By Leigh Waldman, Maria Sole Campinoti, and Eric Levenson, CNN
Providence, Rhode Island (CNN) — Just over six years ago, Mia Tretta was shot in the stomach by a student at her high school in Santa Clarita, California.
She survived, but two others were killed that day. After recovering, she returned to the campus to finish her high school career because “being with the people that experienced this with me was the best option,” Tretta told CNN on Monday.
Tretta has now chosen that path again, returning this week to Brown University, the site of a mass shooting last month.
“I mean, I’ve already done this,” Tretta told CNN before the spring semester begins Wednesday. “Six years ago, I had to walk back into a campus that was … missing two students. And now I’m here walking back, and campus is missing two people.”
Tretta was one of a number of Brown students who spoke to CNN to mark the restart of classes, amid ongoing questions about security on campus and how to apportion blame for the shooting that left the campus community anxious and rattled.
“It’s so unfair that everyone on this campus has to come back and they’re scared, and they’re nervous,” Tretta said. “They don’t know what to expect, and I don’t either.”
It’s been a month since a 48-year-old former student opened fire inside a campus engineering building on December 13, killing students Ella Cook and MukhammadAziz Umurzokov and wounding nine others.
The suspected shooter, Claudio Neves Valente, was able to flee the state and two days later fatally shot Nuno Loureiro, an MIT professor and the suspect’s former classmate, according to authorities. Neves Valente was found dead by suicide in a New Hampshire storage unit on December 18.
The suspect admitted to the attacks in a series of short videos authorities recovered from an electronic device, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. Valente did not offer a motive – or apologies – for the attacks in the videos.
Brown has faced tough questions about its security policies – including a lack of surveillance footage of the suspect – in the wake of the attack. The Department of Education announced a probe into whether the Ivy League school violated federal law around safety standards, and the school has instituted enhanced security measures and announced plans for a review of the response to the shooting.
The FBI, too, has faced criticism for failing to catch the suspect in time to prevent further violence. In addition, early in the investigation, the bureau announced it had detained a person of interest in the shooting – only to later absolve the man of wrongdoing. FBI Director Kash Patel praised the FBI, ATF, Justice Department and US attorneys who “did incredible work supporting local authorities in the investigation” and “led the way in critical breakthroughs to identify the suspect.”
Meanwhile, Brown’s students have returned from winter break with mixed emotions. Outside the site of the shooting, dozens of flower bouquets rest on the sidewalk mingled with a sign saying “PVD 
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