A standout student remembered as a "bright light" and an aspiring neurosurgeon described as a "gifted" young scholar were the two victims killed in a shooting at Brown University.

Tributes began pouring in for Ella Cook, a second-year student and the vice-president of the school's Republican student organisation, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, a first-year student, during a candlelight vigil held in their honour on Sunday.

A gunman burst onto the campus in Providence, Rhode Island, on Saturday and injured nine students while killing two others who have now been identified.

Here's what we know about the victims.

Ms Cook was described by the New York Times as an accomplished pianist and a standout student who spent her summers as an employee at a local ice cream shop.