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Rhode Island, Dec 14: Two people died, and multiple people have been reported injured in a shooting near the Ivy League campus in Providence, Rhode Island.

Mayor Brett Smiley of Providence, Rhode Island, has confirmed that two people have been killed and eight more are critically injured after an active shooter was reported on the campus of Brown University.

Exams were underway on Saturday when the shooting began on the Ivy League campus in the United States.

The suspect remains at large, according to Rhode Island officials. They described the perpetrator as a man dressed in black who left the scene on foot, and they added that no weapons have been recovered so far.

At a news conference, Smiley said that university leaders became aware of the shooting at about 4:05 pm local time (21:05 GMT), when a 911 call was received by emergency responders.

“I can confirm that there are two individuals who have died this afternoon, and there are another eight in critical status, though stable, at Rhode Island Hospital,” Smiley said.

“Those are the only injuries or casualties that we know at this time,” he added. “ But as I mentioned – and it’s important to remind folks – these numbers may change. We are still in the early hours.”

Smiley declined to identify the shooting victims, emphasising that the investigation was ongoing.

“This is a day that we hoped never would come to our community. It is deeply devastating for all of us,” the university’s president, Christina Paxton, said in a written statement.

She called on the campus to remain vigilant and adhere to its lockdown protocol. “This means keeping all doors locked and ensuring no movement across campus.”

“This is just the reality of life in America. From first graders to middle schoolers to high schoolers to students in college, they do active shooting drills. So they know how to do this,” Al Jazeera correspondent Patty Culhane said from Maryland.

“What they tell them is: Avoid. Deny. Defend,” she added, citing a popular school safety slogan.

“Avoid” stands for staying away from danger. “Deny” is meant as advice if escape is not possible: Victims are advised to find shelter, stay out of sight, and use materials to create barricades, if necessary.

People’s News Monitoring Service