United States: Two Dead in Shooting at Brown University Campus

Two people have died and eight others have been seriously injured following a shooting at Brown University, one of the most prestigious universities in the United States, local authorities reported on Saturday.

"We currently do not have a suspect in custody, and a shelter-in-place order is in effect," said Brett Smiley, the mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, during a press conference.

The eight seriously injured individuals are in stable condition, the mayor confirmed.

"Unfortunately, this is a day that the city of Providence and the state of Rhode Island prayed would never come," lamented Brett Smiley, referencing the ongoing gun violence tragedies across the United States.

According to Frank Doyle, an official with Brown University, the shooting took place in the engineering and physics building, where exams were being conducted.

Providence Police Chief Tim O'Hara noted that preliminary information indicated the suspect was "a man dressed in black."

No weapons have been located by authorities so far.

Donald Trump stated on his Truth Social platform that he had been informed of the situation and that federal police, the FBI, were on the scene.

After initially claiming that the suspect had been arrested, the U.S. president published a second message clarifying that local police had retracted that announcement. "The suspect has NOT been arrested," he specified.

"Pray for the Victims"

Upon returning to the White House after attending a college football game, Donald Trump remarked: "What a terrible thing."

"All we can do for now is pray for the victims," added the U.S. president.

With more guns in circulation than there are people, the United States has the highest gun-related mortality rate of any developed nation.

Mass shootings are a recurring plague that successive governments have so far failed to control, with many Americans remaining deeply attached to their right to bear arms, guaranteed by the Constitution.

In 2024, over 16,000 people, not including suicides, were killed by gunfire, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Recent American history has been marked by mass shootings, with no aspect of daily life seeming safe—ranging from workplaces to churches, supermarkets to nightclubs, and public streets to public transport.

Among all these massacres, those occurring in schools or targeting children leave a particularly strong mark on collective memory. In 2022, the city of Uvalde, Texas, was deeply mournful after a shooting at an elementary school, which resulted in the deaths of 19 students and two teachers.