A tragic incident unfolded at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, over the weekend, resulting in two fatalities and leaving at least eight others critically injured. As of the hours following the event, authorities were actively pursuing the perpetrator responsible for the attack.
The shooting erupted on a Saturday afternoon within a campus building during the university’s exam period. Witnesses reported that the suspect, clad in black attire, fled the scene on foot, according to official statements.
In response to the violence, a shelter-in-place order was issued for the university’s surrounding area. Providence Mayor Brett Smiley assured the public that “all available resources” are being utilized in the search for the suspect.
“It is with great sadness that we face a day we hoped would never come,” Mayor Smiley commented. “We’ve seen the devastating effects of gun violence and active shooter situations in other regions, but not within our own community.”
Brown University is a private educational institution, hosting approximately 7,300 undergraduates and over 3,000 graduate students.
For context, here is an examination of other significant incidents of gun violence on college campuses across the United States in recent years:
KENTUCKY STATE UNIVERSITY: December 2025, 1 dead
A shooting at a residence hall at the public historically Black university left one student dead and another critically injured. The suspect, who is a parent of a student, faces murder and assault charges.
UTAH VALLEY UNIVERSITY: September 2025, 1 dead
Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed while speaking on campus during one of his political events, sending hundreds of people running. A 22-year-old suspect faces aggravated murder in connection with Kirk’s death. Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty.
FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY: April 2025, 2 dead
Two died and six were wounded in a shooting at Florida State University in Tallahassee. A 21-year-old man has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted first-degree murder in connection with the shooting.
UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, LAS VEGAS: December 2023, 3 dead
A 67-year-old former business professor, whose applications to teach at UNLV had been rejected, opened fire in the building housing the university’s business school, killing three professors and badly wounding a fourth. The gunman was killed in a shootout with police outside the building.
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: February 2023, 3 dead
A 43-year-old gunman fired inside an academic building and the student union, killing three students and injuring five others. He later killed himself miles away from the campus in East Lansing while being confronted by police.
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: November 2022, 3 dead
A student and former member of the school’s football team fatally shot three current players aboard a charter bus as they returned from a field trip, setting off panic and a 12-hour lockdown of the campus until the suspect was captured. Two other students were also wounded on the campus. The shooter has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and other charges and is awaiting sentencing.
NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY: October 2015, 1 dead
Just weeks into his freshman year, a student walked onto the campus in Flagstaff and opened fire. One student was killed and three others were wounded in the first deadly shooting since the university was founded in 1899. The shooter later pleaded guilty to manslaughter and aggravated assault and was sentenced to six years in prison.
UMPQUA COMMUNITY COLLEGE: October 2015, 9 dead
A 26-year-old man opened fire on his writing class, killing his instructor and eight other people at the school in rural Roseburg, Oregon. Nine more people were also wounded. The shooter then killed himself.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA: May 2014, 6 dead
A 22-year-old college student frustrated over sexual rejections fatally stabbed or shot six students near the school in Isla Vista, California, and injured several others before he killed himself.
SANTA MONICA COLLEGE: June 2013, 6 dead
A deadly act of domestic violence at home turned public when a 23-year-old man left after killing his father and older brother, carjacked a woman and shot at other vehicles. He then entered the campus where he had previously been enrolled as a student and opened fire, killing four more people before he was fatally shot by police in the school’s library.
OIKOS UNIVERSITY: April 2012, 7 dead
A former nursing student fatally shot seven people at the small private college in East Oakland, California. He was given seven consecutive life sentences and died in prison in 2019.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY: February 2008, 5 dead
A 27-year-old former student shot and killed five people and wounded more than 20 others at the school in DeKalb, Illinois, before killing himself.
VIRGINIA TECH: April 2007, 32 dead
In the deadliest shooting at a U.S. college, a 23-year-old student killed 32 people on the campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. More than two dozen others were wounded. The gunman then killed himself.
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA: November 1991, 5 dead
A former graduate student upset that his doctoral dissertation wasn’t nominated for an academic award fatally shot himself after killing five people and injuring one other person in a shooting spree on the campus in Iowa City.
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS: August 1966, 13 dead
A Marine-trained sniper opened fire from atop the 27-story clock tower in the heart of the university’s flagship Austin campus in one of the nation’s first mass shootings. He killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 others before authorities shot and killed him.
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