Hundreds of law enforcement officers were deployed across Providence, Rhode Island, on Sunday as authorities continued an intensive search for a gunman who killed two people and wounded nine others during a shooting at Brown University, plunging the Ivy League campus into lockdown.
The attack unfolded on Saturday afternoon at the Barus and Holley building, home to the university’s engineering and physics departments, where final examinations were under way. Streets surrounding the campus were flooded with emergency vehicles for hours following the shooting, as local, state and federal authorities coordinated the manhunt.
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley confirmed at a news conference that two people had died and that eight others were in critical but stable condition. A ninth victim, who sustained injuries from bullet fragments, was later taken to hospital.
“Approximately eight hours after the shooting, the suspect remains at large,” Smiley said, adding that nearly 400 officers — including FBI agents, state police and campus security — were involved in the search.
Police released brief surveillance footage showing a suspect dressed in all black walking briskly down a deserted street shortly after the attack. Authorities said the gunman was last seen exiting the building, and no weapon has yet been recovered.
Ten of the 11 victims were Brown University students, university president Christina Paxson confirmed during a late-night briefing. Final exams scheduled for Sunday were postponed, and a shelter-in-place order remained in effect as a precaution.
Brown issued an emergency alert at 4:22pm local time warning of an “active shooter near Barus and Holley Engineering” and instructing students and staff to lock doors, silence phones and remain hidden.
Witnesses described scenes of panic as shots rang out near classrooms. Katie Sun, a student quoted by the Brown Daily Herald, said she was studying in a nearby building when she heard gunfire and fled to her dorm without her belongings.
“It was honestly quite terrifying,” she said. “The shots seemed like they were coming from where the classrooms are.”
Local media reported seeing blood and discarded clothing on sidewalks near the scene as first responders rushed in.
Deputy Police Chief Timothy O’Gara said authorities were using every available resource to locate the suspect. “The shelter-in-place order is still in effect and I urge people to take it very seriously. Please do not come to the area,” he said.
Despite the ongoing search, Mayor Smiley said city officials did not believe there was an immediate threat to the wider community and advised residents that it was not necessary to cancel holiday plans.
“In the hours since the shooting, we have received no additional credible information suggesting an ongoing threat,” Smiley said.
The shooting adds to a growing list of mass attacks at US schools and universities. According to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people are shot, more than 300 such shootings have occurred in the United States so far this year.
Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse expressed his sorrow in a post on X, saying his “heart breaks for the students who were looking forward to a holiday break and instead are dealing with another horrifying mass shooting.”
US President Donald Trump was briefed on the incident, calling it “a terrible thing” and offering prayers for the victims.
Brown University, located near Boston, has a student population of approximately 11,000. The deadliest school shooting in US history occurred in 2007 at Virginia Tech, when a gunman killed 32 people before taking his own life.