Brown College scholar Joseph Oduro mentioned he was in a lecture corridor main a assessment session for an upcoming economics ultimate when a gunman wielding a rifle burst by the door and locked eyes with him.
“I instantly, once I noticed him, I noticed a gun,” Oduro informed ABC Information correspondent Whit Johnson in an interview on Sunday. “The gun was so huge and lengthy that I genuinely thought, like, okay, that is the top of the street for me.”
Not less than two folks had been killed and 9 others had been injured in Saturday’s taking pictures, in accordance with officers. The gunman fled the campus, however on Sunday morning, police mentioned an individual of curiosity, whose title was not launched, was detained at a resort in Coventry, R.I.
No costs have been filed but within the case and police haven’t commented on a attainable motive.
Oduro mentioned he was in room 160 of the Barus & Holley constructing on the Windfall, R.I., Brown campus with about 50 to 60 college students after they instantly heard a loud commotion, together with what appeared like screams and gunshots, outdoors the door.
“And round 5 seconds or so later, we see a gunman stroll in on the left-hand aspect,” mentioned Oduro, who mentioned he is set to graduate this month.
Brown College scholar Joseph Odura (r) speaks with ABC Information’ Whit Johnson about witnessing the mass taking pictures, December 13, 2025, in a lecture corridor on the Windfall, R.I., campus.
ABC Information
Oduro mentioned the gunman was wearing darkish clothes from head to toe and gave the impression to be sporting one thing that was bulging from his chest, saying it might have been ammunition or a bulletproof vest. He mentioned the gunman was utterly lined aside from his eyes and a part of a hand.
“We made eye contact,” Oduro mentioned. “I do know he mumbled one thing, screamed one thing, I do not know precisely what was mentioned, however he entered the room and you can simply see the panic in all the scholars’ eyes,” Oduro mentioned. “I used to be standing within the entrance so as quickly as he walked in, he instantly noticed me and I instantly noticed him.”
He mentioned that because the gunfire erupted, he noticed some college students operating out the door and others diving to the bottom, “simply no matter it takes to remain alive.”
Legislation enforcement officers escort college students close to the Barus & Holley engineering constructing at Brown College campus in Windfall, R.I., December 13, 2025.
Bing Guan/AFP through Getty Photos
Oduro mentioned he instantly dropped to the ground and motioned for college kids to take cowl behind a desk he additionally was hiding behind. He mentioned the gunman was about 30 toes from him on the high of the amphitheater-style lecture corridor.
He estimated listening to forty to 50 gunshots and mentioned some victims within the lecture corridor had been shot a number of occasions.
Oduro mentioned he believes that all the college students who had been shot within the incident had been a part of his assessment session.
Oduro mentioned he texted his dad and mom in what he thought is likely to be his final message to them.
“I texted them, and I mentioned, ‘I like you all and I am sorry for all the difficulty that I put you thru and I simply love you all, and I am grateful for all your lives,'” Oduro mentioned, exhibiting ABC Information the textual content messages.
Oduro mentioned that whereas mendacity on the ground, petrified, he was concurrently making an attempt to consolation a scholar who had been shot in each legs and was in excruciating ache.
Members of the FBI Proof Response Staff gather proof and mark the realm with proof markers at Brown College in Windfall, R.I., Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, follwing a mass taking pictures.
Anadolu through Getty Photos
“If she had been to make a noise … something like that and the gunman would have heard, we don’t know what would have occurred. I believe the state of emergency would have been means worse. So I gave her my hand to squeeze as laborious as she might,” Oduro mentioned. “I mentioned, ‘Put all of your ache on me as a result of I might take it.'”
He mentioned the time they had been ready for the gunshots to cease “felt like 14 days.”
Oduro mentioned that when the gunman left the room, he and different college students nonetheless on the scene stayed put.
“You do not know if he is gonna come again, and the percentages of him going to a different room are extraordinarily excessive. So, if we try to exit and discover one other means out, possibly we’d cross paths with him once more, and you may escape as soon as, however you are positively not gonna escape twice,” Oduro reasoned.
He mentioned that even when the police first entered the room and informed college students to place their palms up, nobody moved.
“None of us complied as a result of all of us thought it was simply one other shooter,” Oduro mentioned.
One other Brown scholar, Ref Bari, informed ABC Information that he was contained in the Barus & Holley constructing when the taking pictures broke out.
“The pictures rang out behind me,” Bari mentioned.
Brown College scholar Ref Bari speaks to ABC Information about what he witnessed throughout a mass taking pictures on the Windfall, R.I., campus, December 13, 2025.
ABC Information
Bari mentioned he had simply wrapped up a gathering with different college students for a faculty challenge and was strolling down a staircase to the primary flooring. He mentioned he heard six or seven pops, however did not instantly acknowledge the noises as gunfire, saying, “I’ve by no means heard something like that in my life.”
“I glanced behind me in a short time and the foyer of Barus & Holley was empty, or so it appeared,” Bari mentioned. “In entrance of me, the ERC [Engineering Research Center], the like commons space of Barus & Holley is full with a few hundred college students.”
Bari mentioned folks had been initially oblivious to the commotion, describing college students as sporting headphones whereas prepping for ultimate exams and tasks.
“So, I am pondering in that cut up second, ‘Okay, possibly I misheard one thing. After which it simply rings out, like pop, pop, pop once more,” Bari mentioned. “After which I do not look again. I simply run as quick as I can.”
When folks in commons space began realizing what was taking place, all of them began to hurry for one in all two exits, Bari mentioned.
“So, think about 100 children making an attempt to hurry out by two exits,” Bari mentioned.
He mentioned he did not discover anybody screaming or panicking: “It is simply silence and gunshots behind us,” Bari mentioned.
Bari mentioned that when he bought outdoors, he known as his dad and mom as he continued to run throughout the road to the science library.
“Of us popping out of the science constructing had no thought what was happening. So, as I used to be operating, I began shouting, ‘Energetic shooter! Run!'” Bari mentioned.
He mentioned he was planning to run to his residence, however ran right into a good friend who invited him and different college students into her residence to shelter in place.
“We hid in her lavatory for like two hours, 4 of us in a small lavatory for 2 hours,” Bari mentioned. “And it was terrifying, however I believe, due to her, I am alive proper now.”
