A night of final exam review at Brown University dissolved into unimaginable horror as gunfire erupted within an engineering building, leaving two students dead and nine others injured. The shooting unfolded around 9 pm, shattering the quiet of the Ivy League campus and triggering a frantic lockdown.
Chaos quickly consumed the scene as students scrambled for safety, fleeing the building where they had been preparing for their economics exam. Witnesses described a terrifying rush to escape, a desperate attempt to find shelter from the unseen threat. The university immediately issued an urgent alert: “Active shooter near Barus and Holley Engineering. Lock doors, silence phones and stay hidden.”
Authorities swiftly responded, flooding the campus with armed officers and launching a full-scale investigation. A person of interest was taken into custody, bringing a measure of relief, but the trauma lingered. One student remains in critical condition, while seven others are stable, and a ninth has been released.
Police released CCTV footage of a figure believed to be the shooter, though the individual’s face remained obscured. The person, described as being in their 30s and wearing dark clothing, was seen walking near the engineering building shortly before the shooting.
For some, the tragedy evoked the pain of past trauma. Zoe Weissman, a sophomore who survived the 2018 shooting at Parkland High School in Florida, expressed a chilling sense of déjà vu. “It feels like 2018 again,” she told CNN, voicing the anguish of a generation haunted by gun violence.
The shooting ignited a wave of grief and outrage, with students taking to social media to share their fears and demand action. One student wrote on the Brown University Reddit page, “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.”
Governor Dan McKee called the event an “unthinkable tragedy,” extending his heartfelt condolences to the community. University President Christina Paxson emphasized the importance of unity and support, promising to stand together as a community in the wake of the devastation.
This incident marks the first mass shooting at an Ivy League university, a stark reminder of the pervasive gun violence plaguing the nation. With at least 229 school shootings recorded this year alone, the tragedy at Brown University underscores the urgent need for comprehensive solutions.
