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Two Dead, Eight Injured In Shooting At Brown University; President Trump Reacts To Shooting At Brown University. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired December 13, 2025 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[20:01:18]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You are in the CNN Newsroom. Hi everyone. I am Jessica Dean here in New York and we are coming to you with breaking news tonight as officials say two people are dead and eight others are in critical condition following an active shooter on Brown University's campus.

It is unclear right now officials have not said if those victims are indeed students. Authorities are still searching for the suspect in this shooting. A shelter in place order has been issued for the broader Brown University community. There's the campus and there's also the residential area that surrounds that campus there in Providence. Here's what we heard from authorities just a short time ago.

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MAYOR BRETT SMILEY, PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND: The shooting took place at the Barus and Holley Building, which is a Brown University engineering and physics building. The building contains both classrooms and lab space. We'll hear from the provost in a minute with some additional updates from Brown. There will be a family reunification center that Brown will be setting up effective at 7 o'clock.

Please stay tuned for updates on where that will be. We are encouraging anyone who was a witness today's action to please contact the police as the investigation is ongoing and they may have critical information.

At this time, I'd like to introduce the governor, the state of Rhode Island, who was quick to call and offer assistance and has been in touch with our law enforcement, had the state police respond quickly and has been a great partner to the city of Providence on this sad day. Governor McKee.

GOV. DAN MCKEE, RHODE ISLAND: Yes, the unthinkable has happened and I've been in touch as the mayor said, to make sure that all the resources that we have, whether it's the EMA, our state police, Department of Health, which we've been in contact with as well, are responding in a way that is being helpful as possible.

We've been in contact with the White House as well. Our office has been in contact with the White House. So we will bring all our resources to the table. I've been in touch with Governor Healy as well as other governors who have experienced the same tragedy. So our thoughts go out to those who have been impacted by this in any way.

And we'll continue to provide the assistance to the authorities here in Providence as well as statewide, and continue to make sure that we are doing everything we can to help the families that are, you know, that are suffering right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Now, this goes without saying. This is a developing story. It's all happening in real time. We're joined now with CNN chief law enforcement intelligence analyst John Miller. John, the bottom line is this. They still don't have the suspect at this point publicly. What we know is all they know is that it is a male that was dressed in all black. So that is what they're going off of.

In addition to that, some students are still sheltering in place where they were. Others are back in their dorm rooms. So that's how they're getting information is through the email system at the school. What do you make of the time that it took to alert the students about this shooting?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, what we know from the press conference were just watching, they said that the 911 calls of a shooting came in at 4:05 p.m. what we know from the timeline on the Brown University Alert system is that the alert of an active shooter to shelter in place went out at 4:22.

[20:05:03]

So that's 17 minutes from the time police were alerted and the campus police were responding to the time word went out to the campus. That's something that they're going to want to look at as was there a delay. Now, I know a factor here is that college campuses across the country are suffering from these swatting calls, which are very realistic calls describing vivid, you know, violent events that turn out to be completely fabricated.

So there may have been some time checking it out and now it's probably not the time for them to back through that. In that from the campus standpoint, what they need to do is worry about the victims, care for the students. From the police standpoint, it's identifying and finding the suspect. But when they get to the hot wash, that will be a question about timing.

DEAN: Yes, certainly. And I think that, yes, I mean, I noticed that too when they were talking about it, that there was that lag time. What do we know about the building where this shooting occurred?

MILLER: So that Barus and Holley Hall, that's an engineering and physics building. It's actually a massive place. It's all the way at the back of the campus, you know, facing a residential neighborhood. But it is 220,000 square feet. It's 117 laboratory classrooms, it's three lecture halls, seven stories high.

So, you know, as Chuck Ramsey was saying, you know, this starts at 4 o'clock. You know, the briefing finally happened around 7:00 pm. It took police that much time to clear the building of people who were sheltering in place and needed to be moved out. People who were hiding and had to be located and brought out. And then to make sure that they didn't miss anybody who might have been wounded and gone to hide. So that was quite an undertaking.

DEAN: Yes. And I talked to a student who said that she was studying there and there were exams going on, but she was studying. She said she did not have to swipe to get into that building, that the doors she went in were wide open. And then the mayor I just talked to confirmed that, saying, in his words, anybody could have accessed the building. That has to be a complication, another complication in trying to figure out who this suspect might be.

MILLER: Yes, and I think there were a lot of people in that building taking final exams, were told in the press conference. So it was busy with a lot of people coming and going.

DEAN: Yes, also the mayor and the fire chief at that press conference, John, talked about this rescue task force that rushed in to those shooting victims, again, we know of 10 total, two are dead aider in the hospital. What does a process like that look like and how does it work?

MILLER: So when this was initially reported and that's multiple calls coming in, they believed, and thank God it wasn't true, they believed they had up to 20 people shot. Now, that wasn't the case. We have to underline that. But police ran in and got people out to the Providence Fire Department, medical people.

But what you saw behind that was this massing of medical people from city of Providence, from Brown University, from East Providence, from surrounding communities that are specially trained as a rescue task force. What that means, Jessica, is you have EMS people and firefighters who put on the heavy vests and the helmets just like SWAT team members. And they will go in with police as force protection before the building is cleared, before the suspect has been found.

They will go into the danger zone with police to create that warm zone where they actually get to victims as quickly as possible. And they have gunshot trauma kits. They are focused on getting tourniquets and occlusive bandages and things that will treat gunshot wounds and then getting those people out. Because we have a history that goes back to Columbine and other incidents where as SWAT teams cleared the building and medical people had to wait outside, victims would pass away or bleed out or their viability for survival would be going down in that magic 20 minutes for, you know, gunshot trauma wounds.

So what you saw was a massive response in a place where everybody came together and they were ready to go in. By then, most of the victims had been removed and already taken to the hospital. But it was quite a show of personnel and capability that were ready there.

MILLER: Yes, those are real heroes that truly save lives. John Miller, thank you as always for your reporting. We will check back in with you. I appreciate it. And I want to bring in CNN's Julia Vargas Jones, who has also been following this story.

Julia, again, going back to this search, which is what is very active right now, again underscoring, we do not know who the suspect is, only that he was a man wearing all black.

[20:10:07]

What do we know about the search? What do we know about what comes next for law enforcement?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it sounds like law enforcement is piecing those pieces together as they look for this person. Preliminarily, they say, and they stress this, that all that they have is that the person is a male dressed in black. Unclear how he entered the building, but they did have eyewitness accounts, Jessica, of him leaving the building through the Hope Street exit.

Now, what does that mean? That that is a building that is on the edge of campus on the west, east, west access, more or less. So going towards just a general neighborhood on that end. And as you noted earlier, would have make it made it quite easily for him to just disappear into Providence, Rhode Island.

They don't know what kind of firearm that suspect used at the time. Most buildings do require a car to be swiped. And we heard from those students, student that you spoke to in the last hour, that it wasn't necessarily the case for that day since. For today, since there were so many people going in and out. There were finals happening in that building.

So the last time that gunman was seen was as he was exiting into Hope Street on the edge of the campus there by foot, by other eyewitness accounts. That is what law enforcement was told at this time.

I do also want to bring in, though, a statement from the president of Brown University, Christina Paxton, that was sent to the Brown community just about 15 minutes ago, where she speaks a little bit to that, where she says, we know our community wants answers and we will provide them as soon as we can. For now, please know we are doing what we can to keep our community safe and have mobilized support for the students and their family.

Now, she also addresses that issue, the reports that we heard earlier about someone being in custody and not. She said while DPS was at one point informed that there was an individual in custody, that person was determined not to be the shooting suspect after question. And therefore, we urge all members of our community to remain vigilant. We continue to be in lockdown, and it is imperative that all members of our community remain sheltered in place.

We also heard from authorities in the press conference, Jessica, for those who have any kind of ring cameras or any kind of surveillance in their homes or businesses to look at that footage and to hand that over to authorities if they find anything suspect or that could be of interest that could help in this very much ongoing investigation.

DEAN: OK. Julia Vargas Jones with what we know right now. Thank you so much. And joining us now, Donell Harvin, former Washington, D.C. chief of homeland security and Intelligence. We're also joined by CNN senior National Security analyst Juliette Kayyem. Thank you both for being here on just another, you know, mass shooting in America, this one happening at Brown University.

Donell, right now the search is underway and this is an urgent search. They are concerned. Obviously they want to keep everyone safe for this shooter, the search for the shooter. It is dark there now. It is now roughly four hours after that first call came in.

Obviously they want to, you know, they're searching through this video, trying to figure out if they have any sort of image or photo or video of this suspect. Take us through what law enforcement is up against right now and what their first and second priorities will be.

DONELL HARVIN, FORMER CHIEF OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND INTELLIGENCE, WASHINGTON D.C.: Well, you know, conventionally you say as the day gets on, it gets harder. But this community is a very tight knit community. A lot of people know each other. A lot of people will be on the lookout for things that don't look right, whether they're individuals or whether they're vehicles.

And so I think that the community is going to be a really good asset here. You have a shelter in place on the campus that's really important so that you don't have students spilling out. And you also, if you listen to the press conference, you had the mayor and the governor talk about what we call a family assistance center, and that's specifically set up so that people don't flood the area, you know, concerned family members coming into the community to look for their loved ones.

And so you're able to really have freedom of movement for law enforcement. You know, primarily they're going to look at things like LPRs, license plate readers to see what vehicles maybe have come in from out of town, what movement may have happened around the time of the shooting. There's a whole lot of other technology they can use, including cell phone tower hits and things like that.

But it's going to be basic old fashioned police work, looking at CCTV, talking to people, seeing things out of place and trying to get an idea of what this person was wearing and what direction they went into.

DEAN: Yes. And Juliette, to Donell's point there and again, you and I have been here before a manhunt and the sun has gone down and they don't have a ton to go on and how complicated that can be. But it always kind of comes down to eventually they got to get a little bit of a break one way or another. That kind of then can snowball into them, be able to learn more.

[20:15:02]

At this point, what might that be? Someone brought up earlier? Maybe it's that if this happened at 4, some of these video might be a little bit lighter. There might have still been light outside. They might get a clearer image. Could it be that they're talking to, trying to talk to. If any of the victims who are still at the hospital are able to speak, could they give information? What kind of things are. What kind of specifics are they trying to track down?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: That's exactly it. Look, I mean, in the first press conference, we don't even know the race of the shooter was not described as a black man or a white man or Hispanic. It was an or how many there were.

DEAN: Right.

KAYYEM: So just a man who was wearing black. So obviously either they're waiting to show us a picture of who this person was, but it is a couple hours later. Normally we at least know that basic information.

And so they're, you know, we -- there's no reason not to believe it's sophisticated police department in Providence that is what they're looking for is can you just even get an image of a face, start to narrow down who this is. So that's obviously the sort of first and primary. I want to make it clear. I'm in Rhode Island. It's a small state.

I spent a lot of time here. My daughter is an alumni of Brown. Very open university.

The shelter in place is not just for students, it's for the community. The reason why is if he left on foot, he is looking for cars, likely if he doesn't have one already. So they're going to be monitoring where maybe he got into a car or maybe he stole a car. So you just don't want to be out in a car maybe vulnerable to someone who's trying to get out of town. Get on to 95.

As Donell said, very important colleges and universities. I do a lot of security in this space are interesting in a good way, in many ways. And Brown's consistent with this. These are open environments. They are meant to be open. They are meant to be sort of vibrant. Students and faculty sort of walk around, but they also have parents.

And I sort of smile at that only because there's lots and lots of people throughout the country. So unlike an elementary school or a high school who really are very nervous right now for their families. So a big part of what Brown is doing, as we've heard in the reporting, is reaching out to that national and international community because even though most of these students are 18 and over. No parent of a college age or 20 something or every parent of a college age or graduate student at Brown right now is inundating and asking for information.

So it's a complicated, dynamic situation for the university and also obviously for the state, local and federal police. DEAN: I know. Just so much fear and sadness tonight. Donell and

Juliette, thank you to both of you. We're going to have much more on our breaking news. We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back.

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DEAN: This is our breaking news tonight. We have two dead, eight injured. A suspect still very much at large in Providence, Rhode Island, after a deadly shooting on the Brown University campus. I want to bring in Brown University student Sophia Holman. Sophia was in the engineering building looking for a classroom to study in when she heard the gunshot. Sophia, can you hear us?

SOPHIA HOLMAN, BROWN UNIVERSITY STUDENT: Hi. Yes, I can.

DEAN: OK. First of all, we are really glad you're OK. And I'm really very sorry you had to go through that. I know how traumatic that can be, and it is just a horrible thing. And I'm sure it's even hard to process in the moment. So we're glad you're safe. I want you to tell me what you heard and saw in that building.

HOLMAN: Yes, for sure. Thank you very much. So I walked into the building. I didn't have to swipe my card. So the building was open, as it usually is during the day. And so I was just walking around looking for a classroom. They usually hold sections in that building, but every so often, a classroom will be open, and people will usually just spend time studying there because it's quiet.

And so I was walking through the halls. I was by the Hope Street entrance and exit when I first heard the gunshots. When I first heard them, I thought it was, you know, as a college student would in an engineering building. I thought it was just maybe something from the wood shop or it was something, you know, it was an experiment gone wrong.

But once I continually heard them, and I heard someone and I saw someone run past me, I thought it, you know, I thought it was better to be safe than sorry. So I started running behind the girl that ran by me. I could tell she was a student by the athletics parka that she was wearing. So I ran out of the Hope Street exit. I ran one block east. And then I called the police at 4:04 pm.

DEAN: Yes. And that is among the first calls that they have a record of that. That is about as early as they had a record of being called. And so did you see anyone or anything? You heard the gunshots? What else did you see?

[20:25:05]

HOLMAN: Yes. So I just walked in. I heard the gunshots. There was a girl walking towards me in -- in the hallway in the building. And then she started running, and I kept on walking a little bit, and then I was like, oh, crap, I should, you know, this -- this couldn't be what I think it is. And so I just started running after her. But the hallways were empty.

DEAN: Yes. And you saw some baseball players at one point that were telling you something.

HOLMAN: Yes, So I ran one block east of the building, past Hope Street, and so I saw a group of baseball players. I was friends with one of them. I think he had a shoulder injury, and so he was lagging a little bit behind the rest of them.

And so he told me that they were walking to a house for one of the upperclassmen at Brown. Upperclassmen live off campus, and so they were walking to one of those off campus houses. And he told me that one of the freshmen on his team had seen someone that had been shot inside of the building on the floor.

DEAN: That's really. So he -- and he -- did he know if it was a student or it was just somebody that had been shot? They didn't know anymore.

HOLMAN: They had -- they didn't really know. I think they assumed it was a student because it's mostly students that were in the building. Yes.

DEAN: Yes. And so what is. So now you're sheltering in place like you've been told to, like everybody. What is the feeling, the general sense they're on campus. I have to imagine everyone is pretty on edge.

HOLMAN: Yes, I would say everyone's pretty on edge. I think that with everything that's going on, you know, our campus police responded immediately. I was one block away, and within a minute from when I heard the gunshots, the police, our campus security police were at the building.

And so I think that there's, you know, a lot of chaos and a lot of fear right now, but I think there's also a lot of trust.

DEAN: Trust that they were there as quickly as they were.

HOLMAN: Yes, yes. And that, you know, the medical staff are doing everything that they can for -- for everyone that was injured.

DEAN: Yes. Sophia, thank you again. We are so glad you're safe and just sorry that you had to go through something like this. But thank you for talking with us. We really appreciate it.

HOLMAN: Yes, of course. Thank you very much.

DEAN: Up next, President Trump is commenting on what's going on in Rhode Island. We're going to hear what he has to say about it when we come back.

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[20:32:46]

DEAN: And we are back with our breaking news coming out of Brown University there in Providence, Rhode Island where two people are dead, eight are injured after a shooting there. That suspect still remains at large. All authorities can tell us right now is that it was a male wearing all black. Students being told to shelter in place there on campus. Neighbors in that community around the campus also being told to shelter in place as authorities desperately try to find this suspect.

Let's bring in CNN's Julia Benbrook, who is joining us from the White House. And Julia, the president is commenting on this. What's he saying?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, President Donald Trump has been briefed on this. He says that it is an ongoing situation and that people who have been impacted are in his prayers. He made these remarks as he returned to the White House just over an hour ago, a couple of hours ago now. And I want to play you his full remarks. Take a listen.

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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I've been fully briefed on the Brown University situation. What a terrible thing it is. And all we can do right now is pray for the victims and for those that were very badly hurt, it looks like. And we'll inform you later as to what's happening. But it's a shame. It's a shame. Just pray. Thank you very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: And Jessica, those remarks come after a couple of social media posts from Trump that kind of highlight the confusion that has played out throughout the evening. He had one post where he confirmed that there was a shooting, that the FBI would be helping with the investigation.

In that post, he said that the thus suspect was in custody. That was quickly followed up with another post retracting that, saying that the university police had retracted their claim that there was a suspect in custody. Of course, we now know that person is still at large. They are still looking for someone. So just confusion for these students as they remain in lockdown and know that is still out there.

Now, as far as the federal response goes, I do want to highlight some comments. These are from FBI Director Kash Patel.

[20:35:04]

He did put out a statement on the agency's work. He said FBI personnel are on the scene and assisting this evening after the shooting at Brown University. And we will provide all capabilities necessary. Please pray for all those involved. We will update with more information as we are able.

In that press conference earlier this evening, we did hear from the governor. He said that he is in the contact with other leaders and with the White House. DEAN: All right, Julia Benbrook, thank you for that reporting. Let's

bring in CNN senior national Security analyst Juliette Kayyem. Juliette, again, the suspect remaining at large. They certainly want to find this person.

What does that process look like right now? Just I should note we are waiting we've been told by the mayor to expect another update at some point tonight, though. They obviously are waiting to get more information. They want to bring us more information when they do it. But what is what are they going through right now?

KAYYEM: Mostly right now is going to be eyewitnesses and videos. As were saying earlier this hour, the description is not even giving a race. We don't know if this is a -- if the male is white, black, Hispanic and whether there's one or two shooters. So the information that they are able to provide to the public has been less than what we normally get, which suggests that they just don't have an image that they can hold on to. So that's what they're doing now.

What videos are were in the engineering building outside, students that may have been capturing something else and someone who looks suspicious is walking by. They've got to get that image out to the public if they do not know who it is right now because you simply cannot keep a university or Providence under lockdown, you know, indefinitely.

They're going to -- finding him is also part of not just the punishment process, but obviously the sort of recovery process for a university that, you know, obviously is supposed to be open, is supposed to be fluid and youthful and, and this has lost all of those for the time being.

DEAN: Yes. All right, Juliette, stay with us. We are going to take a quick break. We'll have more news for you when we come back.

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[20:41:57]

DEAN: All right, let's bring in a student I spoke to earlier, Ethan Schenker. Ethan has been there on Brown's campus. He's a student. Again, if you're just tuning in, we are following breaking news out of Brown University. Two people are dead, eight injured after a mass shooting there on campus at a building there on the campus. That suspect remains at large.

Ethan, you sent us video earlier and I think we can play it for everyone. There it is, of law enforcement there in the area where you are being told to shelter in place. What was it like to see these officers walking through and what did they tell you? Were you able to interact with them?

ETHAN SCHENKER, BROWN UNIVERSITY STUDENT: Yes. So me and a bunch of other students at the library were -- at a library on the other side of campus where the shooting took place. We heard kind of jumping. It sounded almost like banging on doors. And this is police going through and kind of clearing each room. And as they kind of went around, we were kind of told to move to another location at this library.

And the people who were in those classrooms were, like, asked to move out and show their hands. So it was -- it was frightening for a lot of students. I mean, people with long guns and tactical gear kind of sweeping this entire library.

DEAN: Yes, certainly. I mean, it's very scary. And what I think we're seeing, what is typical in these situations is that they will go room by room, building by building, to clear those buildings, clear those rooms, make sure people are safe, that there aren't additional victims, and that the suspect isn't anywhere in any of those buildings.

You told us that police escorted you to the library. You're there now with other students. What is the general feeling?

SCHENKER: So we were kind of staying in this library the entire time, but it's now hour four, and people are -- I think it's really beginning to dawn on people that, like, this person has still. We still don't know who this person or people are who did the shooting and that we don't know what the rest of the night's going to look like. We don't know if our friends were the people in the hospital or lost their lives.

And I think it's still, I mean, I turn around and people talk about how their heart says something. People are very emotional, understandably. And it's, I think, the needy just starting to set in, because you always hear that, you know, these kinds of things happen in other places, but time and time again, you know, you don't kind of realize this until it happens where you are.

DEAN: Absolutely. And I think that's such a normal reaction to a really awful situation, which is like you can't believe.

[20:45:02]

It feels surreal that you can't believe it's happening to you. At this point, what information are you getting? Is it coming? Are you getting information from the school? Do you think you're getting regular enough updates?

SCHENKER: Well, we're definitely getting updates less often than were towards the beginning when this is closer to the time of the shooting. But I think now we just kind of got another alert by email about 15 minutes ago saying that, you know, the campus continues to be a knockdown and it's imperative that all members of the community remain sheltered in place.

So this is kind of a quote from an email that was just sent out to all kind of students and everyone here. So I don't -- they're getting less and less frequent. So we don't really know --

DEAN: Yes.

SCHENKER: -- what's happening now. DEAN: Yes. And do you have any sense? Have they been able to tell? Has

anyone been able to tell you? Do you think you'll have to stay the night where you are? Will you be able to go back to your dorm?

SCHENKER: I don't know. They haven't been in communication with us about that. I've heard talking to some friends who are in their dorms. You know, I've heard that kind of police instructed people to stay in their rooms, but I know people who are locked down in our dining hall a few hours ago at least.

So I don't know if we're going to be how long we're going to be here for --

DEAN: Yes.

SCHENKER: -- but I think it's starting to dawn as a possibility.

DEAN: Yes. Yes. Listen, a lot of unknowns again. We're really glad you're OK. Thank you for talking with us. I'm sorry you're going through this, but we really appreciate you speaking with us, Ethan. Thank you.

SCHENKER: Thank you so much.

DEAN: Rhode Island's governor will join us right after the break.

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[20:51:30]

DEAN: Back now with our breaking news out of Providence, Rhode Island, where two are dead, eight injured after a shooting at Brown University. A search is now underway for that shooter. All we know at this moment, all authorities have been able to tell us is that this is a male who was dressed in all black. There is a massive manhunt underway. Students at Brown are now under a shelter in place order, as are a whole community that surrounds that school.

We are joined now by the Governor of Rhode Island, Dan McKee. Governor, thank you for your time tonight. We are all tremendously saddened and sorry to hear about what has gone on in your state this evening. I know we heard from you all earlier that this was in everyone's memory, the first shooting that's ever happened there on Brown University's campus.

I think everyone's quite anxious to know right now if there's any update on the search for this suspect.

MCKEE: Well, as you just said, Jack reporting, the unthinkable happened here in Rhode Island. And I'm a governor, but I'm a parent too, and a Rhode Islander. And we certainly our hearts go out to those who are impacted. I've had calls from all over the country. A personal friend from Hawaii has called me. His daughter's on campus. Just could imagine being a parent or a family member hearing this news.

So we've been in contact with the FBI director, Director Patel, and along with others that are engaged, the FBI is on site. All our resources are there, our state resources, working with Mayor Smiley on our local resources, our first responders. I was a former mayor. I know how important the first responders are to an event like this. It's horrific and we are looking for the person that the shooter.

So anybody who has any information on that, we're certainly -- we're prepared with our federal, our state and our local leadership to and our law enforcement to pursue this and make sure that our top priority is met, which is safety for everyone that is now being asked to shelter in place.

DEAN: We are now learning that there's going to be a press conference coming up here in just a little bit about 9:30 here on east coast time. Do you know -- should we anticipate getting more information? Do they have a photo or a video of this suspect yet?

MCKEE: I do know that there's the videos as it was reported is being looked at. I was talking to our colonel of our state police who are very involved and engaged, but I don't have any information that there would be any level of photo or anything that can be distributed.

DENA: In terms of the victims, two people who are dead, eight people who are in critical but stable condition. Can you tell us anything about them?

MCKEE: Again, we don't have any concrete information about the identifications of these individuals, but we do know that with two that have died, eight in critical condition, as you mentioned. And I just go back to how this is impacting families in a way that just is going to impact their lives forever.

And we know that. And so we're putting together all the issues that have to do with mental health and recovery, our state provides those services in an emergency like this.

[20:55:09]

But we don't have any information on the identity that could be shared at the moment.

DEAN: And in terms of the threat to the community, obviously the campus, and as it's been described to us tonight, that campus kind of blends in with the residential area there around Brown. How safe are they tonight? There are a lot of very anxious people there, obviously parents that are calling you and loved ones of people nearby. But also the people who live in that area, how safe are they tonight?

MCKEE: Well, that's why we're asking them to, you know, to shelter in place. We're trying to keep them all safe. I can tell you that not only are the state resources on site, the local Providence with Mayor Smiley, our FBI is there.

So I think the best thing to do is take advice from the public safety who's telling everyone in that general area to stay in place until they hear differently. DEAN: I was also -- I've talked to a couple students. They have told

me, and then I talked to the mayor as well who confirmed this. The doors were open to this building on campus. It's exam time. We talked to a couple students who were in there studying. They knew people who were taking exams in there.

Obviously schools, especially college campuses, have to balance between openness but also security. Are you concerned that it was so open and do you think that's going to have to be looked at now?

MCKEE: Well, everything needs to be looked at on a daily basis and we do that and we prepare for these emergencies. And this is no exception. I'm sure there will be a debriefing with all the authorities to take a look at what was going on. And until we kind of -- until we actually know more, it's difficult to make comment in terms of whether the situation was as safe as it should be. But we'll follow up.

And I know that we debrief on all these emergencies. But like you said, the first shooting on Brown University, which is a really important part of our community, it is an urban campus as an open campus. So we want to make sure everybody follows the direction that they receive and stay in place and stay safe.

DEAN: How -- do you have any sense of how long this shelter in place order might continue?

MCKEE: Well, I think we'll have more at 9:30 in terms of what that looks like. But again, the safety of people right now is our top priority. And with the law enforcement, their top priority is to apprehend the person who created this heinous act, shooting people on a college campus.

I can understand exactly what you're talking about, Jessica. There's certainly a lot of uneasiness right now, and we're doing everything we can to make sure that the people in the general area, but also the entire state of Rhode Island are safe.

I'm having conversation with bordering governors who have gone through this. Governor Healy, they've offered their help as well. So it's -- we're all coming together as a community, not only as a state, but also as a region.

DEAN: As a region, right. I mean, we've talked about the geography. You all are very close together there. Obviously, Rhode Island is a small but mighty state, but is surrounded by other states there. I know that you said you spoke with the FBI director, Kash Patel. What was that conversation like?

MCKEE: Well, we've been in contact with the White House through our office. I got a direct call from the -- from the director, and he offered up and made sure that it was very clear that whatever resources they have on the FBI to -- at the moment, apprehend the shooter and identify the shooter and get the shooter under custody, that they are going to be working with us. And then also he indicated that anything that has to, you know,

happens as a result of this tragedy, that they're prepared to help us. And we thank them for the call.

DEAN: Yes. And so you feel supported. You've got federal support that you need, Obviously, local. We're looking at law enforcement right now. Local law enforcement is on this as well.

MCKEE: It's a tragedy, like I said, it's an unthinkable act. It's a nightmare. But we are fortunate to have very well prepared first responders, and we're grateful for their service right now, but our hearts are with the families.

As I said, as a parent, I just can't imagine what parents have gone through today that are here in Rhode Island, that have students there, people on campus.

[21:00:03]

But how about all over the country, all over the world.

DEAN: Yes.

MCKEE: We are a small and mighty state.