Students shot while taking exams. A man wearing a mask opened fire at the prestigious Brown University in the US
Armed attack at Brown University. Special forces arrived at the scene. Photo credit: Lily Speredelozzi / AP / Profimedia
More than 400 police officers were mobilized on Saturday to search for the suspect in a gun attack at Brown University in Rhode Island that left two students dead and nine others injured at the Ivy League institution, US officials said.
The University of Providence remained on lockdown for several hours after an armed suspect entered a building where students were taking exams.
The streets around the campus were filled with emergency vehicles in the hours after the gun incident, and security was beefed up in the city as law enforcement continued to search for the suspect.
The suspect was still at large, officials said, as police worked with agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to search the streets and buildings around campus to find him.
Providence Deputy Police Chief Timothy O'Hara said the suspect has not been identified.
The suspect was wearing a mask
Officials said they would release video of the suspect, a man believed to be in his 30s, dressed in black, who O'Hara said was wearing a mask.
He said officials recovered cartridges from the scene of the attack, but that police were not ready to divulge details.
Officials said the gunman fled after shooting students inside Brown University's Barus & Holley Engineering Building, where the exterior doors were unlocked during exams.
“It's a week and a half until Christmas. And two people died today,” said Providence Mayor Brett Smiley. “Please pray for their families.”
Seven of the nine injured are in critical condition, according to Brown University.
Brown University, located in College Hill, the capital of Rhode Island, has hundreds of buildings, including classrooms, laboratories, and dormitories. According to local officials, the suspect fled on a busy street full of restaurants and cafes.
“It's a day no one wants to live, but it happened,” Christina Paxson, president of Brown University, told reporters, confirming that all or nearly all of the victims were students.
