A person of interest has been arrested in the mass shooting at Brown University that left two people dead and nine others wounded, authorities said Sunday morning.
The person is a 24-year-old man from Wisconsin, multiple law enforcement sources told The Associated Press. He was arrested at a Hampton Inn in Coventry, R.I., about 15 miles south of Brown’s campus in Providence, according to the FBI.
Cops previously said a man believed to be the shooter was spotted on surveillance cameras walking calmly away from the scene. He was wearing dark clothing.
Ten of the victims have not been publicly identified, though officials confirmed they were students at the Ivy League school who were studying for final exams. One of the injured victims was Kendall Turner, a recent graduate from a private academy in Durham, N.C., her family said.
“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,” Durham Academy said in a statement.
A shelter-in-place order for Brown and surrounding neighborhoods was lifted Sunday following the arrest.
“Everybody’s reeling, and we have a lot of recovery ahead of us,” Brown University President Christina Paxson said Sunday at a press conference. “Our community’s strong and we’ll get through it, but it’s devastating.”
The shooting began shortly after 4 p.m. Saturday inside the Barus & Holley building, which includes Brown’s engineering school and physics department. The targeted classroom was hosting a final exam review session, school leaders said.
Cops said the shooter fired 40 rounds from a handgun before fleeing the scene. Officers recovered two 30-round magazines but have not located the weapon, authorities said Sunday morning.
FBI agents tracked the man to the hotel using his cell phone’s geolocation data, FBI Director Kash Patel said in a social media post. They were acting on information from the Providence police department. Two handguns were recovered during the arrest, cops said.
“We all, intellectually, knew it could happen anywhere, including here, but that’s not the same as it happening in our community,” Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said Sunday morning.
Brown canceled all remaining classes, exams, assignments and projects for the fall semester, which was scheduled to end on Dec. 20. The school told students they could go home.
The shooting occurred hours before another mass shooting on the other side of the globe, in which 15 people were killed and more than 40 others wounded in a terror attack on Chanukah celebrations at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.
With News Wire Services
