A Brown University student has shared a harrowing account of Saturday’s deadly shooting on campus, recalling how a rifle-wielding attacker stormed into a lecture hall and began firing, leaving at least two people dead and several others injured.
Joseph Oduro, a senior who was conducting a review class ahead of an economics exam, said he was positioned at the front of an amphitheater-style classroom inside the Barus & Holley building when the violence erupted.
“The moment I saw him, I saw the gun,” Oduro said in an interview with ABC News. “It was so large that I genuinely thought that was the end for me.”
University and law enforcement officials confirmed that two people were killed and nine others sustained injuries. The suspect fled the campus after the shooting, but authorities later detained a person of interest at a hotel in Coventry, Rhode Island. Officials have not disclosed a name, announced charges, or provided details about a possible motive.
Oduro said approximately 50 to 60 students were in the room when they heard what initially sounded like screaming followed by gunfire outside the door. Moments later, a masked individual wearing dark clothing entered the classroom.
“We made eye contact,” he said. “He said something — maybe shouted — and then you could see panic instantly spread across the room.”
He described the gunman as fully concealed, with only his eyes and part of one hand visible, and wearing what appeared to be bulky equipment across his chest that could have been ammunition or protective gear. Oduro estimated the shooter was about 30 feet away when the first shots were fired.
As gunfire echoed through the room, some students rushed for exits while others dropped to the floor to avoid being hit. Oduro said he immediately flattened himself and motioned for nearby classmates to shield themselves behind a table.
“I remember hearing what felt like 40 or 50 gunshots,” he said. “Some people were hit multiple times.”
He added that those who were wounded all appeared to be participants in his review session.
Fearing he might not survive the attack, Oduro said he sent what he believed could be his final message to his parents. “I told them I loved them, that I was sorry for any trouble I’d caused, and that I was grateful for their lives,” he said.
While remaining hidden, Oduro also tried to console a fellow student who had been shot in both legs and was suffering intense pain.
“I held her hand and told her to squeeze as hard as she could,” he said. “I told her, ‘Put all your pain on me. I can take it.’”
After the shooter exited the classroom, Oduro and others stayed motionless, uncertain whether the threat had truly passed. Even when officers eventually entered and told students to raise their hands, many were reluctant to respond.
“We were too scared to move,” he said. “We didn’t know if it was really the police or another shooter.”
Another student, Ref Bari, said he was in a different part of the Barus & Holley building when he heard what he initially assumed were strange popping noises.
“I had never heard anything like that before,” Bari said. “Then it happened again, and I just ran.”
Bari said he saw large numbers of students funneling toward a small number of exits as awareness of an active shooter spread. Once outside, he tried to alert others who seemed unaware of the danger.
“I was yelling, ‘Active shooter! Run!’ because people had no idea what was happening,” he said.
Bari later found refuge at a friend’s apartment along with several others, where they hid for hours inside a cramped bathroom.
“It was terrifying,” he said. “But thanks to her, I’m alive.”
Authorities continue to investigate the shooting as Brown University students, faculty, and staff mourn and attempt to recover from one of the most tragic episodes in the institution’s history.
