Law enforcement officials have a person of interest in custody connected to a shooting at Brown University that left two dead and nine injured on Saturday.
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley announced that the city was lifting its shelter-in-place alert for the affected area after the person of interest was detained early Sunday morning.
“I want to offer my profound thanks to all the hard-working men and women in law enforcement who work through the night to be able to get us to this point where we can confirm that there is a person of interest who has been detained,” Smiley said during a Sunday morning press conference.
Providence police, the FBI, and state police worked through Saturday evening into Sunday morning to find and detain the person of interest, Smiley said. He also provided an update on the condition of the nine injured individuals who were receiving care at Rhode Island Hospital.
“There remain seven individuals in stable condition, one in critical but stable condition, and one has been discharged,” Smiley said.
Col. Oscar Perez of the Providence Police Department said the investigation is still ongoing during the press conference, calling it an “all-hands-on-deck” process. He said the person of interest is in their 30s but did not comment on whether or not the person was related to Brown University.
“We’re in the process now of coordinating with prosecution, conducting interviews, and being able to collect evidence so that we can protect the integrity of the investigation and that we can hold the individuals accountable for their actions,” Perez said.
Brown University President Christina Paxson confirmed it was her understanding that the shooting occurred inside a final exam review for an economics class.
“Everybody is reeling and we have a lot of recovery ahead of us. So my main goal in the coming days and weeks and months, it will take a long time, is to bring people back together and help them feel safe and secure on campus,” Paxson said.
TWO DEAD, NINE INJURED IN MASS SHOOTING AT BROWN UNIVERSITY
Gov. Dan McKee (D-RI) said state police will remain on alert in order to have a “sense of calmness in the state.” Smiley said the extra police presence is for the “comfort and reassurance” of the Providence community and that it should not cause extra alarm.
“We’ll keep our state police out there. We’ll continue to work with the city of Providence, and, of course, Brown University, to make sure that everything is being done possible,” McKee said.