PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Two people were killed and eight others were critically injured in a shooting at Brown University on Friday, prompting a campuswide shelter-in-place order as police launched a manhunt for the gunman, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said.
Shots were fired inside Barus and Holley, Brown’s main engineering building on College Hill, while exams were underway. The university issued an emergency alert at 4:22 p.m. local time reporting an “active shooter near Barus and Holley Engineering,” and urged students, faculty and staff to remain in secure locations.
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Authorities said they were searching for a male suspect dressed in black and combing surveillance footage from cameras in the area to refine the description. The scene remained cordoned off Friday evening as investigators worked inside the building and across adjacent streets.
Officials did not immediately release information about the victims, including whether they were students. “So please pray for those families,” Smiley said at a news conference.
In its alerts, Brown University described the location as an “active crime scene” and instructed those on campus to lock doors, silence phones and stay hidden until further notice.
“It continues to be an active investigation and we are urging people to shelter in place,” said Kristy DosReis, Providence’s chief public information officer for public safety.
President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House he had been briefed on the situation, calling it “terrible.” “All we can do right now is pray for the victims and for those that were very badly hurt,” he said.
Local police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other federal authorities responded to the campus, which spans dozens of city blocks in the heart of Rhode Island’s capital. The Ivy League university, home to roughly 11,000 undergraduate and graduate students, includes hundreds of lecture halls, laboratories and dormitories clustered in and around its engineering complex.
The shooting adds to a long list of campus and school attacks in the United States that have accelerated debates over gun access and public safety. The Gun Violence Archive, which defines mass shootings as incidents in which four or more people are shot, has recorded 389 such events so far this year nationwide. The group tracked more than 500 mass shootings last year.
By early evening, police had not announced any arrests or identified a motive. Investigators urged patience as they reviewed evidence and coordinated among agencies. University officials said they would provide updates as the situation evolved and noted that counseling resources would be available for students and staff.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
