The tragic shooting incident at Brown University’s Barus & Holley engineering and physics building has sparked discussions about campus security measures. As officials revealed on Tuesday, the older parts of the building, where the fatal shooting occurred, were not equipped with surveillance cameras due to the building’s age. This absence of security measures has raised questions, especially given the university’s substantial $7.2 billion endowment.
During a press conference, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha addressed inquiries about the apparent lack of surveillance in the older sections of the academic building. He explained that while the building had received an addition approximately five years ago, complete with modern security cameras, the older section where the shooting took place remained largely unmonitored.
“There is a distinct division between the older and newer parts of the building,” Neronha explained, “The shooting happened in the older section, where surveillance is notably sparse, likely due to its age.” This contrasts sharply with the official residence of the university president, an even older structure, which appears to be well-equipped with video monitoring systems.
Neronha further described the chaotic scene as students fled from the shooting site into the newer part of the building. “In the newer section, cameras captured the pandemonium as students sought safety,” he noted.
In the wake of this tragedy, the university is reviewing its security protocols, balancing its historical architecture with the need for modern safety measures. The situation underscores the growing importance of addressing security gaps in older educational facilities to protect students and staff.
“So, as students are fleeing the area of the shooting into the new part of the building, there are cameras in that brand new building that show that chaos,” he added.
The lack of cameras in the building has put the university in the spotlight as authorities continue to try and identify a person of interest whose image was captured on cameras outside the grounds of the Ivy League campus.
Surveillance camera graphic shows blind spot near Barus & Holley building at Brown University. (Surveillance Under Surveillance)
Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez said there was no clear video of the gunman from inside the engineering building where the shooting took place despite the university being equipped with 1,200 security cameras across campus.
The Barus & Holley building was built in 1965. The seven-story, 220,000 square-foot structure houses the School of Engineering and the physics department.
FBI agents, some wearing jackets with “Evidence Response Team” emblazoned on the back, enter an entrance at the Barus & Holley engineering building on Brown University’s campus Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (Gregory Norman-Diamond)
It includes 117 laboratories, 150 offices, 15 classrooms, 29 laboratory classrooms and 3 lecture halls, according to the university’s website.
The Elizabeth Hazard Sturges House, the school president’s official residence, is a Gregorian Revival-style house that was built in 1922 and sold to the university in 1947, according to The Brown Daily Herald.
A view on Google Maps and images on other websites show what appear to be security cameras installed on the home. It wasn’t clear how many cameras are installed at the home or if any are installed inside.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the university.
Neronha noted that the shooting happened at the “very edge” of the building that’s on the “very edge” of the campus.
A lone bicycle abandoned inside the crime scene tape at the Barus & Holley Building at Brown University. A gunman killed two students and injured nine. (Greg Norman-Diamond/Fox News Digital)
“So, as those of you who know Providence know, you are very quickly into a residential neighborhood, which is why the video footage you’re seeing of this … person of interest movements pre- and post-shooting are in that neighborhood.”
On its website, the university states that it devotes 1% of the construction budget of all new buildings and major renovations to the commission of artwork for the building or grounds as part of its “Percent-for-Art” program.
