Brown University shooting live updates: Person of interest to be released from custody; manhunt underway
This version of Brown University Shooting Live Updates Rcna249097 - Breaking News | NBC News Clone was adapted by NBC News Clone to help readers digest key facts more efficiently.
Two people were killed and nine wounded in the Saturday shooting at the Barus & Holley building.
What we know
- Two people were killed and nine others were wounded in a shooting at an engineering and physics building on Brown's campus in Providence, Rhode Island.
- Officials emphasize the investigation is moving quickly, with evidence being collected by multiple agencies, but they are not yet confirming details that could compromise the case.
- The man earlier detained as a person of interest will be released tonight because the evidence no longer supports keeping him detained, officials said tonight.
Providence mayor says community is safe, despite no arrests
Providence's mayor tonight reassured the public that they are safe, even as the gunman in yesterday's shooting remains on the loose.
Mayor Brett Smiley emphasized that an hourslong shelter-in-place order was lifted earlier because police had not received any credible threats since the shooting to the Brown, Providence or greater Rhode Island communities. That has not changed, he said.
"We are not recommending at this time a new shelter-in-place. We do not feel it is necessary," Smiley said.
He said police will be more visible in and around Providence and the Brown campus to calm people's nerves.
Smiley also once again asked the public to submit any videos they might have that could aid the investigation. Officials emphasized that the short video showing a person walking away from campus — which doesn't clearly show the person's face — is the best video they've been able to review thus far that might point to the gunman.
State Attorney General Peter Neronha said, "We're not holding back video that we think would be useful, and I don't think I should even have to say it."
Evidence 'now points in a different direction,' AG says
Authorities will shortly release a person of interest who was detained earlier today because the evidence “now points in a different direction,” Rhode Island's attorney general said tonight.
Authorities did not originally specify what evidence they had to justify taking the person of interest into custody. Providence’s police chief, Col. Oscar Perez, had earlier told NBC News that police were confident the person was the shooter.
But Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said at a news conference tonight, at which Perez was also preset, that there is no justification to keep the man detained.
"I think it's fair to say that there is no basis to consider him a person of interest, so that's why he's being released," Neronha told reporters.
Person of interest in Brown University shooting will be released
The person of interest detained earlier today in connection with the deadly shooting will be released shortly, Providence's mayor said at a news conference late tonight.
Rhode Island Gov. Daniel McKee said officials contacted FBI Director Kash Patel ahead of tonight's announcement.
Mayor Brett Smiley said, "The status of safety in our community remains unchanged, and we believe that you remain safe in our community."
Police initially said they were confident the person of interest was the person who opened fire in a first-floor classroom at Brown’s Barus & Holley building yesterday before fleeing.
Brown student recalls aiding wounded classmate
Amith Chintalapati, a junior at Brown, said he was walking to get food on campus yesterday when he saw people running.
“I saw some people huddled on the ground, and I realized that two people got shot and had made their way to the street, and people were applying pressure and trying to keep them from bleeding out,” he said.
Chintalapati recognized one of the people on the ground as his classmate.
“I was staying with him and trying to keep him calm and conscious until the EMTs arrived," he recalled. "I just kept telling him he was OK and to breathe and just wait for the EMTs to arrive. And he kept saying: 'I just got shot. I just got shot.'"
Soon after, police surrounded them and ordered the students to take shelter.
"I ran into a dorm that someone let me into, and I pretty much ran as far up as I possibly could, and I found an empty dorm room, and I was there for, I want to say, eight hours, just kind of alone, hiding out," Chintalapati said.
Around midnight, he got moved to a shelter on campus and at 3 a.m. was escorted back to his dorm, he said.
He said he learned his classmate is stable and in the hospital.
"The other people that were helping out were really lifesavers. I was kind of freaking out, but they jumped right into action, putting pressure on the wounds, making sure no one bled out," Chintalapati said.
Brown Ph.D. student recalls leaving building right before shooting, nine-hour lockdown
Eva Erickson, a Ph.D. student at Brown, said she was working in the Barus & Holley building yesterday and left mere minutes before the shooting.
“My office is in that building, and I walk directly through the area where those classrooms were to leave. I walked right through there what would have been probably like five minutes before the shooting took place,” she recalled.
From there she went to the gym on campus and got a frantic call from one of her lab mates informing her there was an active shooter. Then she got an alert on her phone, and the campus went into lockdown.
“They turned out all the lights, and everyone was just calling their parents to tell them they were OK,” Erickson said. She and others in the gym remained in lockdown from 4:22 p.m. to 9 p.m., when they were moved to another building, where they were patted down and searched. She was allowed to leave at 1:30 a.m.
Erickson said that she did not know the person of interest in the shooting and that none of the peers she knows were in that classroom.
She said the building was somewhat busy yesterday, with some students taking finals. Some doors at the building require a university ID swipe, but sometimes the doors are unlocked, she said.
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said yesterday that the outer doors were unlocked because exams were taking place.
Today there is caution tape around the Barus & Holley building, and a police presence inside.
“I just felt such deep sadness, and just feeling even though I didn’t know the victims, even though everyone I know is safe, just the thoughts of, like, that could have been me, that could have been anyone that I’m friends with. Could have been a student who is in my class that I TA. It just really, really hit me driving by that building,” she said.
She called for change, saying: "I never in a million years would have thought that this would happen to my school, to my community, and it did, and it could happen to anyone’s school, it could happen to anyone’s child, to anyone’s friend, and that’s really scary. So something needs to change in our country."
Kendall Turner identified as one of the students in critical condition
Brown student Kendall Turner was one the nine people who were injured, according to Durham Academy, the private school from which she graduated this year.
Turner was identified as being in critical but stable condition in a statement today from the academy's head of school, Michael Ulku-Steiner. It said that her family informed the academy of the news and that her parents were with her as she received treatment.
"We hope for her continued strength and recovery," the school said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Kendall, her family, and all members of the Brown University community during this incredibly difficult time."
Person of interest served in the Army from 2021 until 2024
Public records indicate that as of 2024, Benjamin Erickson's residence was an apartment in Washington, D.C., and that he previously lived in Wisconsin.
Erickson was an infantryman in the Army from May 2021 to November 2024, an Army spokesperson, Lt. Col. Ruth Castro, said in a statement. Initial public records searches do not indicate that he had a criminal record.
"He has no deployments and left the Army in the rank of specialist," Castro said.
Erickson has been detained as a person of interest, three senior law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation told NBC News.
Here are the options for Brown students now that finals are canceled
Brown University was scheduled to end its semester later this week, but classes and final exams have been called off following yesterday's shooting. The school has provided students three options for how to move forward with campus closed for finals week.
Students walk across the Main Green on the Brown University campus on Sunday. Bing Guan / AFP via Getty Images
Students can choose to accept final grades based on their coursework up until this week or retroactively change their grades to a satisfactory/no credit mark. For those who choose the latter, their transcripts will have a note "indicating that the change was made due to extenuating circumstances," Provost Francis J. Doyle wrote in a letter to students and faculty members.
And if students had classes with finals in the form of papers, projects or take-home exams, they can decide to submit that work by Jan. 7 for grades.
"Unless all final work is already submitted, faculty should refrain from entering final grades until the deadline for students to select their desired options (January 7)," Doyle said.
Person of interest identified, sources say
The man detained as a person of interest is Benjamin Erickson, 24, three senior law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation told NBC News.
Authorities are looking into what might be an extensive mental health history for Erickson, the sources said. A connection between Erickson and Brown is also being investigated, they added.
NYC increases local security measures in wake of recent shootings
At a security briefing today, New York Mayor Eric Adams addressed the shootings in Rhode Island, Brooklyn and Australia.
“We witnessed a tragedy that has swept our entire globe. We went to sleep with the horrific report of a mass shooting at Brown University. We woke up in the middle of the night to the news of a local one where six individuals, teenagers, young people were shot in Brooklyn, and we woke up this morning to hear about a devastating terrorist attack in Australia,” Adams said. “The shock, no words can adequately describe those feelings.”
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who also spoke at the briefing, said the city has deployed additional resources to college and university campuses as a precaution in the wake of the Brown University shooting, despite no active threat in NYC.
And after the attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Australia, she said, the city has also “significantly increased security around Hanukkah-related events.”
“You will see an enhanced uniform presence, specialized patrols, heavy weapons teams, community affairs officers, counterterrorism resources and bomb squad deployments where appropriate,” Tisch said.
Video shows students hiding between library shelves
Video uploaded online shows Brown students hiding on the floor between shelves in a university library as loud bangs are heard outside. Police later enter and escort the students outside.
The video was shared by Brown student Talia Levine, who said she was in the library but was not the original recorder.
Injured Brown students show 'remarkable' resilience and character, mayor says
Multiple students remain hospitalized, and Providence Mayor Brett Smiley recognized them for their "remarkable" resilience and hope following yesterday's attack.
Smiley met with some of the students, noting that some were not able to speak with him because of their conditions. There were some bright spots in the emotional visits, including one student who cracked a joke about finals being canceled, Smiley told NBC News.
Another student asked about the well-being of a schoolmate who he believed saved his life by pulling him out of the way of the gunfire, Smiley said.
"And so he's here in a hospital bed [with a] gunshot wound, worried about someone else. ... The character that shows is just incredible," Smiley said.
Police have not identified any of the students who were shot. Smiley said one of them students identified himself as a freshman during their visit.
Brown shooting comes almost exactly 13 years after Sandy Hook
Thirteen years ago today, a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, killed 20 children and six adult staff members.
The murder spree, remembered as one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history, was one of many that galvanized the public against continued gun violence in the country. Despite calls for firearm regulations, more than 2,000 school shootings have occurred isince then, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database.
Trump briefly addresses mass shootings
President Donald Trump briefly addressed the Brown University and Australia mass shootings while he was speaking at a White House holiday party before he went on to lavish praise on attendees and tout his administration.
“This is so great, and before we begin, however, I want to just pay my respects to the people,” Trump said after he entered to applause. “Unfortunately, two are no longer with us. Brown University, nine injured, and two are looking down on us right now from heaven.”
He called the university a “great school” and told the injured to “get well fast.”
“To the families of those two that are no longer with us, I pay my deepest regards and respects from the United States of America,” he said.
Trump also briefly discussed the attack in Australia, calling it a "terrible attack," as well as the attack on U.S. troops in Syria, saying, "There'll be big damage done."
Officials hope to file charges against person of interest soon, police chief says
Charges could be filed against a person of interest in the shooting as early as the next few hours, Providence’s police chief, Col. Oscar Perez, told NBC News following a press conference this afternoon.
Perez said the investigation remains ongoing but that police are confident that the man in custody is the suspected gunman. He added he wanted to ensure that all legal requirements are met before charges are brought.
"We're going to work with the attorney general's office to make sure that we have the right legal requirements for the charges," Perez said. "And this is, it's just complex. There's a lot of evidence, there's a lot of witnesses, and so we have to make sure that we have it all tight. And to make sure we have a good case."
Pereze said police cannot hold the person of interest beyond tomorrow if charges are not filed. He said he is hoping an arraignment will take place "sooner rather than later."
Kash Patel says Boston FBI office is analyzing the incident
FBI Director Kash Patel said the Boston field office, which has been assisting law enforcement in Rhode Island, has established a command post to investigate leads.
“We activated the FBI’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team, to provide critical geolocation capabilities,” Patel wrote on X, adding that its agents helped detain a person of interest this morning.
“We have deployed local and national resources to process and reconstruct the shooting scene — providing HQ and Lab elements on scene,” Patel wrote. “We set up a digital media intake portal to ingest images and video from the public related to this incident.”
One survivor told mayor active shooter drills helped yesterday
While visiting victims in the hospital today, Mayor Brett Smiley said a student told him something that both “provided me hope and was so sad.”
“One of the students that showed tremendous courage literally said to me, ‘You know, that active shooter drill they made me do in high school actually helped me in the moment,’” he said. “They shouldn’t have to do active shooter drills, but it helped. And the reason it helped, and the reason we do these drills, is because it’s so damn frequent.”
Person of interest is a man in his 20s, police say
Col. Oscar Perez, the Providence police chief, corrected prior information regarding the age of the man in custody.
The person of interest detained in the case is in his 20s, according to Perez, not his 30s as police had previously reported.
Victims' families have not all been notified, mayor says
Due to travel, Mayor Brett Smiley said, not all of the victims’ families have been notified. Until they all have, he said, officials cannot share details about the victims’ identities.
“It is around the holidays, and there are some people in transit, and so we need to allow for contact to be made before additional information is shared,” Smiley told reporters.
Detectives still working on collecting evidence, police say
Investigators are working with federal law enforcement to collect evidence and go through what's already been seized, according to Col. Oscar Perez, the chief of police in Providence.
FBI agents and law enforcement officials canvass the scene for clues where the suspect in the Brown University shooting was arrested at Hampton Inn Coventry Warwick in Coventry, R.I., on Sunday. Kyle Mazza / Anadolu via Getty Images
Perez added that the "investigation continues to progress extremely fast," crediting detectives with working through the night following yesterday's shooting. He declined to answer any questions about the identity of the person of interest who has been detained.
No confirmation on suspect's identity yet, mayor says
Mayor Brett Smiley said he cannot confirm or comment on ongoing speculation around the identity of the suspect.
“In the years that I have in this police department, we stand on grounded facts, not a speculation,” he said, adding that officials hope to update the public once they have “the appropriate and accurate information.”
“My goal is that we’re able to have that information as soon as possible,” Smiley told reporters. “But again, I tell you that, respectfully, I have the responsibility to respect the integrity of this investigation.”
Governor asks for state to 'do what Rhode Islanders do best' in face of tragedy
Rhode Island Gov. Daniel McKee urged the state to come together in the wake of the Brown University shooting yesterday, an incident that he says hits home for everyone in the state.
The state is committing to devoting mental health resources to help everyone affected by the shooting, McKee told reporters.
"To all Rhode Islanders, let’s do what we do best," McKee said. "Let’s stand by and support our neighbors when they most need it, and we stand ready to do exactly that."
Mayor says victims are receiving 'excellent medical care' at hospital
At the hospital earlier today, Mayor Brett Smiley said he was able to meet with some of the victims and their families.
“They are receiving excellent medical care, and I want to thank the professionals at Brown Health and Rhode Island Hospital,” Smiley said. “These folks, just like our law enforcement professionals, have been up all night working, but the level of care and professionalism that they are exhibiting is extraordinary.”
Vigil to take place tonight at Lippitt Memorial Park, mayor says
The Providence City Council is inviting the local community to gather at 5 p.m. this evening for a vigil at Lippitt Memorial Park, Mayor Brett Smiley told reporters. There was previously a plan to light a Christmas tree and a menorah for the first night of Hanukkah, he said.
“And for those who know at least a little bit of the Hanukkah story, it is quite clear that if we can come together as a community and shine a little bit of light tonight, I think there’s nothing better that we could be doing as a community,” Smiley said.
No update on shooting investigation, mayor says
There is no update on the Brown shooting investigation as officials are cautious about potentially compromising future charges, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley told reporters at a noon press conference.
"There is no reason to believe that we've hit any roadblocks other than to say that we are doing what we know how to do in cooperation with our law enforcement partners to ensure that we adequately, thoroughly investigate the situation," Smiley said. "And when we are ready to make a further announcement, we will do so."
Press conference starting shortly
Officials in Providence are slated to give further updates in a press conference around noon local time.
University has experienced an 'unimaginable' day, Brown president tells alumni
In a letter to university alumni, Brown University President Christina H. Paxson thanked the wider community for its offers of support following yesterday's shooting.
"The past 24 hours really have been unimaginable — it’s a tragedy that no university community is ever ready for," Paxson wrote. "While we always prepare for major crises, we also pray such a day never comes."
A person cries outside of the engineering and physics building at Brown University, the site of a mass shooting yesterday that left at least two people dead and nine others injured, on Sunday, in Providence, R.I. Spencer Platt / Getty Images
The university has reached out to families of all the victims to offer support, Paxson said. Students who were displaced from their residence halls were also taken care of as police locked down portions of campus in search for a suspect, according to the letter.
"We are a caring community, and I am moved by the many ways we continue to be there for one another," Paxson wrote. "My goal is for our community to work together to get through this difficult time and feel safe on our campus again."
Brown freshmen studying in building heard a stampede after shooter opened fire, they say
Two freshmen at Brown University were studying in the building where a gunman entered and opened fire yesterday afternoon, they told NBC News.
Both students, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said they did not encounter the gunman but personally knew people who were in the room with the shooter at one point. They described hearing loud noises and what sounded like a stampede before they ran out themselves.
One of the students said he saw a girl who appeared unresponsive lying in a doorway.
A police car was already outside as they ran outside themselves, the other student said. He stayed at a friend’s house the entire night as the occupants huddled in one room together with the windows closed and the door barricaded with a refrigerator.
He said he was frustrated that the gunman was initially able to get away after the shooting, he said.
What we know about the Brown University shooting that killed 2 and injured 9
A person of interest is in custody after a gunman killed two people and injured nine others at Brown University’s engineering and physics building in Providence, Rhode Island, yesterday, officials said.
The unidentified gunman left after the shooting at the Barus & Holley building, on the eastern edge of the campus, Cmdr. Timothy O’Hara, deputy chief of Providence police, said last night.
People in the area were advised to shelter in place amid an active manhunt.
A person of interest has been detained in connection with the shooting, city officials said this morning. The individual is an adult in their 30s, but police did not release any additional details.
For two Brown University students, school shooting was not their first
Amid the scores of fearful and worried students following Saturday’s shooting at Brown University were two who have been here before.
Mia Tretta, 21, was shot in the 2019 mass shooting at Saugus High School, about 40 miles north of Los Angeles. A 16-year-old boy carried out that attack, killing two, including Tretta’s best friend, and injuring three before fatally shooting himself.
Zoe Weissman, 20, attended Westglades Middle School, adjacent to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, when a former student opened fire, killing 17, in 2018.
Neither Tretta nor Weissman expected to experience a mass shooting again.
Brown University cancels remaining fall semester classes
All remaining undergraduate, graduate and medical classes, exams, papers and projects for the fall 2025 semester will not take place as scheduled, Brown University Provost Francis J. Doyle said in a statement today.
“This choice was made out of our profound concern for all students, faculty and staff on our campus,” Doyle said. “In the immediate aftermath of these devastating events, we recognize that learning and assessment are significantly hindered in the short term and that many students and others will wish to depart campus.”
Doyle said students are free to leave campus if they are able, but students who remain will have access to on-campus services and support.
“We know there will be many academic concerns about the implications of not holding classes and exams as scheduled,” the statement said. “We will follow up with more information in the coming days.”
Community can 'breathe a sigh of relief' with person of interest in custody, mayor says
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley assured residents in the community that they could "breathe a sigh of relief" knowing that a person of interest has been detained in connection with yesterday's shooting.
Smiley praised law enforcement for their work, noting that an investigation is still underway to assure that charges can be filed against the person responsible for the shooting. Smiley also reminded residents that there are still people at the hospital receiving treatment.
"My message for the Providence community is, one, they should feel safer this morning than they did when they went to bed last night," Smiley said. "But they should continue to do what we're doing, which is to focus our efforts on sending prayers and positive thoughts to those who are recovering at the hospital."
Suspect is in custody after shooting, officials say
Two senior law enforcement officials briefed on the matter say a suspect is in custody in connection with the shooting.
The man had a unique characteristic on his firearm, the officials said, and that firearm was found when he was taken into custody.
The person has not been identified and has not yet been charged.
