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An active shooter was on the campus of Brown University on Saturday evening, with the Ivy League school in the northeastern state of Rhode Island saying the perpetrator was still at large.
“There’s an active shooter situation near Barus and Holley. Brown and Providence Police are on scene,” the school said in an emergency alert, urging people to shelter in place.
After initially saying a suspect had been detained, Brown issued an update less than an hour later that “police do not have a suspect in custody and continue to search for suspect(s).”
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The unversity sent out a second emergency alert just before 5 p.m. claiming a suspect has been arrrested before retracting that statement minutes later.
“One suspect in custody. Lock doors, silence phones and stay hidden until further notice,” the university wrote.
“Continue to shelter in place. Remain away from Barus & Holley area. Police do not have a suspect in custody and continue to search for suspect(s),” the retraction added.
“It was honestly quite terrifying,” student Katie Sun, who was studying in the Engineering Research Center lobby when she heard gunshots around 4:10pm, told the The Brown Daily Herald, the school’s newspaper. “The shots seemed like they were coming from … where the classrooms are.”
Saturday was the second day of final exams for the fall semester.
Multiple law enforcement agencies were on the scene, Brown said, along with emergency medical responders.
Several buildings across campus have been put on lockdown.
Sun said she evacuated the building, leaving behind her belongings, and ran to her dorm.
Video footage obtained by the student paper showed police officers assisting several victims on the ground near the Sciences Library.
The prestigious university in Providence, near Boston, has about 11,000 students.
