Brown University: 'Person of interest' detained in shooting

Providence police have detained a person of interest in connection with the Brown University shooting that left two students dead and nine others injured.

Providence's Chief information officer Kristy DosReis told Reuters that a person of interest was in police custody after the shooting. 

The University also said in an advisory to students that the shelter-in-place order for its Rhode Island campus had been lifted by the Police. 

More than 400 law enforcement personnel were deployed across Providence on Saturday (13 December) after a gunman opened fire inside Brown University’s Barus & Holley engineering building, where students were sitting exams, officials said.

The Ivy League campus was placed under lockdown for several hours as police searched nearby streets and buildings.

Authorities said the suspect entered the building while its outer doors were unlocked for exams, then fled after the shooting. Shell casings were recovered at the scene, but investigators said they were not ready to release further forensic details. Police said the suspect is thought to have fled along a normally busy street lined with restaurants and coffee shops.

Providence Deputy Police Chief Timothy O’Hara said the suspect had not been identified. Officials plan to release video footage of the individual, described as a male possibly in his 30s, dressed in black and possibly wearing a mask.

O’Hara said police have received tips from the public but none have led to an arrest. The search involved local police, the FBI, and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Seven of the nine wounded victims were listed in critical condition, according to Brown University Health. Brown President Christina Paxson said all or nearly all of the victims were students.“This is the day one hopes never happens, and it has,” she told reporters.

As alerts spread across campus, students were instructed to shelter in place. One student told local television station WJAR that he and three others hid under desks in a laboratory for about two hours after receiving a text warning of an active shooter nearby.

Streets around the campus were packed with emergency vehicles well into the night, and security was heightened across the city.

The manhunt was complicated by large crowds of holiday shoppers and thousands of people attending concerts and weekend events, officials said. Venues across Providence brought in additional security as police followed up on tips, none of which had yet led to an arrest.

Police Chief Oscar Perez said investigators are also looking into why the Barus & Holley building was targeted.

Providence Mayor Brett Smiley urged residents to reflect on the human cost of the attack. “We are a week and a half away from Christmas. And two people died today,” he said, asking the public to pray for the families.

Rhode Island Governor Daniel McKee said authorities would ensure the suspect was brought to justice. President Donald Trump said he had been briefed at the White House, calling the shooting "terrible" and offering prayers for the victims and those seriously injured.

The attack has renewed attention on gun violence in the U.S., where mass shootings are more common than in many other developed countries. The Gun Violence Archive has recorded 389 mass shootings so far this year, including at least six at schools. More than 500 were recorded nationwide last year.

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Brown University shooting Mass shooting Rhode Island United States