Providence community reels from deadly shooting and lockdown at Brown University

John Yang:

Good evening. I'm John Yang. Tonight, two communities half a world apart are struggling with the aftermath of a mass shooting. In Sydney, two gunmen killed at least 15 people celebrating Hanukkah on Australia's most famous beach. Authorities call it a terrorist attack on Jewish Australians.

And we begin in Providence, Rhode Island, where two Brown University students were killed and nine others wounded when a man opened fire in a classroom where a review session for an economics exam was going on. Authorities say a person of interest described as a man in his 20s, was taken into custody at a hotel about 20 miles from Providence.

John Yang (voice-over):

Today, police patrolled the streets around the Brown University campus as snow fell. It was a stark contrast to last night when police responded in force to reports of an active shooter. They searched the campus for a suspect.

Students were told to shelter in place. For some, that meant a classroom. Others were escorted to an athletic center. Engineering student Chiangheng Chien was working in a lab when the alert went out.

Chiangheng Chien, Student, Brown University:

We decided to close all the doors and turn all the light off and hide under the desks and wait for the next notification.

John Yang (voice-over):

Another witness described the scene last night.

Jiv Daya, Witness:

Someone was getting CPR. I've seen a few people getting carried out on stretchers.

John Yang (voice-over):

Video from surveillance cameras show a figure coming out of the building where the shooting took place. Police won't say if it led them to the man they took into custody. This morning, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley reflected on this difficult time.

Mayor Brett Smiley, Providence, Rhode Island:

We knew it could happen anywhere, including here, but that's not the same as it happening in our community. And so this is an incredibly upsetting and emotional time for Providence, for Brown, for all of us.

John Yang (voice-over):

School officials have cancelled classes and exams for the rest of the year. Many students will head home for the holidays. What should be a joyous time now, shattered by the tragic cycle of gun violence.

John Yang:

It's a sad sign of the times that this was not a new experience for at least two Brown students. They had been through shootings at their high schools.

Ian Donnis is a reporter at Ocean State Media, which is Rhode Island's PBS and NPR stations. Ian, is there any new on the investigation?

Ian Donnis, Political Reporter, Ocean State Media:

The most significant development, John, is that early Sunday, law enforcement took into custody a person of interest at a hotel in Coventry, about 25 miles southwest from Providence. Officials been very guarded in releasing information about the suspect. They say they don't want to compromise the information.

One of the few things we know is that he's a man in his 20s. FBI Director Kash Patel on X tweeted that the FBI helped to locate the person through cell phone tracking and a tip from Providence police. But the Providence authority has been very guarded in saying anything beyond that.

John Yang:

They haven't said much about motive, but is there any speculation about the building that he chose for this attack?

Ian Donnis:

It certainly raises a lot of questions. The place where the shooting took place is an engineering and physics building where an exam was being given. That's a very specific location. If a mass shooter wanted to create the most carnage, that's probably not the place they would go.

But officials have not said whether the person of interest had any prior connection with Brown University. So that is an obvious question to follow. And as you say, they have not cited anything as far as locomotive at this point.

John Yang:

What do we know about the status of the students who were wounded?

Ian Donnis:

There's some better news about that today. Officials said that seven of the nine injured are now in stable condition. That's improvement from Saturday when they were critical. One person is still critical but stable, and one of the injured has been discharged from the hospital.

John Yang:

And the briefing earlier, I know that there was they offered a reason why the names of the two victims haven't been released.

Ian Donnis:

Yes. The mayor of Providence said not all the families had been notified yet and that was the explanation for why there have not been identification yet of the two students who were killed and the other people who were injured.

John Yang:

And he said at least one of the families was traveling so that they're difficult to reach.

What's the correct what's the situation on campus or what's the mood on campus right now?

Ian Donnis:

Well, this takes place in Rhode Island, the small state in the nation where we're all pretty closely connected with one another. There was clearly a lot of anxiety and concern when the shooter was considered still at large yesterday. Officials had put a shelter in place order in effect that was lifted after the person of interest was apprehended today.

I think there's a lot of sadness. You know, certainly Rhode Island has experienced gun violence in the form of crime and even shootouts with people involved in crime. But there's never been a mass shooting of this type and there's a lot of sadness.

Brown University President Christina Paxson said the campus is reeling and that it will take a long time for people to cope with this. State and city officials have made counseling resources to try and assist in that effort, but it's a difficult journey.

John Yang:

At Brown, is there any discussion or any concern about how easily this suspect was able to enter a classroom building?

Ian Donnis:

Indications were that access was a little bit easier to this building because exams were being given. University officials said when exams are being given like that, the outside doors to buildings are open.

As they explained it, usually someone has to check in the evening, but there a lot of porous place in an open society. And how to stop something like this against a person intent on committing violence is just a really tough question to resolve.

John Yang:

Ian Donnis of Ocean State Media in Rhode Island, thank you very much.

Ian Donnis:

Thank you, John.

John Yang:

There's late word since we spoke with Ian that authorities have identified the person of interest as 24-year-old Benjamin Erickson. There are no other details.