Brown University Student Reacts to Campus Shooting Incident

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A graduate student from Brown University, who has previously experienced mass shootings on campus, expressed disbelief over the quick release of a suspect taken into custody after a shooting on Sunday night.

Sachi Gandhi, a second-year master’s student in biotechnology, shared that she was at her off-campus residence in Fox Point when the incident occurred. The shooting triggered memories from a 2023 event at the University of North Carolina, where she had been locked in a lab for eight hours while a professor was tragically killed nearby.

“I was in the lab. I was locked in there for about eight hours,” Gandhi recalled. “It felt similar in that very few students knew what was actually happening. There was a lot of misinformation flying around, everyone was scared.”

Gandhi noted that while the Brown shooting resulted in multiple victims, which she referred to as “mass casualties,” the emotional toll was similarly intense. Initially, students felt a sigh of relief when a suspect was announced in custody, but that relief quickly turned to panic once the individual was released. “It was really, really scary,” she said. “Most of my friends have already left. My parents are even driving from Georgia to pick me up.”

With the release of the suspect, there was a tangible sense of vulnerability among the students. “It’s really messed up,” Gandhi remarked. “If we don’t catch this guy, then what happens to the funding?” She clarified that her comments were directed at taxpayer funding, not the university’s tuition fees.

She expressed frustration over the swift release of the detained individual, emphasizing, “It’s more upsetting to find someone and then release them the next day. It’s going to inconvenience a lot of students, especially those still here.” Brown’s campus had gone on lockdown as police began searching for the gunman, but so far, no new arrests have been made.

Gandhi commended Brown University for its thorough surveillance but questioned the effectiveness of the police response. Although she recognized that the scenarios of both shootings were different, the confusion and fear felt remarkably similar. “No one knew what the truth was,” she noted, echoing her experiences from UNC.

Despite the ongoing fear, she observed that students at Brown were rallying together in support of one another, similar to how students at UNC had responded after their own tragedy. “It’s nice to see the community come together,” she commented.

However, as of now, the sense of safety remains elusive for many students. “They’ve already packed up and left,” Gandhi said, highlighting the pervasive unease. “People don’t feel safe right now.”