A person of interest in the shooting that killed two people and wounded nine others at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, on Saturday evening has been detained, police have said.
Col Oscar Perez – the Providence police force’s chief – confirmed at a news conference early Sunday that the person of interest was in their 30s. Perez did not provide many other details about the person, including where the person was arrested or whether that person was connected to Brown.
Law enforcement often uses the term “person of interest” to refer to someone whom they consider important to a criminal investigation – but whom there is not enough evidence to consider a suspect and accuse of having committed the underlying offense.
Saturday’s shooting at the Ivy League institution occurred during final exams at the campus. The attack erupted in the engineering building, and the shooter initially managed to flee.
Hundreds of police officers scoured Brown as well as nearby neighborhoods while poring over surveillance video in search of the shooter, who opened fire inside a classroom.
Providence leaders on Sunday warned residents there would temporarily be a heavier police presence in the community. And many local businesses announced that they are closed for now, citing the shock and heartbreak caused by news of the deadly shooting.
“Everybody’s reeling, and we have a lot of recovery ahead of us,” Brown president Christina Paxson said at the news conference.
Saturday’s violence at Brown brought the number of mass shootings in the US for the year to at least 389, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The nonpartisan resource defines mass shootings as ones in which four or more victims are wounded or killed.
More details soon…
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