A Brown University student has recounted chilling moments from Saturday’s mass shooting on campus, describing how a gunman armed with a rifle burst into a lecture hall and opened fire, killing at least two people and injuring several others.
According to the ANC, Joseph Oduro, a final-year student who was leading a review session for an economics exam, said he was standing at the front of an amphitheater-style lecture hall in the Barus & Holley building when the attack began.
“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.”
According to officials, the shooting left two people dead and nine others wounded. The suspect fled the campus but a person of interest was later detained at a hotel in Coventry, Rhode Island. Authorities have not released the individual’s name, filed charges, or identified a motive.
Oduro said he was with about 50 to 60 students when they heard what sounded like screams and gunshots outside the classroom door. Seconds later, a masked gunman dressed in dark clothing entered the room.
“We made eye contact,” he said. “He said something — maybe shouted — and then you could see panic instantly spread across the room.”
Oduro described the gunman as being fully covered, with only his eyes and part of a hand visible, and appearing to have bulky gear on his chest that may have been ammunition or protective equipment. He estimated the attacker was roughly 30 feet away when the shooting started.
As shots rang out, students ran for exits while others dropped to the floor in an attempt to survive. Oduro said he immediately lay flat and gestured for nearby students to take cover behind a table.
“I remember hearing what felt like 40 or 50 gunshots,” he said. “Some people were hit multiple times.”
He added that all the students who were shot appeared to be part of his review session.
Believing he might not survive, Oduro said he sent a 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 hiding, Oduro also tried to comfort a fellow student who had been shot in both legs and was in severe 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 gunman left the room, Oduro and others remained still, unsure if the attacker might return. Even when police later entered and instructed students to raise their hands, many hesitated.
“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 elsewhere in the Barus & Holley building when he heard what he initially thought were unusual popping sounds.
“I had never heard anything like that before,” Bari said. “Then it happened again, and I just ran.”
Bari described seeing dozens of students crowding toward limited exits as the reality of an active shooter became clear. Outside, he shouted warnings to others who were unaware of the danger.
“I was yelling, ‘Active shooter! Run!’ because people had no idea what was happening,” he said.
Bari eventually took shelter in a friend’s apartment with several others, hiding in a small bathroom for hours.
“It was terrifying,” he said. “But thanks to her, I’m alive.”
Investigations into the shooting are ongoing as the university community grapples with the aftermath of one of the deadliest incidents in Brown University’s history.
