TIMELINE: Mass Shooting at Brown University
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TIMELINE: Mass Shooting at Brown University
Here are the details:
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Saturday Afternoon — Students were prepping for an economics exam in a classroom in the Barus & Holley classroom building at Brown.
A shooter entered Barus & Holley — and began shooting in the classroom. The shooting was over in minutes.
Saturday at approximately 4:05 PM — 911 calls began.
Saturday at 4:22 PM — 17 minutes after the 911 calls began to flood Providence Emergency Services, Brown University issued an alert.
DECEMBER 13, 4:22 PM:
BrownUAlert: 1st, Urgent: There's an active shooter near Barus & Holley Engineering. Lock doors, silence phones and stay hidden until further notice.
Remember: RUN, if you are in the affected location, evacuate safely if you can; HIDE, if evacuation is not possible, take cover; FIGHT, as a last resort, take action to protect yourself. Stay tuned for further safety information.
Saturday at 4:35 PM — GoLocal was on site at Barus & Halley — upwards of 50 police and emergency response personnel vehicles were on site. Dozens of Providence police officers were streaming throughout the building.
GoLocal could see Providence rescues rolling stretchers in and out of the building.
Saturday at 4:51 PM — Brown issued another alert stating that a "suspect was in custody."
Brown later removed that posting. That created confusion all the way to the White House. President Donald Trump posted to Truth Social that the shooter was in custody and then reversed course.
Confusion raged as to the number of people shot and who had died. Providence Police Chief was unavailable — he was in Florida at his family’s home and when alerted to the shooting, he flew back.
Saturday at 6 PM — It was confirmed that two Brown students were dead and eight others were in critical condition at Rhode Island Hospital.
Saturday at 6:30 PM — Providence Mayor Brett Smiley held a press conference
Smiley confirmed the number of dead and injured. Chief Perez did not attend as he was still returning to Rhode Island.
Saturday at 7:20 PM — RI Hospital Update
Rhode Island Hospital said it received the following patients related to the active shooter incident at Brown University.
Rhode Island Hospital currently has eight (8) patients:
Six (6) patients are in a critical but stable condition
One (1) patient is in critical condition
One (1) patient is in stable condition
Smiley announced that two people died in the shooting.
At this time, The Miriam Hospital had not received any patients.
Rhode Island Hospital said "it is working closely with and providing support to all impacted family members and remains in continuous communication with Brown University. Rhode Island Hospital is in lockdown at this time, but is still accepting emergency department patients."
Saturday at 10:46 PM — The City of Providence released a video of a man walking on the corner of Hope and Waterman Streets. The man’s face cannot be seen and the location is directly across the street from Smiley’s home.
Sunday at about 4 AM - Law enforcement raided a Coventry hotel, and detained a person of interest without incident.
Sunday at 6:08 AM —GoLocal exclusively broke the story that a person of interest was detained.
Sunday at 7:10 AM — Smiley held a press conference discussing the detainment of a person of interest and that the shelter-in-place order at Brown in and in the surrounding area had been lifted.
Sunday at about 8:24 AM — Brown cancels exams, classes, and papers for the semester
Dear Members of the Brown Community,
I'm writing to follow up on President Paxson's update from a short time ago to provide additional information on academic operations for the campus. Given the deeply tragic events that took place on our campus yesterday, all remaining undergraduate, graduate and medical classes, exams, and papers or projects for the Fall 2025 semester will not take place as scheduled. This choice was made out of our profound concern for all students, faculty and staff on our campus. In the immediate aftermath of these devastating events, we recognize that learning and assessment are significantly hindered in the short term and that many students and others will wish to depart campus. Students are free to leave if they are able. Students who remain will have access to on-campus services and support.
At this time, it is essential that we focus our efforts on providing care and support to the members of our community as we grapple with the sorrow, fear and anxiety that is impacting all of us right now. University leaders are committed to providing care and mobilizing resources to assist our community members through this difficult time.
We know there will be many academic concerns about the implications of not holding classes and exams as scheduled. We will follow up with more information in the coming days. For the moment, we encourage everyone to focus on their own safety and well-being. We will continue to share updates with emergency information on Brown.edu, and to work directly with students and other community members to provide services and support.
Sincerely,
Francis J. Doyle III
Provost
Sunday at about 11:30 AM — FBI Director updated
An update on the @FBI response at Brown University:@FBIBoston established a command post to intake, develop and analyze leads, and run them to ground.
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) December 14, 2025
We activated the FBI’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team, to provide critical geolocation capabilities.
As a result, early… pic.twitter.com/KONDEbrduR
Sunday at about 12:30 PM — Chief Perez stated the individual detained is in his 20s. He had said earlier in the day that the man was in his 30s.