MukhammadAziz Umurzokov, 18, was a stellar scholar, quick to finish his class work, and had earned a substantial scholarship to attend Brown University. And yet, his family and a classmate said, he was always willing to help his friends with homework and studying.
His family received confirmation from the university that he was killed in the shooting on Saturday outside a review session on the Brown campus in Providence, R.I., his two sisters, Rukhsora Umurzokova, 22, and Samara Umurzokova, 15, said on Monday. He had been scheduled to return home for the winter break on Thursday.
Speaking at their home in Midlothian, Va., outside Richmond, the sisters described their brother, the middle child, as “gentle” and “extroverted.”
Mr. Umurzokov and his family, naturalized citizens, arrived in the United States in 2011 from Uzbekistan, where the U.S. embassy said it was mourning the loss of a “bright future.” Mr. Umurzokov chose Brown, his sisters said, because the financial aid package they offered would be the least burden on his parents. To get a new laptop, they added, he worked at a Wawa over the summer. A high school friend, Maddox Johnson, said they had moved to the United States so that Mr. Umurzokov could receive specialized care for a medical condition when he was a child. His sisters said the condition was Chiari malformation, a condition where spinal fluid puts pressure on the brain and spinal cord.
Mr. Johnson, 19, said his friend was intent on becoming a neurosurgeon to help children the way doctors once helped him. The two became close beginning in their sophomore year, he said.
He remembered how Mr. Umurzokov was a dedicated student, at one point lobbying administrators at Midlothian High School to provide a tougher physics class after he mastered the highest-level one it offered. (His sisters said he took more than a dozen Advanced Placement classes while at the school.)
Mr. Johnson said that he and Mr. Umurzokov competed in Scholastic Bowl, a trivia-style academic competition, and spent time driving home from practice together. On one of those rides, Mr. Umurzokov turned on a country music song, surprising his friend with a budding interest.
“He just got along with everyone,” Mr. Johnson said, recalling how he would help his peers with calculus. “He was the nicest guy. If you needed help, he’d help.”
When Mr. Johnson and Mr. Umurzokov met up over Thanksgiving break, chatting as they wandered through a Target, Mr. Umurzokov had spoken about the new, supportive friend group he had found at school.
“The last thing I said to him was, ‘I’m sure I’ll see you over winter break — probably at Target,’” Mr. Johnson said. “And unfortunately, that’s never going to happen.”
Eduardo Medina is a Times reporter covering the South. An Alabama native, he is now based in Durham, N.C.
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