Student shares initial alert sent out to students during shooting at Brown University

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Brown University followed what appeared to be a ‘run, hide and fight’ model after a gunman opened fire on campus on Saturday.

One student shared a screenshot of that alert with Boston 25 News.

Students were told to run if they were in the affected location, evacuate safely and hide, if they could.

In the dire case that wasn’t possible, the alert says fight as a last resort.

Ref Barin says shots rang out behind him nearly twenty minutes before students were alerted via text.

“The shots happened at like 4’oclock or like four o one pm and I know that because I literally have a screenshot of me running because I was facetiming my Dad and I was shouting to my dad, dad there’s been a shooting, dad there’s been a shooting and the screenshot is at 4:04 pm and at 4:04 pm I was already on the other side of the street."

—  Ref Barin

Boston 25 News reached out to the university for additional information on active shooter practices and how often students are involved in these protocols.

The university does have hostile intruder guidance that offers resources for students to report concerning behavior.

“Drills are very useful especially when you have a situation like you’re in a classroom, but it’s like people are at different places at different times. I know some of my friends were in the Hazelton commons taking quizzes and they had their headphones on, and they didn’t hear those first bang of shots clearly,” said Barin.

A $50,000 reward is being offered to anyone who can lead authorities to make an arrest in this case.

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

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