller and his wife were at Brown with their three sons. Sons Samuel and Solomon were Lake Highland graduates. One graduated from Brown this month, the other is set to graduate in May. And their brother Saphir, a senior at Edgewater, has committed to Brown for next fall to join the football team like his brothers.
The family was all on campus for Saphir’s official visit. Miller said when the family was in the athletic center, they found out something was terribly wrong.
“Everybody’s phones blew up,” Miller said. “The coaches did a really great job of corralling everybody and making sure that you know nobody left the building, like kind of freeze in place type thing and announced that they were, you know, we were in an active shooter situation.”
Miller said everyone was taken to a central location inside. They didn’t leave the building for about five hours after the shooting. It’s something people hope never to experience. But he was grateful he could be with his kids.
“I cannot imagine having been a parent and watching the news and having my children in that environment and not knowing you know where they are, if they’re okay, what’s going on with them…,” Miller said.
He doesn’t think he slept that night.
“I am so happy that my kids are okay, and it was more like that kind of overwhelming emotion… and then the other emotion of my god, the kids that didn’t make it home. And the sheer, the transition of emotion to anger that this cowardly act has taken place…” Miller said.
His sons are all home now, and he said they’re still processing what happened. One of them set to return to campus next semester.
“To say that he is unaffected, I don’t think that’s the reality,” Miller said. “I think that he is forever affected, and I think it’s going to change the way he operates in public spaces forever. I think it’s the same with Samuel, and I think that’s an eye opener for Saphir going into it.”