Tip that Jussie Smollett Was in Elevator with 2 Brothers on Night of Alleged Attack Was 'Unfounded': Police

Update: After questioning the person who provided a tip that Jussie Smollett was spotted in the elevator of his apartment building with two brothers who were later questioned in the case, Chicago Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the tip was “unfounded,” writing on Twitter late Tuesday: “CPD has confirmed that a tip this morning about a sighting at the residential towers of individuals involved in this alleged incident is unfounded as it was not supported by video evidence obtained by detectives.”

Police are investigating a tip by someone claiming Empire actor Jussie Smollett was in the elevator of his apartment building with two brothers who were later arrested and questioned in the case, only to be released without charges hours later.

The brothers, Ola and Abel Osundairo, are the same people as those identified in surveillance footage on the night of the incident.

On Tuesday, Chicago Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told the Associated Press that a person who lives in Smollett’s building or was visiting someone there reported seeing the three together the night that Smollett says two masked men hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him, beat him and looped a rope around his neck.

“We sent detectives out to validate the tip,” Guglielmi tells PEOPLE.

The brothers were arrested Wednesday but released Friday without charges after Guglielmi said investigators received “new evidence.”

On Saturday, multiple outlets reported that the brothers claimed that the Empire star paid them to stage the incident.

In a Saturday statement to the Associated Press, Guglielmi said, “We can confirm that the information received from the individuals questioned by police earlier in the Empire case has in fact shifted the trajectory of the investigation.”

He added, “We’ve reached out to the Empire cast member’s attorney to request a follow-up interview.”

RELATED: Empire Star Jussie Smollett’s Apparent Hate Crime: Everything We Know

An attorney for the men, Gloria Schmidt, previously told CBS Chicago that the men know Smollett from working on Empire and go to the same gym on occasion.

Schmidt did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment

On Saturday, Smollett’s lawyers responded to the rumors that the alleged attack was staged.

“As a victim of a hate crime who has cooperated with the police investigation, Jussie Smollett is angered and devastated by recent reports that the perpetrators are individuals he is familiar with,” the lawyers said in a statement. “He has now been further victimized by claims attributed to these alleged perpetrators that Jussie played a role in his own attack. Nothing is further from the truth and anyone claiming otherwise is lying.”

“One of these purported suspects was Jussie’s personal trainer who he hired to ready him physically for a music video,” the statement continued. “It is impossible to believe that this person could have played a role in the crime against Jussie or would falsely claim Jussie’s complicity.”

A representative for Smollett has yet to respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.