Confirmed wording is transcribed character-for-character from a primary source. Use Verify this quote under each message to open that source in a new tab and compare the text yourself.
INITIAL ALERTPush
Verified verbatim·367 chars
1st, Urgent: There's an active shooter near Barus & Holley Engineering. Lock doors, silence phones, and stay hidden until further notice. Remember: RUN, if you are in the affected location, evacuate safely if you can; HIDE, if evacuation is not possible, take cover; FIGHT, as a last resort, take action to protect yourself. Stay tuned for further safety information.
Exact 1st Urgent text from official Brown DPSEM alert archive page
Fuller than the abbreviated SMS quote previously held; includes RUN/HIDE/FIGHT script
UPDATETwitter/X+8 min
Verified verbatim·164 chars
BrownUAlert: 4th Urgent: Report of shots fired near Governor street. Continue to shelter in place. Stay clear. Law enforcement responding. Updates: http://brown.edu
Exact 2nd Urgent text from official Brown DPSEM alert archive
Includes early erroneous 'One suspect is in custody' later superseded by 3rd update
UPDATETwitter/X+1h 9m
Verified verbatim·267 chars
BrownUAlert: 3rd, Continue to shelter in place. Remain away from Barus & Holley area. Police do not have a suspect in custody and continue to search for suspect(s). Brown coordinating with multiple law enforcement agencies on site. Visit http://brown.edu for updates.
BrownUAlert: 4th Urgent: Report of shots fired near Governor street. Continue to shelter in place. Stay clear. Law enforcement responding. Updates: http://brown.edu
BrownUAlert: 6th Update, The earlier report of a secondary shooting incident near Governor Street is unfounded. However, it remains critical to continue to shelter in place due to the original situation. Updates: http://brown.edu
BrownUAlert: 8th Update, The Brown campus continues to be in lockdown, and it is imperative that all members of our community remain sheltered in place. This means keeping all doors locked and ensuring no movement across campus. The law enforcement response remains ongoing.
BrownUAlert: 9th update, The Brown campus continues to be in lockdown, and it is imperative that all members of our community remain sheltered in place. This means keeping all doors locked and ensuring no movement across campus. The law enforcement response remains ongoing.
Exact text from official @BrownUniversity status; full message visible on status page including Safety sentence
UPDATETwitter/X+6h 58m
Verified verbatim·209 chars
BrownUAlert: 10th update, Law enforcement agencies have established a perimeter around a portion of Brown’s campus. Please view the map and instructions: http://brown.edu. The shelter-in-place remains ongoing.
BrownUAlert: Law enforcement officers continue to evacuate community members from administrative buildings inside the perimeter depicted on the map. For all locations (inside and outside the perimeter), the shelter in place remains ongoing. Please see the president's email and
Exact text from official @BrownUniversity status between 10th update and all-clear
ALL CLEARTwitter/X+13h 20m
Verified verbatim·522 chars
11th Urgent: Providence police have advised the University that the shelter-in-place order has ended for the entire Brown campus. However, police activity continues in areas that are still considered an active crime scene. Be advised that access to these areas of campus continues to be limited. Within the police perimeter, including Minden Hall and nearby apartment buildings, community members who leave those buildings will be unable to return. It is important to follow instructions from law enforcement at all times.
Exact 11th Urgent all-clear from official Brown DPSEM alert archive
UPDATEPush
Verified verbatim·468 chars
2nd, Urgent: There's an active shooter situation near Barus & Holley. Brown and Providence Police are on scene. Continue to shelter at this time. One suspect is in custody. Lock doors, silence phones, and stay hidden until further notice. Remember: RUN, if you are in the affected location, evacuate safely if you can; HIDE, if evacuation is not possible, take cover; FIGHT, as a last resort, take action to protect yourself. Stay tuned for further safety information.
3rd, Urgent: Continue to shelter in place. Remain away from Barus & Holley area. Police do not have a suspect in custody and continue to search for suspect(s). Brown is coordinating with multiple law enforcement agencies on-site. Emergency medical on scene. Stay tuned for further safety Stay tuned for further safety information.
5th Urgent: All DPS members who are able are asked to report to 75 Charlesfield to assist with the active shooter situation that is still ongoing at Barus & Holley.
6th, Urgent: The earlier report of a secondary shooting incident near Governor Street is unfounded. However, it remains critical to continue to shelter in place due to the original situation. Stay tuned for further safety information.
8th, Urgent: The Brown campus continues to be in lockdown, and it is imperative that all members of our community remain sheltered in place. This means keeping all doors locked and ensuring no movement across campus. The law enforcement response remains ongoing. Safety is the utmost and essential priority.
9th, Urgent: Law enforcement agencies have established a perimeter around a portion of Brown's campus, as depicted on a map published at http://www.brown.edu/. Individuals already in residential buildings within the perimeter should continue to shelter in place there. Police will enter all administrative (non-residential) buildings within the perimeter marked by the red boxes on the map to escort all individuals to safe locations outside of the perimeter. For all locations (inside and outside the perimeter), the shelter in place remains ongoing.
10th, Urgent: Law enforcement officers continue to evacuate community members from administrative buildings inside the perimeter depicted on the map published at http://www.brown.edu/. For all locations (inside and outside the perimeter), the shelter in place remains ongoing. Please see the president's email and Brown.edu for a message with additional details.
Dear Brown Community,
Providence police announced late on Sunday night that they have released the individual they had detained in connection with the investigation into the shooting on the Brown campus on Saturday, Dec. 14, which claimed the lives of two Brown students and injured nine others. The Rhode Island Attorney General stated definitively in a news media event hosted by the City of Providence that “there is no basis” to consider the released individual a person of interest.
Law enforcement agencies continue to investigate, and local police have advised they do not believe there is any immediate threat to Brown or the local community.
As Providence police continue to lead this investigation, they have informed Brown that they are continuing their search efforts, which includes ongoing coordination with multiple agencies. There continues to be a heightened amount of local, state and federal police activity in the area as law enforcement continues to investigate and patrol with increased vigilance. The Department of Public Safety has more than doubled its staffing.
We know that this update may prompt numerous questions. This remains an active police investigation, and the University must defer to the Providence Police Department to release information as they deem appropriate. The police department has established a designated tip line for this investigation. Any individual with information that may be relevant to law enforcement should call 401-652-5767.
We continue to make every effort to ensure the safety and security of the campus. We are also advising every member of the Brown community to be vigilant in their own activities on campus.
RESOURCES
Brown University Department of Public Safety 401-863-3322
Providence Police Department 401-272-3121
Brown DPS Director of Advocacy, Engagement and Communication 401-863-2542
The Brown University campus community is always encouraged to take the following steps to keep yourself and others safe:
-- Report suspicious behavior
-- If you feel unsafe in any situation, trust your instincts and call Brown DPS at 401- 863-3322 or the Providence Police at 401-272-3121
-- Please review the Brown DPS web page for additional safety awareness information and resources.
For any emergency situation, dial 911.
-- -- --
Brown University Department of Public Safety
BROWN DPS EMERGENCY CONTACT: (401) 863-4111
BROWN DPS NON-EMERGENCY CONTACT: (401) 863-3322
PROVIDENCE POLICE DEPARTMENT: 9-1-1
PROVIDENCE POLICE DEPARTMENT: (401) 272-3121
To check this alert, Claude (an AI) read it in full 25 separate times, independently. Each read decided whether the message answers each of the six questions and gave a short reason. A final reviewer then weighed all 25 and wrote the plain-English verdict you see when you open a row. The score (for example 22/25) is how many reads agreed; the 25 individual reads are tucked underneath if you want to check them.
1st, Urgent: There's an active shooter near Barus & Holley Engineering. Lock doors, silence phones, and stay hidden until further notice. Remember: RUN, if you are in the affected location, evacuate safely if you can; HIDE, if evacuation is not possible, take cover; FIGHT, as a last resort, take action to protect yourself. Stay tuned for further safety information.
Sourceabsent0/25
Final assessment
Unanimous agreement that no sender, agency, or issuing authority is named anywhere in the text, only a generic '1st, Urgent' label.
Who is sending the alert and who is responding. People act faster on a message from a clearly identifiable, credible sender, such as a named department, the police, or a branded alert system, than on an anonymous notice. A branded signature counts.
See all 25 individual reads
absent: No sender or authority identified beyond generic phrasing, no branded signature.
absent: No sender or authority named in the message text.
absent: No sender or agency identified in the text.
absent: No sender or authority is named in the text.
absent: No sender agency or branded signature identified in the text.
absent: No sender or agency named issuing this alert.
absent: No sender or authority named, no branded signature.
absent: No sender or agency named in text.
absent: No sender or agency identified in the text.
absent: No sender or issuing authority identified in the message
absent: No sender name or agency appears in the text.
absent: No sender or agency identified beyond generic 'Urgent' label.
absent: No sender or agency identified in the text itself.
absent: No sender or agency identified in the text.
absent: No sender or authority explicitly named in the text.
absent: No sender or issuing authority is named in the text.
absent: No sender or authority named in the text itself.
absent: No sender or authority identified in text.
absent: No sender or authority named.
absent: No sender or issuing authority identified in text
absent: No agency, university, or branded signature identifies who sent this message.
absent: No sender or issuing authority named in text.
absent: No sender or issuing authority identified in the text.
absent: No sender name, agency, or branded signature appears, only '1st, Urgent'.
absent: No issuing authority or branded alert signature named.
Hazardpresent25/25
Final assessment
Unanimous: 'active shooter' near Barus & Holley Engineering names the specific hazard.
What the threat actually is. A complete warning names the specific danger, such as a shooter, a fire, a tornado, or a gas leak, rather than a vague emergency, because people decide what to do based on what they are facing.
See all 25 individual reads
present: 'active shooter' named.
present: 'active shooter' named specifically.
present: 'active shooter' named specifically.
present: Names an active shooter specifically.
present: 'active shooter near Barus & Holley Engineering' names the hazard.
present: 'active shooter near Barus & Holley Engineering' names hazard.
present: 'active shooter' named explicitly.
present: 'active shooter' named.
present: Names active shooter.
present: Names "active shooter" as the hazard
present: Names active shooter as the specific hazard.
present: Active shooter named explicitly.
present: Names 'active shooter'.
present: States 'active shooter'.
present: Active shooter named as the threat.
present: Names "an active shooter."
present: 'active shooter near Barus & Holley Engineering'.
present: 'active shooter' specifically named.
present: 'active shooter' named.
present: "active shooter" named
present: Names 'active shooter' as the specific hazard.
present: Names active shooter.
present: 'active shooter' names the hazard.
present: States 'an active shooter'.
present: 'active shooter' named.
Locationpresent25/25
Final assessment
All reads agree 'Barus & Holley Engineering' is the named location.
Where the threat is. Saying whether danger is in a specific building, a part of campus, or area-wide lets people judge their own proximity and choose a safe direction. Without a where, a warning is hard to act on precisely.
See all 25 individual reads
present: 'near Barus & Holley Engineering' named.
present: 'near Barus & Holley Engineering' named.
present: 'near Barus & Holley Engineering'.
present: Barus & Holley Engineering specified.
present: 'Barus & Holley Engineering' specified.
present: 'near Barus & Holley Engineering'.
present: 'near Barus & Holley Engineering'.
present: 'near Barus & Holley Engineering.'
present: Names Barus & Holley Engineering.
present: Names Barus & Holley Engineering
present: Names near Barus and Holley Engineering.
present: Near Barus & Holley Engineering specified.
present: Names Barus & Holley Engineering.
present: Names 'Barus & Holley Engineering'.
present: Barus & Holley Engineering specified.
present: Names "Barus & Holley Engineering."
present: 'Barus & Holley Engineering'.
present: 'near Barus & Holley Engineering' named.
present: 'near Barus & Holley Engineering'.
present: "near Barus & Holley Engineering"
present: Names 'Barus & Holley Engineering.'
present: Near Barus & Holley Engineering specified.
present: 'Barus & Holley Engineering' given.
present: Names 'Barus & Holley Engineering'.
present: 'near Barus & Holley Engineering' given.
Guidancepresent25/25
Final assessment
Unanimous: the message gives detailed protective instructions, lock doors, silence phones, stay hidden, and Run-Hide-Fight steps.
The protective action to take. A clear, specific instruction, such as shelter in place, evacuate, avoid the area, or run-hide-fight, drives faster and more correct protective behavior than describing the threat alone.
See all 25 individual reads
present: 'Lock doors, silence phones, and stay hidden', RUN HIDE FIGHT instructions.
present: 'Lock doors, silence phones, and stay hidden...RUN...HIDE...FIGHT.'
present: 'Lock doors, silence phones, and stay hidden' plus RUN, HIDE, FIGHT instructions.
present: Instructs to lock doors, silence phones, and Run, Hide, Fight.
present: 'Lock doors, silence phones, and stay hidden', RUN HIDE FIGHT protocol.
present: 'Lock doors, silence phones, and stay hidden... RUN...HIDE...FIGHT'.
present: 'Lock doors, silence phones, and stay hidden... RUN...HIDE...FIGHT'.
present: 'Lock doors, silence phones, and stay hidden...RUN...HIDE...FIGHT.'
present: "Lock doors, silence phones, and stay hidden... RUN...HIDE...FIGHT"
present: Instructs to lock doors, silence phones, hide, or run/hide/fight.
present: Instructs to lock doors, silence phones, hide, and RUN HIDE FIGHT protocol.
present: 'Lock doors, silence phones, and stay hidden' and RUN/HIDE/FIGHT instructions.
present: Instructs 'Lock doors, silence phones, and stay hidden' and gives RUN/HIDE/FIGHT steps.
present: 'Lock doors, silence phones, and stay hidden... RUN...HIDE...FIGHT.'
Timeabsent1/25
Final assessment
Unanimous: no clock time or date is given; '1st' is a sequence marker, not a time.
When the message applies. A timestamp, the word now or immediately, or a phrase like until further notice tells the reader whether the danger is current and how quickly to act.
See all 25 individual reads
absent: No clock time or date given.
absent: No clock time or recency marker given.
absent: No clock time or recency marker given, only sequence marker '1st, Urgent'.
absent: No clock time or date given.
absent: '1st, Urgent' does not convey a clock time or date.
absent: No clock time given, '1st' is a sequence marker not time.
absent: No clock time or date given, only 'until further notice'.
absent: No clock time given; '1st' indicates sequence not time.
absent: '1st' denotes sequence, not a clock time or date.
absent: No clock time or date given
present: Uses until further notice to convey duration.
absent: No clock time or date given.
absent: No clock time or date given.
absent: No clock time or date given.
absent: No specific time given.
absent: No clock time or date given.
absent: No clock time given, '1st' indicates sequence not time.
absent: '1st, Urgent' doesn't give a clock time or date; no recency marker.
absent: No clock time or date given.
absent: No clock time or date given
absent: No clock time or date given.
absent: No clock time or date given.
absent: No clock time or recency marker present, only 'until further notice'.
absent: No clock time or date given.
absent: No clock time or date given.
Impactabsent0/25
Final assessment
Unanimous: no consequence or severity is stated beyond naming the active shooter.
What the hazard could do to the people in its path. Beyond naming the threat, a complete warning conveys its potential consequences or severity, such as that a tornado can level buildings or that a leak could be explosive, so recipients grasp how much danger they are in. Research on warning message content finds that a concrete impact statement helps people personalize their risk and act sooner.
See all 25 individual reads
absent: No stated consequence or severity beyond hazard name.
absent: No stated consequence beyond the hazard name.
absent: No stated consequence or severity described.
absent: No stated consequence beyond naming the hazard.
absent: No stated consequence or severity beyond hazard name.
absent: No stated consequence beyond hazard name.
absent: No stated consequence or severity beyond the hazard name.
absent: No stated consequence beyond hazard name.
absent: No stated consequence or severity.
absent: No stated consequence beyond hazard name
absent: No stated consequence or severity.
absent: No stated consequence beyond hazard name.
absent: No stated consequence or severity described beyond the hazard name.
absent: No stated consequence or severity.
absent: No stated harm or consequence beyond hazard name.
absent: No stated consequence or severity.
absent: No stated consequence beyond hazard description.
absent: No stated consequence or severity.
absent: No stated consequence.
absent: No stated consequence beyond hazard name
absent: No stated consequence beyond naming the hazard.
absent: No stated consequence described.
absent: No stated consequence or severity described beyond hazard name.
absent: No stated consequence or severity.
absent: No stated consequence beyond hazard name.
Systematic AI judgments with visible reasoning, not human-validated codings.
On the afternoon of December 13, 2025, shortly after 4 PM EST during finals week, a gunman entered the Barus and Holley Building (home to Brown's School of Engineering and physics department in Providence, Rhode Island) and opened fire in the 186-seat first-floor Room 166, where a 21-year-old teaching assistant was running an optional economics final-exam review session. Eleven people were shot: two students killed and nine wounded. Brown issued an active shooter alert at 4:22 PM EST, and the entire campus was placed on full lockdown with shelter-in-place orders. The shooter, identified as Cláudio Manuel Neves Valente, 48, a Portuguese national who had enrolled in Brown's physics PhD program in 2000 and withdrawn in 2003, fled the scene before police arrived. Two days later, on December 15, he fatally shot MIT physics professor Nuno Loureiro (a former classmate) at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts. Valente was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire on December 18, 2025; an autopsy determined he had been dead since around December 16. Victims of the shooting filed a lawsuit against the university, alleging that Brown failed to act on prior warnings about the suspect, including reports from a custodian who had seen Valente canvassing the building in the days before the attack. The U.S. Department of Education announced a Clery Act compliance review of Brown University in the aftermath.
Analysis
Key Findings
01A custodian had reported the suspect as suspicious in the days before the shooting; a lawsuit later filed by victims alleges the university failed to act on prior warnings
02The U.S. Department of Education opened a Clery Act compliance review of Brown University following the shooting
03The five-day manhunt ended December 18, 2025 when the suspect was found dead by suicide inside a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire; the same gunman also killed MIT physics professor Nuno Loureiro in Brookline, MA on December 15
Outcome
Two students, Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov '29 and Ella Cook '28, were killed and nine others wounded (11 people shot in all). The shooter, Cláudio Manuel Neves Valente, 48, a Portuguese national and former Brown physics PhD student (enrolled 2000, withdrew 2003), fled the scene; two days later, on December 15, he fatally shot MIT physics professor Nuno Loureiro, a former classmate, in Brookline, MA. Valente was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a storage unit in Salem, NH on December 18, 2025 (an autopsy determined he had been dead since around December 16). The U.S. Department of Education announced a Clery Act compliance review of Brown University.
Reception
Community Response
How the campus community received and interpreted the alert(s), in their own words.
Poorly received
BrownAlert's first active-shooter alert went out at 4:22 p.m. EST on December 13, 2025 (roughly 15 minutes after the first 911 call), and students said they had already learned of the danger from the anonymous Sidechat app first; many students and nearby Providence residents called the notification late, thin on information, or said they received "absolutely nothing" (Fox News).
“Just the fact that it took so long to respond to the emergency and told us to shelter in place … is really worrying.”
“It really blew my mind that there was no notification whatsoever”
— Providence resident near campus· The Brown Daily HeraldView source
Reactions to the alert, drawn from press coverage; follow each link to verify. Quotes are reproduced from reporting and not independently re-confirmed against the original source.
Provenance
Sources
Every claim on this page is meant to be checkable. Open the links below (and the Verify this quote control under each confirmed alert) to read the original university, news, or archive page yourself. Hostnames are shown so you can see where you are going; archived copies survive when live pages move or disappear. See also our methodology.
Campus Alert Archive. "Brown University: Former graduate student shoots 11 during an exam review session; two students killed." Incident of December 13, 2025. Added May 2026; last updated July 2026. https://campusalertarchive.com/case/brown-university-shooting-2025-12-13/