A person of interest was in custody Sunday after a shooting during final exams at Brown University that killed two students and injured nine others, though key questions remained unanswered more than 12 hours after the attack.
The attack Saturday afternoon set off hours of chaos on the Ivy League campus and surrounding Providence neighborhoods as hundreds of officers searched for the gunman and urged students and staff to shelter in place. The lockdown, which stretched into the night, was lifted early Sunday, but authorities have not yet released information on a possible motive.
Col. Oscar Perez, Providence’s police chief, said the person in custody was in his 30s and that investigators were not looking for anyone else, but that no one had been charged yet. He declined to say whether the person detained had any connection to Brown. The person was taken into custody at the Hampton Inn in Coventry, Rhode Island, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from Providence, where police and FBI agents remained Sunday and blocked off a hallway with crime scene tape as they searched the area.
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The shooting occurred during one of the busiest times of the academic calendar, when final exams were underway. Brown canceled all remaining classes, exams, papers and projects for the semester and told students they could leave campus, underscoring the scope of the breach and the severity of the attack.
The gunman opened fire in a classroom in the university’s technical building, firing more than 40 rounds from a 9mm handgun, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. As of Sunday morning, authorities had not found a firearm, but they did find two loaded 30-round magazines, the official said. The official was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
“Everyone is reeling and we have a lot of recovery ahead of us,” Brown University President Christina Paxson said at a news conference. “Our community is strong and we’ll get through this, but it’s devastating.”
One student was released from the hospital Sunday morning, Paxson said. Seven others were in critical but stable condition and one was in critical condition.
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Some businesses remain closed in the shocked city
Many local businesses announced they would remain closed on Sunday. The planned 5K has been postponed until next weekend. Providence leaders said residents will notice a stronger police presence.
“We all knew intellectually that this could happen anywhere, including here, but it’s not the same as what’s happening in our community, so it’s an incredibly upsetting and emotional time for Providence, for Brown, for all of us,” Mayor Brett Smiley said at a press conference. “It’s not something we should train for, but we do.
Crystal McCollaum, of Chicopee, Massachusetts, was staying at the hotel where the arrest took place. She was with her daughter at a cheerleading competition in Providence, but after hearing about the shooting, thought it would be safer to stay out of town.
“It was just weird and scary,” she said.
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Rehearsals were taking place during filming
Investigators were not immediately sure how the gunman got into the classroom on the first floor of the Barus & Holley building, a seven-story complex that houses the school of engineering and the physics department. The building includes more than 100 laboratories, dozens of classrooms and offices, according to the university’s website.
Engineering trials were underway. The building’s exterior doors were unlocked, but rooms used for final exams required badge access, Smiley said.
Emma Ferraro, a chemical engineering student, was working in the lobby on a final project when she heard a loud crack coming from the east side. Once she realized they were gunshots, she rushed to the door and ran to a nearby building where she waited for hours.
Surveillance video released by police showed the suspect in black walking away from the scene.
A former ‘Survivor’ contestant has just left the building
Eva Erickson, a doctoral student who came in second place on the CBS reality show Survivor this year, said she left her lab in the engineering building 15 minutes before the shots rang out.
The engineering and thermal science student shared candid moments on Survivor as the show’s first openly autistic contestant. After the shooting, she was locked in a campus gym and shared on social media that the only other member of her lab who was present had been safely evacuated.
Brown senior biochemistry student Alex Bruce was working on a final research project in his dorm across the street when he heard sirens outside.
“I’m here and I’m shaking,” he said, watching through the window as armed officers surrounded his dormitory.
Students hid under the desks
Students in a nearby lab turned off the lights and hid under desks after receiving the alert, said Chiangheng Chien, a doctoral student in engineering who was around the scene of the shooting.
Mari Camara, 20, a junior from New York, was leaving the library and rushing to the taqueria to seek shelter. She spent more than three hours there texting friends while police searched the campus.
“Everyone is just like me, shocked and horrified that something like this has happened,” she said.
Brown, the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, is one of the nation’s most prestigious institutions of higher learning, with approximately 7,300 undergraduates and more than 3,000 graduate students.
