“Something like this couldn’t happen here,” Brown students react to campus mass shooting

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Police continue to block off the area around the engineering building on the Brown University campus.

That’s where a shooter opened fire Saturday evening, killing two students and wounding nine others.

It’s finals week and many students were either taking exams or in class preparing—when the shooting happened.

“I heard the gunshots right around the corner,” said Viraj Nautiyal, a sophomore at Brown University.

Brown University Sophomore Viraj Nautiyal was walking near the engineering building when he knew he had to act quick.

“I didn’t really think I didn’t really look, my only goal at the moment was just to get as far away from the chaos as possible,” said Nautiyal.

He ran into a nearby library—searching for a safe place to hide.

“I ran and went to the top floor I wanted to get as far away from the situation as possible and then looking out the window I could just like, I saw the victim’s bodies and it was really frightening,” said Nautiyal.

Fellow sophomore Aayush Muthuswamy was taking his final in a building a few blocks away when his teaching instructor informed the class of the shooting.

“We stopped taking our exams, we started fortifying the doors of the lecture hall because it would be a prime target if a shooter wanted to cause havoc in that area and we stayed there for well over 10 hours with one Providence Police officer barricaded in the basement,” said Muthuswamy.

In high school he says he practiced active shooter drills, but never in college.

“There is a bit of a sense that something like this couldn’t happen here,” said Muthuswamy.

Sunday morning—the two walked back to the scene—still trying to process what unfolded on their campus the night before.

“Waking up was definitely a strange feeling just to know what some of my community members are not here with us anymore, they were students just like us--going to classes, studying for finals as I was,” said Nautiyal.

The provost has since canceled all remaining exams and projects for the semester—allowing students to go home and be with family.

“We’re thankful the provost is giving us that academic leeway right now I think it’s the right decision to give people some space to mourn and to and process to heal as a community,” said Muthuswamy.

Brown University is offering all kinds of resources and support for students and staff to help them after experiencing such a traumatic event on their campus.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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