PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A shooter dressed in black killed at least two people and wounded nine others on Brown University’s campus on Saturday during final exams on the Ivy League campus, authorities said, and police were searching for the suspect. University President Christina Paxson said she was t old that 10 people who were shot were students. Another person was injured by fragments from the shooting, but it was not clear if that victim was a student, she said. Officers scattered across the campus and into a neighborhood filled with stately brick homes, searching academic buildings, backyards and porches for hours after the shooting erupted. The suspect was a male in dark clothing who was last seen leaving the engineering building where the attack happened, said Timothy O’Hara, deputy chief of police. Authorities believe he used a handgun, according to a source. Security footage showed the suspect walking away from the building, but his face was not visible. Some witnesses reported that the man, who could be in his 30s, may have been wearing a camouflage mask, O’Hara said. Investigators were not yet sure how the shooter got inside the first-floor classroom where he opened fire. Outer doors of the building were unlocked, but rooms being used for final exams required badge access, Providence’s mayor said. Mayor Brett Smiley said a shelter-in-place was in effect for the area and encouraged people living near the campus to stay inside and not to return home until it is lifted. “We have all available resources” to find the suspect, Smiley said. Law enforcement officers carry rifles while walking on a street in a neighborhood near Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, during the investigation of a campus mass shooting. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) The eight wounded people were in critical but stable condition, the mayor said. He declined to say whether the victims were students. University officials initially told students and staff that a suspect was in custody, before later saying that was not the case and that police were still searching for a suspect or suspects, according to alerts issued through Brown’s emergency notification system. The mayor said a person preliminarily thought to be involved was detained but was later determined to have no involvement. “We’re still getting information about what’s going on, but we’re just telling people to lock their doors and to stay vigilant,” said Providence Councilmember John Goncalves, whose ward includes the Brown campus. “As a Brown alum, someone who loves the Brown community and represents this area, I’m heartbroken. My heart goes out to all the family members and the folks who’ve been impacted.” Police officers and first responders gather at Waterman St. and Thayer in response to a shooting, in Providence, R.I., Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Jen McDermott) Nearly five hours after the shooting, officers in tactical gear led students out of some campus buildings and into a fitness center. The shooting occurred near the Barus Holley building, a seven-story complex that houses the university’s School of Engineering and physics department. According to the university’s website, the building includes more than 100 laboratories, dozens of classrooms and offices. Engineering design exams were underway in the building when the shooting occurred. Brown senior biochemistry student Alex Bruce was working on a final research project in his dorm directly across the street from the building when he heard sirens outside and received a text about an active shooter shortly after 4 p.m. “I’m just in here shaking,” he said, watching through the window as a half-dozen armed officers in tactical gear surrounded his dorm. He said he feared for a friend who he thought was inside the engineering building at the time. Students in a nearby lab hid under desks and turned off the lights after receiving an alert about the shooting, said Chiangheng Chien, a doctoral student in engineering who was about a block away from the scene. A law enforcement officer walks past articles of clothing on a sidewalk near an entrance to Brown University, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Providence, R.I., during the investigation of a campus mass shooting. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) Students were urged to shelter in place as police responded to the scene, and people were told to avoid the area. A police officer warned media to take cover in vehicles because the area was still an active scene. President Donald Trump said late in the afternoon that he has been briefed on the shooting. “God bless the victims and the families of the victims!” he said on his Truth Social site. The FBI said it was assisting in the response. Mass shooters frequently use semiautomatic rifles to wreak their carnage. But authorities believe the Brown shooter used a handgun, according to a law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity. Ambulances line Hope St. at Brown University in Providence, R.I., Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, during reports of a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell) Rhode Island has some of the strictest gun laws in the U.S. Last spring the Democratic-controlled Legislature passed an assault weapon ban that will prohibit the sale and manufacturing of certain high-powered firearms, but not their possession, starting next July. Brown is a private institution with roughly 7,300 undergraduate students and more than 3,000 graduate students. Saturday was the second day of final exams for the fall semester. ...read more read less