What to know about the Brown University shooting : NPR
Providence Fire Department first responders maneuver an empty stretcher Saturday near the Barus and Holley Building at Brown University in Providence, RI.
Bing Guan/AFP via Getty Images
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Bing Guan/AFP via Getty Images
A gunman opened fire inside a Brown University academic building Saturday afternoon as students gathered to take their final exams, killing two students and injuring nine others.
Officials in Providence, R.I., said Sunday morning that police arrested a man in his 20s as a person of interest. A source close to the investigation, who was not authorized to speak publicly, identified the person of interest as Benjamin Erickson. Authorities have not released any other details about him or any potential motive.
The outbreak of violence at the Ivy League school has shocked the community, just days before students and faculty prepare to leave for winter break, Providence Mayor Brett P. Smiley said.
“I think maybe intellectually we knew this could happen anywhere, including here,” Smiley said at a news conference Sunday morning, “but it’s not the same as in our community.”
The attack drew messages of sympathy and well-wishes from across the state and beyond, including from President Trump, who offered condolences to the victims and their families.
“Brown University, [is a] It’s a great school,” Trump said Sunday from the White House. “To the nine injured, get well soon, and to the families of these two who are no longer with us, I send my sincerest greetings and respects.”
Seven of the victims were in “critical but stable” condition Sunday, while one victim was in critical condition, according to Brown University President Christina Paxson. A ninth victim was treated at hospital and released.
The shooting happened around 4 p.m. ET in the Barus & Holley engineering and physics building in an economics class, Paxson said.
“Our community is strong and we will get through this,” she said during a press briefing on Sunday. “But it’s devastating.”
Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez said Sunday that investigators were not actively looking for anyone else but that the investigation was ongoing.
Law enforcement arrested the person of interest Sunday morning in a hotel room in Coventry, about 20 miles southwest of Brown, based on an investigation by Providence police, FBI Director Kash Patel said in an article on X.
Investigators previously said they were looking for a suspect described as “a man dressed in black.” The suspect fled the scene on foot, but it is unclear how he entered the building, police added. Brown University Provost Francis Doyle said cards were swiped to gain access to the building, but there was “probably a lot of traffic” during exams.
Authorities also released a short video of a person of interest walking away from the scene of the shooting along a sidewalk, but the video did not show the person’s face.
On Sunday, Doyle said Brown would cancel nearly all remaining in-person exams for the fall semester so the university could “focus our efforts on providing care and support to members of our community as we grapple with the grief, fear and anxiety that are impacting us all at this time.”
Officials lifted a stay-at-home order for the Brown campus and surrounding areas Sunday morning.
