Providence, December 14, 2025: A person of interest has been detained in connection with a shooting at Brown University that left two students dead and nine others injured, police said on Sunday, as authorities lifted a shelter-in-place order for the campus and surrounding areas.
The gunman opened fire in a classroom at the Holley Engineering Building on the eastern end of the Ivy League university’s campus at around 4:00pm local time (2100 GMT) on Saturday, according to officials.
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said seven of the injured remained in stable condition, one was listed as critical but stable, while another had been discharged from hospital.
The identities of the victims have not yet been released. Brown University President Christina Paxson said during a press briefing on Saturday that all those killed and wounded in the attack were students.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Paxson said some areas of the campus remained restricted as police continued their investigation. She said around 2,000 students were relocated to safe locations overnight following the shooting.
“I was deeply moved by the students and members of the local community who opened their homes to those displaced,” Paxson said, adding that the families of the two students who were killed were being provided support.
“There are not enough words of comfort for families who lose a child, but we will do all we can,” she added.
Police had earlier released CCTV footage showing a male suspect dressed in black walking away from the scene. Officers said no firearm was recovered during an initial sweep of the building.
After the detention on Sunday, Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez said investigators were no longer searching for additional suspects and were working closely with prosecutors to collect evidence.
Mayor Smiley said the lifting of the shelter order would allow the city to “breathe a little easier.”
“We have trained for this moment, but this is not something that any community should ever have to train for,” he said.
Hundreds of local police officers and federal agents were deployed across Providence on Saturday as part of the manhunt.
US President Donald Trump described the shooting as a “terrible thing” while speaking to reporters at the White House.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, the Brown University attack brings the number of mass shootings in the United States this year to 389. The group defines a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people are killed or injured, excluding the attacker.
