Brown University Shooting Leaves Two Dead, Nine Wounded

A shooter in black entered a Brown University classroom during final exams, killing at least two students and wounding nine others. Police are still searching for the suspect.

Incident Overview

The attack began in the Barus & Holley building, a seven-story complex that houses the School of Engineering and the physics department. Engineering design exams were underway when the shooting occurred.

Suspect Description

University President Christina Paxson said 10 people were shot and were students. Another person was injured by fragments, but it was not clear if that victim was a student. The suspect was a man in dark clothing who was last seen leaving the engineering building. Security footage showed him walking away, but his face was not visible. Some witnesses reported that he may have been wearing a camouflage mask.

Investigation and Police Response

Deputy chief Timothy O’Hara said the shooter used a handgun. Investigators do not yet know how he entered the first-floor classroom; outer doors were unlocked, but badge access was required for rooms used for final exams. Police scattered across campus and an affluent neighborhood, searching academic buildings, backyards and porches late into the night. Officers in tactical gear led students out of some campus buildings and into a fitness center.

A person preliminarily thought to be involved was detained but later found to have no involvement, the mayor said.

Official Statements

Democratic Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee said, “The unthinkable has happened,” and vowed that all resources were being deployed to catch the suspect. Mayor Brett Smiley said a shelter-in-place remained in effect and urged people living near the campus to stay inside or not return home until it was lifted. “The Brown community’s heart is breaking, and Providence’s heart is breaking along with it,” Smiley said.

Victim and Survivor Accounts

Nine people with gunshot wounds were taken to Rhode Island Hospital, where one was in critical condition. Kelly Brennan, a spokesperson for the hospital, said six required intensive care but were not getting worse, and two were stable.

Eva Erickson, a doctoral candidate and former “Survivor” finalist, left her lab 15 minutes before the shots rang out. She was locked down in the campus gym and shared that the only other member of her lab present was safely evacuated.

Alex Bruce, a biochemistry student, was working on a final research project in his dorm across the street. He heard sirens and received a text about an active shooter shortly after 4 p.m. “I’m just in here shaking,” he said, watching through the window as officers surrounded his dorm.

Students in a nearby lab hid under desks and turned off the lights after an alert. Chiangheng Chien, a doctoral student in engineering, said he was about a block away from the scene. Mari Camara, a junior from New York City, fled the library and spent more than three hours in a taqueria, texting friends while police searched the campus.

Context and Background

Brown University is the seventh oldest higher-education institution in the U.S. It has roughly 7,300 undergraduates and more than 3,000 graduate students. Tuition, housing and other fees run to nearly $100,000 per year, according to the university. President Donald Trump told reporters he had been briefed and that “all we can do right now is pray for the victims.”

Rhode Island has some of the strictest gun laws in the U.S. Last spring the Democratic-controlled Legislature passed an assault-weapon ban that will prohibit the sale and manufacturing of certain high-powered firearms, but not their possession, starting next July.

Schoenbaum reported from Salt Lake City and Durkin Richer from Washington. Associated Press journalists Mike Balsamo and Seung Min Kim in Washington, Jack Dura in Bismarck, North Dakota, John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, and Martha Bellisle in Seattle contributed.