PROVIDENCE, RI — Brown University students are back on campus today as the spring semester officially gets underway.
The return comes just weeks after a devastating tragedy that shook the Brown community at the end of last year, when a gunman opened fire as students prepared for finals, killing two and injuring nine others.
The university’s interim Vice President for Public Safety says his mission is to build a campus rooted in preparedness, vigilance, and mutual care—not one defined by fear.
Ahead of students’ return, Brown accelerated several safety upgrades across campus, including:
- Card-access entry for all buildings
- Blue light emergency phones equipped with cameras
- Additional security cameras in key locations
- Expanded panic button installations in critical areas
- Enhanced public safety and emergency response training
These changes are already noticeable to some students.
Freshman Fenan Megrssa says the emotional impact of returning is still heavy.
“There’s still fear in the students gathering around together. Also, you know, going back to those classrooms where your friends were shot—it would be really hard I would say.”
The December shooting claimed the lives of Ella Cook and Mukhammed Aziz Umurzokov.
Investigators say the gunman, Claudio Neves Valente, carefully surveyed the campus before carrying out the attack. Authorities also linked Valente to the killing of an MIT professor in Brookline.
He was later found dead in a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire.
Brown University President Christina Paxson says the tragedy, while deeply painful, does not define the institution or its community. As students return, the focus is on healing, resilience, and ensuring the campus is safer moving forward.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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