The two victims and nine injured in the shooting at Brown University, in Providence, Rhode Island, are all students. The president of the university, Christina Paxson, confirmed this during a press conference.
“Our focus right now is to support the families who have been affected by this, the families of the two students who unfortunately lost their lives today,” Paxson said, also referring to the other students who were injured and currently hospitalized.
The hunt for the attacker: there is an arrest
Meanwhile, the search for the attacker, described as a man of about 30 years old, dressed in black, who is believed to have fled on foot, has borne fruit: US police have arrested a person suspected of the shooting. He writes it CNN who is following the live broadcast with a crew.
Law enforcement said the suspect was captured on video walking along Hope Street, where the shooting occurred.
The shooting during an exam session
According to what Professor Rachel Friedberg reported to New York Timesthe shooting occurred in an engineering and physics building and began in a classroom where a review session for the final exam in Principles of Economics was taking place.
A student in that class, Martyna Kaps, told the Brown Daily Herald that he heard “loud bangs” as he left the review session, scheduled between 2pm and 4pm. “I saw the students running out of the classroom,” he explained, adding that “there were still people in the classroom” and that many hid behind the desk to avoid the shots.
The intervention of the police
CNN reported that the shooting occurred as students were taking final exams in the seven-story building that houses classrooms and laboratories in the engineering and physics departments. The classroom listed by the Herald, Barus and Holley 166, has a capacity of 186 people.
Officers searched several buildings near the university and cleared classrooms where students had barricaded themselves, to ensure their safety, Deputy Chief Timothy O’Hara confirmed.