‘Scared is the only way to put it’: Brown campus remains on edge with killer on the loose

By Eric Bradner, Nicky Robertson, CNN

(CNN) — Students and staffers at Brown University described a deep sense of fear and anxiety Monday as police continued searching for the shooter who killed two and injured nine Saturday on the university’s campus in Providence, Rhode Island.

With exams at the Ivy League school canceled, the university told students they were free to go home for the holiday break immediately — leading to what some students said was an eerie sense of vacancy on the snow-blanketed campus, with temperatures in the 20s on Monday. Those who remained on or near the university Monday told CNN they are on constant alert — particularly after police announced late Sunday that they were releasing a person of interest and continuing their manhunt.

“The fact that that person is still out there and they’re at large — it’s terrifying,” said Kerem Koyluoglu, a junior at Brown majoring in international and public affairs.

He said he and his friends are walking together to “make sure nobody’s alone.”

“I think people are a little bit scared also, just to see people who are walking by themselves,” Koyluoglu said. “There’s always that ‘What if?’ factor.”

Brown senior Anika Mahns — who was working at the gym on campus, which became a spot many ran for cover when the shooting took place before she and other colleagues barricaded the doors — said once classes resume after winter break, things on campus won’t be the same.

“I think scared is the only way to put it,” Mahns told CNN. “I think a lot of people are very paranoid, too, rightfully so.”

“It’s just hard to be able to walk around and live your life knowing that someone’s out there,” Mahns said.

Providence Mayor Brett Smiley told CNN there have been no credible threats in the area since the shooting late afternoon Saturday. However, with no firearm recovered at the scene, the shooter is still considered armed and dangerous, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha told CNN.

‘We are very angry’

The anxiety members of the Brown community described had intensified after a person of interest was released by authorities on Sunday.

Owen Tower, who is pursuing his PhD in physics and was in the Barus and Holley engineering building where the shooting took place about an hour beforehand, said he attended a vigil for the victims Sunday night — but if he’d known the shooter was still at large, he would have remained home.

He’s largely stayed at home since the shooting, but he described the anger in the community after a person of interest was released by police late Sunday night.

“I think we’re all pretty pissed off. Like, we’re very angry over the fact that this person has not been caught because Brown is really, really tight knit,” Tower said.

Cole Francis, a senior at Brown University who was inside the Barus and Holley building when the shooting occurred, said the situation is “terrifying.”

“I think that a lot of people found a lot of relief in knowing that the authorities had caught this person and recovered the weapons that this person may have used. And now to know that he may still be on the street is, is extremely scary and worrisome for a lot of people,” he told CNN.

Vanessa Orozco, a Providence resident who lives near the Brown campus and was out walking three dogs Monday, said police had searched her home and shed, and were searching neighbors’ yards, as well. She said families are being much more careful to lock their doors and are largely staying inside.

Many students had already followed the university’s encouragement to leave campus. Others who stayed said they were eager to leave.

Evan diVittorio, a junior at Brown studying engineering, said he is keen to get back home to Idaho, but he has had to remain on campus to move out of his dorm ahead of studying abroad next semester.

He said he feels safe because the law enforcement presence is so high. To get into a building, he had to present a student identification to two officers who escorted him inside.

“Waking up yesterday morning, there was snow on the ground, which was poetic in a very disturbing way. And no one was outside at all. Normally people are walking outside playing in the snow, there was no one there, and now it’s still a ghost town and there are police cars everywhere,” he said.

‘My mom instincts just kicked in’

Others connected to the university and its surrounding area said they were looking to find ways to help.

Andrea Capotosto was at her home in North Providence, a few miles from campus, decorating her family’s Christmas tree when she heard news of a shooter on Brown’s campus. Capotosto, who works at Brown’s School of Public Health, told CNN that the next morning, she knew immediately that she wanted to be there for Brown’s student community.

“My mom instincts just kicked in,” she said. “I know two things: They’re going to come out for food, and they need a mom.”

Armed with bags of candy and a teddy bear, Capotosto held up a “free mom hugs” sign for the students. Soon, a group of students descended.

“They literally needed a shoulder to cry on. As much as they were comforting each other in the moment, it’s different to have a mom,” she said.

Kabob and Curry in downtown Providence is just blocks from the Brown campus. Madhav Basnet, one of the managers, was on a break when people at the restaurant began to receive alerts. He’d initially thought the police cars and sirens were for a movie that was being filmed in town.

Sunday morning, the owner, Sanjiv Dhar, let his employees know that they were going to give free meals to anyone with a Brown ID. Over 130 free meals were given out to Brown students the day after the shooting.

“We have to help them, because we are here in the community. We are in the same community,” Basnet said of the restaurant’s decision. “Everybody needs to help, you know, when someone is in trouble. This is not a small thing.”

Ramisa Fariha, who’s a postdoctoral research associate at Brown University and co-instructs in the Barus and Holley building, told CNN that moving forward she’ll think about who is walking into her classroom.

An alumnus of Brown herself, Fariha was not in the building during the shooting, but immediately sent messages to her students to check on their safety as soon as she saw reports.

“My first instinct was to make sure all my students were OK, so I just started, like, blast emailing my students just making sure if they’re OK, they’re safe,” she said, adding that the building is “where all engineering students study; it’s where we come up with the best ideas.”

Fariha was on campus Monday and said the community of Providence is standing strong.

“We have a very strong community and the moment we see each other, you know, when we’re going through this together, I think just seeing each other and sensing that sense of belonging together, is what makes us feel safe,” she said.

CNN’s Allison Gordon, Veronica Stracqualursi, Brian Todd and Chris Boyette contributed to this report.

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