Skip to content
Campus Alert Archive
Brown

Two Strangers Posing as Students Burglarized an Everett-Poland Dorm Room, Claimed a Gun, and Triggered Brown's April Lock-Your-Door Warning

RIburglarytimely warningmedium confidence

On Sunday evening, April 14, 2024, two unknown individuals entered an unlocked dorm room at the Everett-Poland residence hall on Brown University's campus, stole a student's laptop and shoes, and — when confronted by the returning student — claimed to be carrying a firearm before fleeing toward Benevolent Street. Brown DPS issued a Clery Act timely warning by email late that night, urging community members to lock doors, refuse entry to strangers, and report suspicious activity. The notice followed several reports that weekend of unfamiliar persons appearing in residential corridors.

Alerts
2
Response
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
Brown University
Private R1 · RI
~10,700 studentsBrownAlert / DPS Timely Warning
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTEmail
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY — TIMELY WARNING: BREAKING AND ENTERING This Timely Warning is being issued in compliance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act. On Sunday, April 14, 2024, the Department of Public Safety received a report at approximately 8:15 p.m. of a breaking and entering at the Everett-Poland residence hall. A Brown student returned to their residence hall room and discovered two unknown individuals inside. The two individuals were carrying the student's personal property, including a laptop and shoes. When confronted, the individuals stated they were carrying a firearm, although no weapon was displayed, and then fled from the building on foot in the direction of Benevolent Street. The individuals are believed to have gained entry to the building by following or posing as students. The Brown University Department of Public Safety urges all members of the residential community to: — Lock your room door at all times, including when you step out briefly; — Do not prop residential building doors open; — Do not admit unknown persons into residence halls — ask everyone to swipe their own Brown ID; — Report any suspicious persons or activity immediately to DPS at 401-863-3322 or by dialing 911. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the Department of Public Safety. Tips may also be submitted anonymously. DPS is increasing patrols in the residential area in response to this incident.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed in close paraphrase from the Brown Daily Herald's April 15, 2024 article that quoted DPS's late-Sunday email directly, including the 8:15 PM report time, the Benevolent Street flight direction, and the 'posing as students' entry method
The 'claimed to be carrying a firearm — no weapon shown' construction is a recurring Clery dilemma: it does NOT meet the threshold for 'armed' burglary but DOES elevate the continuing-threat assessment
Everett-Poland is part of Brown's Wriston Quadrangle / Vartan Gregorian residential cluster; this places the incident within Brown's primary on-campus Clery geography
Brown subsequently faced a federal Clery review by the U.S. Department of Education starting in 2025, making 2024 timely-warning practice retrospectively significant
FOLLOW-UPEmail
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY — UPDATE: BREAKING AND ENTERING APPREHENSIONS The Department of Public Safety is providing an update following the April 14, 2024 Timely Warning regarding two individuals who entered an Everett-Poland residence hall room and stole personal property. DPS officers and Providence Police have apprehended two juveniles inside a Brown residential building and a third individual following a short pursuit. A fourth individual remains at large and was last seen in the vicinity of Kennedy Plaza in downtown Providence. DPS continues to encourage all residential community members to: — Keep room doors locked at all times; — Avoid admitting unfamiliar persons into residence halls; — Report suspicious activity immediately to DPS at 401-863-3322 or 911. DPS is maintaining increased patrols of residential areas and is coordinating closely with Providence Police. This update is being issued in compliance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

WPRI reported three juveniles apprehended at Brown following a separate but related dorm-room break-in pattern shortly after the April 14 Everett-Poland incident
The follow-up update is reconstructed from secondary coverage; whether Brown DPS issued a discrete Clery update or folded the apprehensions into a separate notice is not clear from the indexed archive
The fourth-suspect-at-large detail represents an unresolved continuing-threat condition that would typically extend the timely-warning duty
Context

Background

Brown University is a private R1 in Providence, Rhode Island with a residential campus on College Hill. The Everett-Poland residence hall sits on the Wriston Quadrangle / Vartan Gregorian cluster of upper-class housing. On the evening of Sunday, April 14, 2024, two unknown individuals entered an Everett-Poland room — likely by following or posing as students — and were caught mid-burglary by the returning student. The individuals claimed to have a gun (no weapon was displayed) and fled toward Benevolent Street. DPS issued an email timely warning the same night urging community members to lock doors and never admit strangers. The case is significant for two reasons: (1) the 'claimed firearm — no weapon displayed' construction is a textbook Clery dilemma that elevates continuing-threat assessment without re-classifying the offense as armed burglary; and (2) within days, Brown DPS and Providence Police apprehended three of four suspects in connection with related dorm-room break-ins. The April 2024 timely warning sits inside a broader Brown Clery context — the U.S. Department of Education announced a Clery Act program review of Brown — making the institution's 2024 timely-warning practice retrospectively significant.
Analysis

Key Findings

'Claimed a firearm, no weapon displayed' is a recurring Clery dilemma — it does not re-classify the offense as armed burglary but elevates the continuing-threat assessment
'Following or posing as students' is the dominant entry vector for non-student burglars on residential-campus institutions, and is the chief safety message of Brown's April 2024 warning
Brown DPS apprehended three of four suspects within days, illustrating how same-night timely warnings can serve as an investigative tip-line as well as a continuing-threat notification
The April 2024 timely warning was issued in the immediate context of a federal Clery Act program review of Brown University by the U.S. Department of Education
Everett-Poland is part of Brown's Wriston Quad housing complex — primary on-campus Clery geography
Outcome
Initial report: no injuries; suspects fled with laptop and shoes. Two days later, Brown DPS and Providence Police apprehended two juveniles inside a Brown residential building and a third after a short pursuit; a fourth individual remained at large near Kennedy Plaza.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Official
  2. Student Paper
  3. News
  4. News
  5. News
  6. Official
Tags
burglarybreaking-and-enteringtimely-warningbrown-universityprivate-r1rhode-islandprovidenceeverett-polandwriston-quadposing-as-studentsclaimed-firearmclery-review
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion