Manhunt continues after two dead in shooting at Brown University

A manhunt is underway after two students were killed and nine other people were injured in a shooting at Brown University in Rhode Island.

Authorities say the gunman opened fire in a classroom around 4:00 p.m. local time (9:00 p.m. GMT) on Saturday in the Barus and Holley engineering building on the east end of the Ivy League university’s campus, where final exams were being held.

Rhode Island Hospital officials said most of the injured are in “critical but stable” condition and that the hospital is “on lockdown” while the suspect remains at large.

A shelter-in-place warning remains in place for the Brown University metropolitan area.

Authorities have not yet revealed the identities of those killed or injured.

“This is a day we hoped would never come to our community. It is deeply devastating for all of us,” Brown University President Christina Paxson said in a statement.

Police have released limited information about the suspect. However, they provided CCTV footage of him leaving the building after the shooting.

Neither the suspect’s face nor a weapon is seen in the video.

Providence Deputy Police Chief Tim O’Hara said the suspect is a man dressed all in black and appeared to be in his thirties.

“We are using every resource possible to find this suspect,” he said.

The Barus and Holley Engineering Building is a seven-story building that includes 117 laboratories, dozens of classrooms and three conference rooms.

An economics professor told local public outlet Ocean State Radio that the shooting had occurred during a review session for her course, which was led by her teaching assistant.

“He said the shooter came through the doors, yelled something (he didn’t remember what he yelled) and started shooting,” Rachel Friedberg said.

“Students began to fight to try to get away from the shooter, trying to get further down into the stadium seats, and people were shot,” he added.

Authorities cleared the building Saturday afternoon but did not find the suspect or a weapon.

They said the gunman used a firearm but they had no information on what type.

Residents of the Brown University metropolitan area have been told to stay home and stay indoors, or stay away until the lockdown is lifted.

In a statement, the university said law enforcement would enter non-residential buildings to escort people to safety. Other people in residential buildings should continue to shelter in place.

Boston Globe reporter Steph Machado told BBC News that restaurants around campus have locked their doors and staff and customers are waiting inside until the emergency order is lifted.

“There are flashing lights everywhere,” he said.

The scramble after the shooting by officials became clear when the university reported that a suspect had been detained Saturday afternoon before retracting the information shortly thereafter.

Smiley confirmed that police had briefly detained someone who, after questioning, was found to have had no involvement in the attack.

Mari Camara, 20, a student at Brown University in New York City, told the Associated Press she was leaving the library and rushed into a restaurant to seek shelter during the shooting. She spent the next three hours hiding there.

“Everyone is just like me, shocked and terrified that something like this happened,” Camara said.

University exams scheduled for Saturday have been cancelled, said chancellor Frank Doyle.

President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters as he returned to the White House after attending the annual Army-Navy football game, described the shooting as “a terrible thing.”

“All we can do now is pray for the victims and those who were seriously injured,” he said.

Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee said in a statement: “Our capital experienced an unthinkable tragedy today. Our hearts go out to the people of Providence and all those affected.”

Brown University, one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the United States, is part of the Ivy League, a group of elite universities in the northeast of the country.

The university, which has more than 11,000 students, is located in Providence, the capital of Rhode Island, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Boston and 180 miles (290 kilometers) from New York City.

The campus attack brings the number of mass shootings in the US this year to 389, according to the independent analysis website Gun Violence Archive (GVA).

It defines mass shootings as those in which four or more victims are killed or injured, not including the attacker.