Dear Brown Parents and Families,

This is a deeply tragic day for Brown, our families and our local community There are truly no words that can express the deep sorrow we are feeling for the victims of the shooting that took place today at the Barus & Holley engineering and physics building on our campus today.

I am sure that many of you have learned that, at 4:22 p.m., we alerted the campus to an active shooter incident near Barus & Holley. We immediately informed our community to shelter in place by locking doors, silencing phones and staying hidden until further notice.

We lost two community members who were fatal victims of the shooting, and at this point, we know there are at least eight additional victims who were transported to the hospital. In this moment, they are in critical but stable condition, but this is an evolving situation. Our hearts are with their families.

Our Department of Public Safety has been working closely with law enforcement and has been informed that the suspect is still at large and the situation remains active. We know this is a source of tremendous fear and anxiety across our community and for our families right now. While DPS was at one point informed that there was an individual in custody, that person was determined not to be a shooting suspect after questioning. Therefore, we urge all members of our community to remain vigilant. We continue to be in lockdown, and it is imperative that all members of our community remain sheltered in place. This means keeping all doors locked and ensuring no movement across campus.

We fully understand that some parents have concerns about students remaining on campus. We are asking any students who were in Barus & Holley this afternoon to speak to police before leaving the area. Also, we continue to be on lockdown, and ensuring everyone’s safety is a priority.

I know that our community and families want answers, and we will provide them as soon as we can. For now, please know we are doing all we can to keep our community safe and have mobilized support for the students and their families. I encourage you to read the updates being provided via the Brown.edu website about this emergency. We are committed to providing updates as soon as information is available.

As we have shared in regular alerts to our campus, law enforcement is actively working to identify the community members who lost their lives, and we are working with local hospitals to identify those transported for care and to follow up with their families. Even when we have that information, we may not be able to release it to our community. In the meantime, I have asked all students, faculty and staff to please be in touch directly with their families to let them know they are safe. We know you are very worried about the safety and wellbeing of your students.

This is a day that we hoped would never come to our community. It is deeply devastating for all of us. We are grateful to law enforcement for their immediate response and their ongoing work to ensure the safety of our community. We are asking all members of our community to continue to take all steps to be safe.

Sincerely,

Christina H. Paxson
President