Brown University shooting leaves at least 2 dead, 9 wounded; suspect at large

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A shooting on the campus of Brown University left at least two people dead and nine more wounded on Saturday afternoon, according to authorities, as police searched for a male suspect who is still at large.

Manhunt continues after shooting in Barus & Holley

The incident was reported in the Barus & Holley engineering building a little after 4 p.m.
local time.
Providence Deputy Police Chief Tim O’Hara told reporters the shooting happened in a first-floor classroom.
Final exams were reportedly taking place in the building when it occurred, and the school said that at the time of the shooting, students were in the area.

Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said during a news conference that eight of the wounded were taken to Rhode Island Hospital in critical condition.
The hospital later said, in a statement, that six of those patients were in “critical but stable condition,” one was in critical condition, and another was in stable condition.
In a follow-up news conference late Saturday night, Smiley said a ninth victim suffered non-life-threatening injuries after “learned that they had received fragments from a shooting that had occurred near them.” That victim did not sustain a gunshot wound and was expected to make a full recovery, Smiley said.

Brown University President Christina H.
Paxson told reporters in the second briefing that all the victims—those killed and wounded—were students.
Smiley also said no arrests had been made and that a shelter-in-place was in effect for the Brown University area.
The university alert instructed students to lock doors, silence phones and stay hidden until further notice.

One detail that stuck with people on scene: the heavy, almost metallic smell of exhaust and street runoff mixed with the sharp sound of radios crackling—like everyone was trying to listen harder than they needed to.
Officers remained on the grounds as investigators worked, and the atmosphere around nearby streets felt tense in a way that didn’t quite settle down.

Security video released as police say no weapon recovered

O’Hara said the male suspect escaped from the engineering building following the shooting.
Officials said it was unclear how he entered, but Smiley noted the outer doors of Barus & Holley were unlocked because exams were in progress.
“In a building like that on a weekend, there are a lot of things going on,” Brown Provost Francis Doyle said.
“Study sessions, student groups meeting, there are research labs in that building.
So we don’t have detailed knowledge of exactly what was happening, but we’re working with law enforcement.”

Later Saturday night, Providence police released security video they believe shows the suspect fleeing the scene.
Smiley said investigators do not yet know if the gunman was a student.
In the video, the suspect was wearing dark gray or black clothing and his face was not visible, O’Hara said during the second news conference.
The video does not show a firearm, and no weapon has been recovered.

O’Hara also said some witnesses told investigators the suspect may have been wearing a camouflage gray mask, though officials were unsure if there is additional video showing him inside Barus & Holley.
Confusion seemed to hover around the investigation early on: school public safety initially reported that a suspect had been taken into custody before retracting that statement.
Smiley said there had been “an individual who was preliminary thought to be involved, but was later determined to have no involvement.”

Smiley said more than 400 local and federal law enforcement officers were assisting in the investigation.
In statements and comments circulating during the night, President Trump said he had been briefed on the shooting, adding “God bless the victims and the families of the victims!” In a separate update, he wrote that Brown University Police reversed their earlier statement that the suspect was in custody.
Rhode Island Gov.
Dan McKee said he had spoken by phone with Trump and FBI Director Kash Patel.

Smiley said investigators still had not recovered any weapons, and for now, the shelter-in-place posture remained the most visible sign that police believed the risk was still active.
Federal agencies said they were assisting, but investigators—quite plainly—were focused on finding the suspect and piecing together exactly what happened inside that first-floor classroom, and how quickly everything shifted from exams to chaos.
Actually, or maybe not “shift” is the right word.
It’s more like, one second it’s final exams, and then it’s lockdown.

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