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Rhode Island police say they have a person of interest in custody as they investigate the shooting at Brown University that killed two people and injured nine others on Saturday.
Hundreds of police have stormed the campus and nearby bakeries and video surveillance in the hunt for the shooter who opened fire in the classroom.
The shooting happened Saturday afternoon at the Ivy League engineering building in Providence during final exams.
Surveillance video released by police shows the suspect, dressed in black, calmly walking away from the scene. His face cannot be seen and investigators say it is unclear if the suspect is a student.
Some witnesses told police the suspect, who was in his 30s, may have been wearing a mask, Providence Police Deputy Timothy O’Hara said.
The search for the shooter paralyzed the campus and surrounding community. The streets, which are usually busy with work on weekends, were quiet.
Students blocked the area for hours at night. Officers in Tactical Gear led the students to some of the campus buildings and the fitness center where they waited. Some arrived at the shelter on buses without jackets or any belongings.
‘The community’s heart is breaking,’ said the Mayor
Investigators were not immediately sure how the shooter got inside first class. The exterior doors of the building are not open but the rooms are used for the final tests required to access the badge, said Providence Mayor Brett Smiley.
He had encouraged people living near the campus to stay indoors or not return home until the shelter-in-place order is lifted.
“The heart of the black community is breaking and the heart of Providence is breaking with it,” Smiley said.
Democratic Gov. Dan Mckee vowed that all sources were sent to arrest the suspect. Rhode Island has some of the strictest gun laws in the US
Nine people with gunshot wounds were taken to Rhode Island Hospital, where one was in critical condition. Six required care but were not improving and two were stable, said hospital spokeswoman Kelly Brennan.
Rehearsals continued during the shooting
Engineering Design Experiments were underway when the shooting took place in the Barus & Holley Daild, a seven-story complex that houses the Engineering and Physics Departments. The building includes more than 100 laboratories, many classrooms and offices, according to the University’s website.
Emma Ferraro, a chemical engineering student, was on the construction site working on a final project when she heard a loud noise coming from the east side. When he saw that they were being driven by guns, he moved the door and ran to a nearby building where he barricaded himself for hours.
Providence, RI, Mayor Brett Smiley said police are still looking for a suspect after a fatal shooting at Brown University’s engineering building.
Students hide under the desks
Students in a nearby lab turned off the lights and hid under desks after receiving a warning about the shooting, said Chiangheng Chien, a medical engineering student who was leaving the scene.
Mari Camara, 20, a junior from New York City, was leaving the library and running inside Taquria to seek shelter. He spent more than three hours there, texting friends while police searched the campus.
“Everyone is like me, shocked and scared that something like this is happening,” she said.
Brown, the oldest institution of higher education in the US, is one of the most prestigious colleges in the US with approximately 7,300 undergraduates and more than 3,000 graduate students. Tuition, housing and other fees run about $100,000 a year, according to the University.
