A manhunt is under way after two students were killed and nine other people were injured in a mass shooting at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
The gunman opened fire in a classroom at around 4:00 PM local time on Saturday, in a building where exams were taking place.
The university, one of the oldest and most prestigious in the US, was placed into lockdown as police searched for the gunman, who remains at large.
Students in parts of the campus are continuing to be told to shelter in place until police can escort them out of the area.
Officials from Rhode Island Hospital said most of the injured are in a critical but stable condition.
The identities of those killed or injured have not yet been released by officials.
This is a day that we hoped never would come to our community. It is deeply devastating for all of us, said Brown University President Christina Paxson in a statement.
Police have released limited information about the male suspect, including an identity or motive. Evidence indicates he may not have links to the university.
CCTV footage showed the suspect walking out of the building after the attack, but his face cannot be seen. Providence Deputy Police Chief Tim O'Hara mentioned the suspect was dressed in all black and may have been wearing a mask.
According to reports, the shooting took place during a review session for an economics course. Witnesses described chaos as the shooter entered the classroom and opened fire.
Officials have urged residents in the greater Brown University area to stay inside or keep their distance from the campus.
In the aftermath, university exams scheduled for Saturday were canceled, and authorities continue to search intensively for the shooter, whose weapon has not been recovered.
President Donald Trump condemned the incident as a terrible thing, while Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee called it an unthinkable tragedy.
This incident marks another grim statistic in the ongoing issue of gun violence in the United States, bringing the number of mass shootings this year to 389, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
