Providence, R.I. — An atmosphere of final-exam stress turned to terror Saturday afternoon when gunfire erupted inside the Barus & Holley Engineering Building at Brown University, leaving two people dead and eight others critically injured while students and faculty scrambled for cover. Providence Mayor Brett Smiley confirmed the casualties late Saturday evening, offering a sober picture of a campus and city still reeling from a senseless act of violence.
The shooting was first reported shortly after 4 p.m. local time as students were taking or preparing for exams. Brown University’s emergency alert system warned of an active shooter in the Barus & Holley complex, a seven-story building that houses the School of Engineering and the physics department. The alert urged everyone in affected buildings to lock doors, silence phones, and stay hidden until authorities could secure the area.
Within minutes, police and first responders flooded the Providence campus and surrounding neighborhoods. Officers could be seen rushing toward the building as distressed students poured into streets, some clutching belongings, others supporting friends shaken by the violence. Hospitals across the city prepared to receive multiple casualties as ambulances lined up to transport the wounded.
Mayor Smiley, speaking to reporters hours after the incident, described the scene as heartbreaking and chaotic. He confirmed that eight of the injured were in critical but stable condition at Rhode Island Hospital, and reaffirmed that at least two victims had died from their wounds. He urged residents near the Brown campus to shelter in place as the manhunt for the suspect continued. “We do not have a shooter in custody at this time,” Smiley said, a sentiment echoed in official messages from the university and law enforcement agencies.
Early confusion surrounded the suspect’s status, with an initial alert incorrectly stating that a person believed to be involved had been detained. That statement was quickly retracted, with officials clarifying that no one was in custody and that police were actively searching for a lone suspect described only as a male dressed in black. Investigators have not yet released a motive, and there is no confirmed information about how the suspect entered or exited the building.
Witnesses described frantic moments of fear and uncertainty as the shooting unfolded. Some students hid under desks or in closets, clutching phones as they waited for law enforcement to sweep through rooms. Others helped classmates flee to safer areas of campus. The panic extended beyond Brown’s gates, prompting a citywide law enforcement response that included local police, state troopers, and federal agents.
As night fell, a shelter-in-place order remained in effect for the greater Brown University area, with streets around the campus eerily quiet under the glow of police lights. Officials urged anyone with information to come forward and reminded the public that this was an ongoing investigation. Community leaders and university officials expressed deep sorrow and resolved to support victims and their families in the difficult days ahead as the city of Providence grapples with the aftermath of this tragedy.
