Saturday’s shooting at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, left Two people were killed and at least eight others were seriously injured. Authorities are still searching for the suspect in the following hours.
The shooting occurred Saturday afternoon in a campus building as final exams began. Officials said the suspect was wearing black clothing and left the building on foot.
The violence led to a shelter-in-place order being issued in the larger university area. Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said “we have every resource available” to find the suspect.
“Sadly, today is the day the city of Providence and the state of Rhode Island prayed would never come,” the mayor said. “We’ve heard about horrific gun violence and active shooters in other places, but not here.”
Brown is a private institution with approximately 7,300 undergraduate students and more than 3,000 graduate students.
Here’s a look at other deadly shootings on American college campuses in recent decades:
Kentucky State University: December 2025, 1 dead
A shooting in a residence hall at a historically black public university left one student dead and another seriously injured. The suspect, a father of one of the students, 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 a political event, sending hundreds of people fleeing. A 22-year-old suspect faces aggravated murder in connection with Kirk’s death. The prosecution intends to seek the death penalty.
Florida State University: April 2025, 2 dead
Two people were killed and six others were injured 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
The 67-year-old former business professor, who had been denied applications to teach at UNLV, opened fire in the building housing the university’s business school, killing three professors and seriously wounding a fourth. The gunman was killed in an exchange of gunfire with police outside the building.
Michigan State University: February 2023, 3 dead
A 43-year-old gunman opened fire inside an academic and student union building, killing three students and wounding 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 shot three current players on a charter bus as they returned from a field trip, sparking panic and a 12-hour lockdown of the campus until the suspect was arrested. Two other students were also injured on campus. The shooter has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and other charges and is awaiting sentencing.
Northern Arizona University: October 2015, 1 killed
Just weeks into his freshman year, a student entered the Flagstaff campus and opened fire. A student was killed and three others were wounded in the first fatal shooting since the university’s founding 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 a writing class, killing his teacher and eight other people at the school in rural Roseburg, Oregon. Nine other people were also injured. The shooter then killed himself.
University of California, Santa Barbara: May 2014, 6 killed
A 22-year-old college student, frustrated by sexual rejection, stabbed or shot six students near the school in Isla Vista, California, and wounded several others before killing himself.
Santa Monica College: June 2013, 6 killed
A deadly act of domestic violence at home went public when a 23-year-old man left after killing his father and older brother, stealing a woman’s car and shooting up other cars. He then entered the campus where he was previously registered as a student and opened fire, killing four more people before he was shot dead by police in the school library.
Oikos University: April 2012, 7 killed
A former nursing student fatally shot seven people at a small private college in East Oakland, California. He was sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences and died in prison in 2019.
Northern Illinois University: February 2008, 5 killed
A 27-year-old former student shot five people and wounded more than 20 others at school in DeKalb, Illinois, before killing himself.
Virginia Tech: April 2007, 32 dead
In the deadliest shooting incident at an American college, a 23-year-old student killed 32 people on the campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. More than twenty others were injured. The gunman then killed himself.
University of Iowa: November 1991, 5 killed
A former graduate student, upset that his doctoral thesis was not nominated for an academic award, shot himself after killing five people and wounding another in a campus shooting in Iowa City.
University of Texas: August 1966, 13 dead
A Marine Corps-trained sniper opened fire from the top of the 27-story clock tower in the heart of the university’s main campus in Austin in one of the first mass shootings in the country. He killed 13 people and injured more than 30 others before authorities shot and killed him.