PROVIDENCE – Questions about the immediate response to the deadly campus shooting at Brown University in December and future security precautions dominated a public forum Tuesday involving Jewelry District residents, Brown representatives and Providence police officials.
The discussion took place at a meeting of the Jewelry District Association, a neighborhood where Brown owns a significant amount of property, including the Alpert Medical School, and is constructing a 300,000-square-foot “integrated life sciences” building.
Albert Dahlberg, associate vice president for government and community relations at Brown, said that security is not uniform across campus. Earlier, he stated that an outside firm would be contracted to conduct a review of the shooting – which occurred on Brown's East Side campus on Dec. 13, killing two students and injuring nine others – and to suggest future security measures, which may include increased Brown police presence or more surveillance cameras.
"We really value Brown as an open and accessible campus, though I realize people in this room currently have very strong opinions on that," Dahlberg said. "That’s what makes Brown Brown – we don't want to make campus a series of locked buildings you can't get into."
Still, one unidentified attendee asked how the shooter was able to access the building – and why it was not locked. "If I were a parent with a kid at Brown, I'd think twice about sending them back next week," she said.
Lt. Patrick Potter, Providence Police District One commander and Special Response Unit commander, gave a detailed description of the response to the incident, taking attendees step by step from when he arrived on the scene.
Dahlberg also provided updates on resources in the complex where the shooting occurred, specifically those used by the community, such as the Brown Design Workshop - a maker space with 3D printers, saws and workshop for students, staff and school groups.
One of the research laboratories, Prince Labs, will be undergoing a "massive renovation" that was planned long before the shooting, he said. The Brown Design Workshop will be relocated during the renovations, but Dahlberg said he could not speak to whether it would remain open to the public during this time. It will not return to its original location for at least two years.
Other rooms in the complex, such as the auditoriums and eight classrooms, will be closed for the foreseeable future for renovation. "We don't know what they will be yet; we're just cleaning them out," Dahlberg said.
Classes scheduled for those rooms have been moved.
Another attendee asked about the status of the homeless man who had followed the gunman after the shooting and provided information leading to the identification of the suspect. The gunman was found dead days later in New Hampshire.
Dahlberg said he had no information about the homeless man, who many have said should be paid the $50,000 reward issued after the shooting. "I've asked around and I'll keep asking," Dahlberg said.
(SUBS third paragraph to correct Dahlberg title; DELETES misattributed paragraphs six, seven and nine.)
Veer Mudambi is the special projects editor at the Providence Business News. He can be reached at mudambi@pbn.com.
