Person of interest in Brown University shooting being released; search for suspect ongoing

PROVIDENCE, RI – In a press conference late Sunday, it was revealed that the person of interest in the Brown University shooting Saturday is being released.

Evidence reportedly points in a different direction.

According to FBI Boston, early Sunday morning, FBI Boston’s Safe Streets Task Force, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service & the Coventry Police Department, RI detained a person of interest in a Hampton Inn hotel room in Coventry, RI, based off a lead by the Providence Police Department.

Brown University released the following statement Sunday morning after Providence Police announced that they had detained a person of interest in connection with yesterday’s shooting.

“We continue to be in mourning as a community about the tragic loss of life from gun violence that stole the lives of two of our students yesterday, while one remains in critical but stable condition. My goal is for our community to work together to get through this difficult time and feel safe on our campus again.

“I hope all members of our community saw the update sent through the Rave alert system early this morning that Providence police have advised the University that the shelter in place order has ended for our full campus. We want to thank law enforcement for their dedicated and extensive work overnight to provide safety to our community. They have shared publicly that police have identified and detained a person of interest in their investigation. Our Department of Public Safety partnered closely with law enforcement from the city, the state, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies, all of whom worked together with fierce determination so that we could have a measure of comfort through a devastating time for our community.

“It is important to note that there continues to be limited access to some areas of campus as police continue to investigate yesterday’s shooting. There are areas that are still considered an active crime scene. For these areas within the police investigation perimeter, if residents decide to leave, police cannot allow them to return, so we are asking students and members of our community to consider carefully if there are any belongings you need to take with you if you leave any of these areas.

“We continue to focus our full attention on caring for our community. Teams of Brown staff continued to work overnight to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our students. We estimate that a couple of thousand students were transported overnight by law enforcement from areas across campus that were part of the police perimeter, and we prioritized getting those students to a place where they could rest and receive any necessary resources.

“Any students that law enforcement escorted and transported to our evacuation site in the Olney-Margolies Athletic Center were relocated last night through early this morning and received food and a place to sleep. I am deeply moved by all the students who opened their homes and their arms to welcome friends into their dorms and other residences while we transported others to local hotels.

“It is with some relief, but still a heavy heart, that I share that the status of many of the shooting victims in the hospital is stable. Seven of the students are in critical but stable condition, but as I noted, one remains in critical condition. Our prayers continue to be with them and their families. As we shared last night, one student was discharged from the hospital last night and left with their parents. And of course, we continue to support the families of the two students who died. There are not enough words of comfort for families who lose a child, but we will do all we can.

“For our campus community who have questions about academic activities for this coming week, Provost Francis J. Doyle III will share an update shortly on academic operations for the campus. We continue to work with partners across campus to provide information about other campus operations and scheduled activities. With just over a week until Winter Break, many campus activities have already been winding down, and we will be considering the impact of these heartbreaking events in considering whether scheduled events should proceed.

“Over the course of the next several hours, support offices across campus will also communicate as needed about updates to other operations, including how students who were escorted by evacuation sites will be connected to items they left behind. We are committed to providing resources for ongoing support.

“We know that the stress of this situation will live with our community for hours and days and weeks to come. We will find ways to be in community with each other.”

Sincerely,
Christina H. Paxson
President

It has been revealed through a press conference that the shooter opened fire in a classroom on the first floor of the Barus & Holley engineering building.