BREAKING: At least two dead and eight wounded in Brown University shooting
The shooter remains at large after the university reversed an earlier alert that said that one person was in custody. A shelter-in-place order remains in effect.
Providence police Commander Timothy O’Hara said that right now investigators believe there is one shooting suspect.
He asked people nearby the scene to check doorbell and other home camera systems as police search for the shooter.
Asked if he was confident there was one suspect, O’Hara said, “that’s the information we have now.”
Police walk tonight near an entrance to Brown University. Steven Senne / AP
Trump, arriving at the White House on Marine One, reiterated that he’s been briefed on the shooting.
“I’ve been fully briefed on the Brown University situation,” Trump said. “What a terrible thing it is, and all we can do right now is pray for the victims and for those that were very badly hurt.”
He expressed some sorrow for the dead and those critically injured.
“It’s a shame,” he said. “It’s a shame. Just pray. Thank you very much.”
Providence police released a brief description of a gunman.
“Preliminarily, all we have is a suspect that was a male dressed in black,” Providence Police Commander Timothy O’Hara, deputy chief of the department, said at a news conference.
“It is unknown how he entered the building, but we do know that he exited the Hope Street side of that complex,” O’Hara said.
Police received a call of an active shooter inside a building at Brown University and officers entered the building but did not find a suspect, he said.
“We’re utilizing every resource possible to find this suspect,” O’Hara said.
Today’s shooting at Brown University took place at the Barus & Holley building, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said.
The building houses the university’s engineering and physics departments.
“The unthinkable has happened,” Rhode Island Gov. Daniel McKee said at a news conference.
Two people are dead and eight others are in critical condition at a hospital, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said.
The eight people in critical condition are stable, he said.
The shooter is not in custody, the mayor said.
The call of an active shooter came in to Brown University at 4:05 p.m., Smiley said.
A Brown student working on a PhD in engineering hid in a campus lab for two hours following a campus alert about an active shooter, he told NBC affiliate WJAR of Providence tonight.
“We decided to turn the lights off and close all the doors and hide under our desks,” Chiang-Heng Chien said.
The group felt safe, he said, because the lab was generally accessible only to someone with a a key.
Authorities later came by and wanted to clear buildings as part of their hunt for the shooter, Chien said.
So the students in the lab fled hastily, leaving behind belongings and in his case, a jacket, in 37-degree weather in Providence tonight.
“I was hoping that no one’s getting hurt,” Chien said.
The student said he believes the gunfire was about one block from the location of his lab. He said he wasn’t sure where he should be now.
Reports of shots fired two blocks away from the scene of the earlier incident at or near Brown University were unfounded, the school said.
“The earlier report of a secondary shooting incident near Governor Street is unfounded,” the university said on its website at 6:10 p.m.
“However, it remains critical to continue to shelter in place due to the original situation. Stay tuned for further safety information,” Brown said.
Brown University said that there have been multiple shooting victims, but it did not say how many or their conditions.
“The situation is ongoing, and all members of the community should continue to shelter in place,” Brown said on its website.
“We are very sorry to share that we have confirmed reports of multiple shooting victims, but we do not yet have information about their condition that we are in a position to share,” it said.
“They have been transported to local hospitals,” Brown said.
Brown said that it was informed the campus of an active shooter incident near the Barus & Holley building at 4:22 p.m.
“We are working immediately to determine who was in the building at the time of the shooting. We had multiple exams scheduled in that building from 2 pm to 5 pm.,” Brown said.
Final exam week started yesterday.
Brown University said on its website a short time ago that the situation remains ongoing.
“Situation remains ongoing. Continue to shelter in place. Law enforcement on site,” it said on its website in an update at 5:52 p.m.
Emergency personnel respond to reports of a shooting at Brown University. Mark Stockwell / AP
Agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are responding to Brown University, the agency’s Boston field office said.
“ATF agents are responding to the Brown University active shooter incident,” ATF Boston said on X.
The FBI also said it is assisting.
Brown University’s Barus & Holley building, in the area where authorities have warned of an active shooter, houses the institution’s engineering and physics departments.
The seven-story, circa-1965 building east of the campus’ College Green, is part of a redeveloped engineering complex that will include a revamped Design Hub, to be called the Lassonde Innovation and Design Hub, and the Engineering Research Center, the school said.
The structure on the east side of campus is named for physicist Carl Barus and Brown alumni Alexander Lyman Holley, who helped develop Bessemer steel.
President Donald Trump said he’s been briefed on the situation at Brown and that the FBI is at the scene.
“God bless the victims and the families of the victims!” he said in a post on Truth Social.
Providence police said on social media that multiple people have been shot near Brown University. It did not disclose a number.
“Multiple shot in the area of Brown University,” police said around 5:33 p.m. “This is an active investigation. Please shelter in place or avoid the area until further notice.”
Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee said that his office is monitoring the incident at Brown University and that state police and the state emergency management agency is coordinating with law enforcement.
“Praying for our community,” McKee said on X.
An FBI spokesperson said that the agency is aware of the of the incident at Brown University, has deployed resources and is ready to assist.
Brown University in a new update said there was a report of gunshots east of where the initial incident was reported.
“Report of shots fired near Governor street. Continue to shelter in place. Stay clear. Law enforcement responding,” Brown said in an update at 5:27 p.m.
Governor Street is two blocks from Hope Street, which was the location given by officials earlier.
A student told The Brown Daily Herald that she was studying in the Engineering Research Center lobby when she heard gunshots at around 4:10 p.m.
Katie Sun told the student newspaper she evacuated the building, leaving her belongings behind, and went to her dorm.
“It was honestly quite terrifying,” she told the Herald, which is a student newspaper.
Brown University walked back an earlier statement saying a suspect was in custody, issuing a new emergency alert that said police does not have a suspect in custody and are continuing to search for one or more suspects.
“Continue to shelter in place. Remain away from Barus & Holley area,” the university said at 5:11 p.m.
“Brown coordinating with multiple law enforcement agencies on site. Emergency medical on scene. Stay tuned for further safety Stay tuned for further safety information,” the latest update reads.
While it announced “one suspect in custody,” Brown University warned that people should continue to shelter in place.
The latest emergency alert issued at 4:51 p.m. said there was a large police presence on the scene and instructed people to “lock doors, silence phones and stay stay hidden until further notice.”
Providence Police said on X that “There is currently heavy Providence Police and Fire presence on Hope Street near Brown University.”
“Please exercise caution and avoid this area until further notice,” the police department said.
A shooter was reported on or near the campus of Brown University in Rhode Island and one person was in custody, the university’s public safety department and Providence police said this afternoon.
Brown University said on its Emergency Information website that “There’s an active shooter near Barus & Holley Engineering.” The alert instructed people to lock their doors, silence their phones and stay safe.
A second alert at around 4:50 p.m. said that “One suspect in custody” and that Brown and Providence police were on the scene. It said people should continue to shelter in place.
The student newspaper, The Brown Daily Herald, reported that an alert and call went out to students about the incident.
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