Providence Police Department security video footage of person of interest leaving shooting scene.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Two students are dead and nine wounded after a gunman opened fire in the Barus & Holley engineering and physics building at Brown University on Saturday at around 4 p.m.

Authorities said a person of interest in his 20s was taken into custody Sunday at a hotel in Coventry, R.I., about 28 miles from Providence.

At 1 p.m. Sunday Providence Mayor Brett Smiley spoke at a news conference in which he praised all law enforcement involved, medical personnel and also the students who survived after he visited some of them in the hospital.

“It’s clear that our community is still in shock…” Smiley said.

“These survivors are receiving excellent care and the resilience the survivors showed and shared with me is frankly overwhelming,” Smiley said.

On X, formerly called Twitter, FBI Director Kash Patel posted the following: “@FBIBoston established a command post to intake, develop and analyze leads, and run them to ground. We activated the FBI’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team, to provide critical geolocation capabilities. As a result, early this morning, FBI Boston’s Safe Streets Task Force, with assistance from the @USMarshalsHQ & the @Coventry_RI_PD, detained a person of interest in a hotel room in Coventry, RI, based off a lead by the @ProvidenceRIPD.

“We have deployed local and national resources to process and reconstruct the shooting scene – providing HQ and Lab elements on scene. We set up a digital media intake portal to ingest images and video from the public related to this incident. And the FBI’s victim specialists are fully integrating with our partners to provide resources to victims and survivors of this horrific violence. This FBI will continue an all out 24/7 campaign until justice is fully served. Thanks to the men and women of the FBI and our partners for their continued teamwork. Please continue praying for the victims and their families – as well as all those at Brown University,” Patel posted.

Brown University President Christina Paxson issued this statement: “With deep sorrow, I write today to our extended family of Brown alumni and friends to share that our campus remains in deep mourning after losing two members of our community to gun violence. Two students died yesterday during an active shooting incident, one remains in critical but stable condition, and the Brown campus remained on lockdown overnight.

“On Sunday morning, police advised the University that the shelter in place order has ended for our full campus, and law enforcement officials shared publicly they have identified and detained a person of interest in their investigation.

“The past 24 hours really have been unimaginable — it’s a tragedy that no university community is ever ready for. While we always prepare for major crises, we also pray such a day never comes. I want to thank the many alumni who have written and called to offer their support as we have been focused on ensuring the safety of the campus and supporting our students.”

Paxson said the university alerted the campus at 4:22 p.m. Saturday to an active shooter incident.

“We immediately informed our community to shelter in place by locking doors, silencing phones and staying hidden until further notice. We were able to evacuate students who were in the active crime zone to a safe location, where we provided support.

“We were in communication with the evacuated students and encouraged them to be sure to be in regular touch with their families, especially to allay concerns about their physical safety. We provided support and food to students who were evacuated to an emergency site and not able to return to their residences. 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,” she said.

“Given these deeply tragic events, all remaining undergraduate, graduate and medical classes, exams, and papers or projects for the Fall 2025 semester will not take place as scheduled,” Paxson said.

“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, one student remains in critical condition, and one student was treated yesterday and released. This is in addition to the two students who were fatal victims of the shooting. Our prayers continue to be with them and their families.”