Police have person of interest in custody over Brown University deadly shooting

PROVIDENCE R I AP Police in Rhode Island stated early Sunday that they had a person of interest in custody over the shooting at Brown University campus that killed two people and wounded nine others Police spokesperson Kristy dosReis verified the information A news conference was called for a m to provide more details Hundreds of police officers had been scouring the Brown University campus along with nearby neighborhoods and poring over video in the hunt for the shooter who opened fire in a classroom The shooting erupted Saturday afternoon in the engineering building of the Ivy League school in Providence Rhode Island during final exams Surveillance video circulated by police shows the suspect dressed in black calmly walking away from the scene His face is not visible and investigators reported it wasn t clear whether the suspect is a trainee The suspect was last seen leaving the engineering building and certain bystanders explained police the suspect who could be in his s may have been wearing a camouflage mask Providence Police Deputy Chief Timothy O Hara commented University President Christina Paxson revealed she was notified people who were shot were students Another person was injured by fragments from the shooting but it was not clear if the victim was a aspirant she revealed The search for the shooter paralyzed the campus the nearby neighborhoods filled with stately brick homes and the downtown in Rhode Island s capital city Streets normally bustling with activity on weekends were eerily quiet Students sheltered in place for hours into the night Officers in tactical gear led students out of several campus buildings and into a fitness center where they waited Others arrived at the shelter on buses without jackets or any belongings Mayor advised people to stay home Investigators were not instantly sure how the shooter got inside the first-floor classroom Outer doors of the building were unlocked but rooms being used for final exams required badge access Providence Mayor Brett Smiley stated He encouraged people living near the campus to stay inside or not return home until a shelter-in-place order was lifted The Brown society s heart is developing and Providence s heart is emerging along with it Smiley commented Bureaucrats believe the shooter used a handgun according to a law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss an ongoing probe and spoke on condition of anonymity Democratic Gov Dan McKee vowed that all materials were being deployed to catch the suspect Rhode Island has specific of the strictest gun laws in the U S Nine people with gunshot wounds were taken to Rhode Island Hospital where one was in critical condition Six required intensive care but were not getting worse and two were stable hospital spokesperson Kelly Brennan stated Exams were underway during shooting Engineering design exams were underway when the shooting occurred in the Barus Holley building a seven-story complex that houses the School of Engineering and physics department The building includes more than laboratories dozens of classrooms and offices according to the university s website Emma Ferraro a chemical engineering apprentice was in the building s lobby working on a final project when she heard loud pops coming from the east side Once she realized they were gunshots she darted for the door and ran to a nearby building where she sheltered for several hours Former Survivor contestant just left the building Eva Erickson a doctoral candidate who was the runner-up earlier this year on the CBS reality competition show Survivor disclosed she left her lab in the engineering building minutes before shots rang out The engineering and thermal science learner shared candid moments on Survivor as the show s first openly autistic contestant She was locked down in the campus gym following the shooting and shared on social media that the only other member of her lab who was present was safely evacuated Brown senior biochemistry scholar Alex Bruce was working on a final research project in his dorm directly across the street from the building when he heard sirens outside I m just in here shaking he noted watching through the window as armed officers surrounded his dorm Students hid under desks Students in a nearby lab turned off the lights and hid under desks after receiving an alert about the shooting explained Chiangheng Chien a doctoral apprentice in engineering who was about a block away from the scene Mari Camara a junior from New York City was coming out of the library and rushed inside a taqueria to seek shelter She spent more than three hours there texting friends while police searched the campus Everyone is the same as me shocked and terrified that something like this happened she revealed Brown the seventh oldest higher mentoring institution in the U S is one of the nation s the majority prestigious colleges with roughly undergraduates and more than graduate students Tuition housing and other fees run to nearly per year according to the university Associated Press journalists Alanna Durkin Richer Mike Balsamo and Seung Min Kim in Washington Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City Jack Dura in Bismarck North Dakota Martha Bellisle in Seattle and John Seewer in Toledo Ohio contributed Source