What We Know About the Deadly Shooting at Brown University

Two people were killed and nine others injured during an attack on the Rhode Island campus. Officials were searching early Sunday for a gunman suspected in the shooting.

Law enforcement officers were searching on Sunday for a gunman suspected of opening fire on the campus of Brown University in Providence, R.I., the day before, killing two people and injuring nine others.

Of the wounded victims, six were in critical but stable condition, one was in critical condition and another was in stable condition late Saturday. A ninth victim with non-life-threatening injuries was later identified. All were students, the university said.

No suspects were in custody, and the police provided only the slimmest description of the suspect. The university remained on lockdown early Sunday.

Here’s what to know about the attack.

What happened?

The shooting took place inside a classroom on the first floor of a seven-story engineering building. The students inside were taking final exams or seeking quiet spots to study.

The shooting was first reported at about 4 p.m. An alert sent by the university told students and faculty members to lock their doors, silence their phones and stay hidden because of reports of an active shooter. Many students hid in dorms, while others took shelter in the basement of a popular tea shop.

Owen Fick, a junior at Brown, described seeing heavily armed police officers in protective gear running down the street, before he rushed to a dorm room to shelter in place.

“There were a lot of ambulances, a lot of cop cars, fire trucks,” he said. “They just had a lot of gurneys.”

Who are the police searching for?

The authorities released a basic description of the suspect: a male dressed in black. He “could be in his 30s, but we’re not positive,” said Timothy O’Hara, the deputy police chief in Providence.

The police released a video of the suspect. They said that it was not clear how the gunman entered the engineering building, but that he had exited the building on the Hope Street side. They do not know what kind of weapon was used.

On Saturday night, the Brown campus resembled a fortified outpost as over 400 law enforcement officers swarmed the area. Some searched for the gunman by shining flashlights into parked cars.

How have officials responded?

President Trump said on social media that he had been briefed on the shooting and that the F.B.I. was on the scene.

Gov. Dan McKee of Rhode Island described the shooting as “an unthinkable nightmare” in a brief interview. “This is something that’s going to impact families and people’s lives for a lifetime,” he said.

Mr. McKee said that he had spoken to Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, and that local, state and federal officers were all searching for the gunman.

“Everyone is working under the same goal right now — to keep everybody in that area safe, and also to pursue” the attacker, he said.

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