Manhunt Underway After Brown University Shooting Leaves Two Dead, Eight Wounded
A massive manhunt is underway in Providence, Rhode Island, for a lone gunman responsible for a devastating mass shooting at Brown University on Saturday afternoon that killed at least two people and critically wounded eight others. The shooting occurred in the Barus & Holley engineering building on the Ivy League campus while students were taking final examinations, forcing the university into a campus-wide shelter-in-place lockdown that lasted for hours.
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley confirmed during a Saturday evening press conference that two individuals were killed in the attack, and eight victims were rushed to Rhode Island Hospital with gunshot wounds, where they remain in critical but stable condition. Mayor Smiley and Governor Dan McKee both called the incident “unthinkable” and unprecedented for the community.
The Suspect and Search
The suspect remains at large, despite an initial, but quickly retracted, alert from Brown University falsely stating a suspect was in custody. Authorities have issued a limited description of the gunman as a male dressed entirely in black who fled the engineering building on the Hope Street side shortly after the shooting began around 4:00 p.m. local time. Providence Deputy Chief of Police Timothy O’Hara stated that officials are utilizing every available resource, including federal assistance from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), to track the shooter. Police are currently relying heavily on video evidence from campus and the surrounding residential neighborhood, as no weapons have been recovered and the suspect’s identity is unknown.
Campus Impact
The shooting triggered panic across the campus. Students and staff were immediately instructed to “Run, Hide, Fight” and to lock doors, silence phones, and stay hidden. Doctoral students in a lab near the shooting location reported hiding under desks and turning off lights for hours as armed officers in tactical gear flooded the area, systematically searching campus buildings and nearby residential blocks. The shelter-in-place order remained in effect for the broader Brown community into the evening as the police hunt continued. Authorities have not yet disclosed the identities of the deceased or the injured, nor have they confirmed if the victims were Brown students.
