\u00ab\u00a0The firefighters, the policemen, the civil leaders, neighbors who come together, and let us celebrate that community,\u00a0\u00bb Sen. Jack Reed said.<\/b>
\n\u00ab\u00a0The firefighters, the policemen, the civil leaders, neighbors who come together, and let us celebrate that community\u00a0\u00bb, Sen. Jack Reed said.
New England leaders are reacting to the mass shooting at Brown University during final exams Saturday night, killing at least two and wounding nine others.
\u201cTwo are looking down on us right now from heaven,\u201d President Donald Trump said about the Brown University shooting, per video shared by NBC. \u201cI just want to pay my respects to everybody.\u201d
The gunman fired more than 40 rounds from a 9 mm handgun in a classroom in the Barus & Holley building, which houses the School of Engineering and physics department, The Associated Press reported.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren said on social media the deadly shooting was \u201chorrific,\u201d while Sen. Ed Markey called for action \u201cto end this painful epidemic of gun violence.\u201d
\u201cStudents should be able to learn in peace, not fear gun violence,\u201d Warren said. \u201cMy heart goes out to the victims, their loved ones, and the entire Providence community.\u201d
Sen. Chris Murphy, of Connecticut, spoke about the shooting on CNN. Murphy took office shortly after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, which happened 13 years ago Sunday.
\u201cA community never, ever recovers from a shooting like this,\u201d Murphy told CNN. \u201cThat community in Providence won\u2019t recover. Those kids who are returning to campus are going to be looking over their shoulder, wondering if they are going to survive their next day in class.\u201d
Sen. Jack Reed, of Rhode Island, said he \u201cwoke up with a heavy heart thinking about the Brown shooting and remembering\u201d the Sandy Hook anniversary. Reed spoke on behalf of some of Rhode Island\u2019s congressional delegation at a press conference Sunday.
\u201cThis has been a horrible, terrible moment,\u201d Reed said. \u201cBut in moments like this, we see the best of Rhode Island. The firefighters, the policemen, the civil leaders, neighbors who come together, and let us celebrate that community.\u201d
Police released surveillance footage showing a person of interest dressed in black, calmly walking away from the scene. A person of interest was detained early Sunday morning and reportedly identified as Benjamin Erickson, an Army veteran from Wisconsin.
Brown University student Mia Tretta previously lived through a shooting at her high school. She was shot and injured in 2019 at Saugus High School in California. Kendall Turner, 19, was critically wounded during the shooting at Brown, her alma mater Durham Academy confirmed.
\u201cNo one in this country even assumes it\u2019s going to happen to them,\u201d Tretta said, per NBC News. \u201cOnce it happens to you, you assume or are told it will never happen again, and obviously that is not the case.\u201d
Murphy appeared to blame Trump for launching \u201ca dizzying campaign to increase violence in this country.\u201d Murphy pointed to the administration restoring gun rights to some felons and cutting bipartisan mental health and community anti-gun violence grants.
\u201cHe\u2019s knowingly restoring gun rights to dangerous people, he\u2019s cutting off grants that have bipartisan support,\u201d Murphy said. Additional violence is \u201cknowable\u201d and \u201cforeseeable,\u201d Murphy said about Trump\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n