A night of study at Brown University shattered into terror as gunfire erupted within the Sciences Library, leaving two students dead and nine others wounded. The attack unfolded around 9pm, sending waves of panic through the historic Ivy League campus and plunging the surrounding city of Providence into lockdown.
Students huddled inside an engineering building, preparing for a final economics exam review, were suddenly forced to flee for their lives. Witnesses described a chaotic scene as people scrambled for safety, the quiet halls transformed into a desperate escape route.
Authorities initially responded to reports of a second shooting on Governor Street, but quickly clarified that these reports were unfounded. The focus remained squarely on identifying and locating the gunman, who remains at large.
Police released grainy CCTV footage of a figure believed to be the shooter, captured walking near Hope Street, the location of the engineering building. The individual is seen with their back to the camera, clad in dark clothing or grey camouflage, and estimated to be in their 30s.
The campus and businesses in the area swiftly went into lockdown, a chilling echo of similar tragedies that have become tragically commonplace. Restaurants closed their doors early, and a sense of dread settled over the city.
For Zoe Weissman, a sophomore at Brown, the events triggered a horrifying sense of déjà vu. Having survived the 2018 shooting at Parkland High School in Florida, she expressed a raw, aching anger – the realization that she, and others, were forced to relive such trauma.
A chilling alert flashed across students’ phones: “Active shooter near Barus and Holley Engineering. Lock doors, silence phones and stay hidden until further notice.” The message underscored the immediate and terrifying danger.
Online, on the Brown University Reddit page, students expressed their fear and frustration. One post poignantly captured the collective anxiety: “Texting all my friends to make sure they’re alive is not something I have ever wanted to do. Hold people close, hold governments accountable.”
This incident marks the first mass shooting to occur at an Ivy League university, a stark and unsettling milestone. It arrives amidst a year already marred by an alarming number of school shootings – at least 229, according to available data – highlighting a deeply troubling trend.
The community now grapples with unimaginable loss and a renewed sense of vulnerability, searching for answers and demanding action in the wake of this devastating event.
