A Brown University instructor who was leading a final exam review has described the moment of horror that a masked gunman burst into his lecture hall and started shooting.
Joseph Oduro, a 21-year-old teaching assistant, told the New York Times that the gunman shouted “something” before opening fire, but he could not tell what.
Oduro was wrapping up a review session around 4 pm for Principles of Economics when he heard the shooter outside in the hall.
Joseph Oduro, 21, described the horror inside a classroom when a masked gunman entered a lecture hall and opened fire. Linkedin/Joseph Oduro
Students were at the review session for Principles of Economics with Oduro when they heard the shooter outside in the hall.
“All of a sudden, we heard gunshots and people screaming,” he said.
Within moments, a masked man with a rifle appeared in the doorway and opened fire.
Oduro said he and police are still trying to figure out what the attacker said during the shooting.
“That’s what the students and I — and the detectives — have been trying to piece together,” he said.
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Oduro quickly hid behind a desk with around 20 others students. One of them was wounded in the leg.
The layout of the lecture hall meant the students in the middle section could not quickly escape the bullets.
“The students in the middle were impacted the most,” he said. “Many of them were lying there and they were not moving. I have no idea how many.”
Police vehicles stand near the site of the mass shooting. REUTERS
Authorities announced they arrested a person of interest in the shooting early Sunday morning. Providence Police Department/AFP via Getty Images
Shell casings are highlighted with evidence markers inside one of the buildings at Brown University. Kyle Mazza/ShutterstockOduro is a senior at Brown studying applied mathematics, economics, and computer science. He told the Times that Principles of Economics is a prerequisite for many upper-year courses at Brown and estimates 80 percent of the students enrolled are freshmen.
The review session was one of five Oduro offered to students before Tuesday’s final exam. Right before the shooting began, Oduro remembers saying goodbye to his students.
“I was telling my students that I am so grateful for them,” he said.
Security footage of the suspect was released on Saturday, showing a tall figure dress in all black, calmly exiting an academic building onto Hope Street.
Authorities weren’t immediately sure how the gunman entered the building. A Brown student told Fox News that doors to most campus buildings are open to the public.
It’s still unclear if the shooter was connected to the university, none of the victims have been publicly identified.
Students across the university sheltered in place overnight, waiting to be shepherded by law enforcement outside of the police perimeter. Brown President Christina Paxson estimated “a couple thousand” students were transported overnight to outside the police perimeter, in a letter to the community on Sunday.
The shelter-in-place order was lifted Sunday morning and all final exams have been cancelled.
