On December 13, 2025, a mass shooting occurred at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, in the United States, during the second day of final examination week for the fall semester.[2] Two students were killed and nine other people were wounded during the attack as students sat for final exams.[3]
Brown University is an Ivy League university in the College Hill neighborhood of Providence, where it owns more than 230 buildings. In 2023, it enrolled about 11,500 undergraduate, graduate, and medical students.[3][4][5]
About 4:05 p.m. EST on December 13, 2025, a single gunman shot eleven people in the Brown University School of Engineering's Barus and Holley Building, which also houses the university's physics department.[6][3] Most of the shooting was inside the first-floor, 186-seat[7] Room 166[7] where a 21-year-old teaching assistant was leading a review session for the final exam of Professor Rachel Friedberg's introductory economics class. Friedberg was not present.[8][9][10] It was the second day of the school's final examination week for the fall 2025 semester.[11]
The building was unlocked.[2] It is unknown how the shooter entered the building, but authorities said he exited on the Hope Street side.[12][13]
At 4:22 p.m., the university's Public Safety and Emergency Management issued the first alert message to the campus community about "an active shooter near Barus & Holley Engineering".[14][15]
At 5:27 p.m., the university sent an alert message about reported gunfire near Governor Street; it retracted the message at 6:10 p.m., calling the report "unfounded."[16][17]
At least six of the wounded were students, according to Brown University president Christina Paxson.[23] All nine were transported to the university-affiliated Rhode Island Hospital for gun-related injuries.[24][7] As of 12 a.m. EST on December 14, one patient was in critical condition, six patients were in critical but stable condition and two patients were in stable condition.[25][26]
The Brown University Department of Public Safety sent an alert at 4:50 p.m. erroneously reporting that a suspect was in custody, but it sent a correction 20 minutes later.[6] The Providence Police Department released security footage of a suspect shortly after a press conference around 10 p.m.,[3] which two days later remained the "clearest picture we have of the individual we believe to be responsible", according to Providence mayor Smiley.[29] On December 15, Providence Police released another video.[30] Authorities asked nearby residents for any relevant video footage from smart doorbells.[31]
The morning after the shooting, acting on information from Providence Police, the FBI raided a hotel 20 miles from Providence and detained a man.[32] FBI agents also raided a home in another state, where the local police department confirmed that the FBI was investigating the shooting. The FBI declined to comment on the raid.[33] The detained man was released the same day. Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said, "There is no basis to consider him a person of interest".[34][35] The ballistics evidence from the crime did not match the gun in the man's possession.[36]
Reactions
Memorial flowers at Brown's Engineering Research Center
Schools
Brown University provost Francis J. Doyle III announced that classes and exams for the rest of the fall term were canceled.[37]
Kendall Turner, one of the victims of the shooting who is in critical condition, was a recent graduate of Durham Academy in Durham, North Carolina.[41][42] This led the school to release a statement, stating in part, "Our school community is rallying around Kendall, her classmates, and her loved ones, and we will continue to offer our full support in the days ahead".[43]
Politicians
On the afternoon of the shooting, United States President Donald Trump said, "Things can happen. So to the nine injured - get well fast; and to the families of those two that are no longer with us, I pay my deepest regards and respects from the United States of America."[44] Later, on social media, Trump posted, "God bless the victims and the families of the victims!"[45]
Massachusetts governor Maura Healey expressed her support for the victims of the shooting.[46]
Alabama Senator Katie Boyd Britt released a statement mourning the death of Ella Cook.[18]
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