Within a few days, shootings and a killing at Brown University, which represents the Ivy League in the United States, and at the world-renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) brought the elite college towns of the East Coast to an unprecedented halt, suspending year-end academic schedules. As the investigation dragged on without a named suspect, Harvard and MIT began strictly controlling access to their campuses. Brown canceled all final exams and sent students home.
On the 17th (local time), according to a compilation of reports by the Boston Globe, AP, and other foreign media, the suspect in the shooting on the Brown campus at the Barus and Holley building on the 13th had not been caught as of this day, five days after the incident. Investigators are tracking the suspect's movements by analyzing CCTV footage near the scene, but are struggling to identify the person.
Providence police on this day released additional photos of a person believed to have been in close proximity to the suspect. In the released footage, the suspect wears a dark winter hat and jacket, black pants, and a mask covering the face while loitering in front of a doorbell camera in a residential area. Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez Jr. said, "We are analyzing terabytes (TB) of video," and noted, "We urgently need tips from the public." Authorities said they would pay a $50,000 (about 73 million won) reward to anyone who provides a decisive tip leading to the suspect's arrest.
Before the shock of the Brown incident had subsided, on the night of the 15th in nearby Brookline, Massachusetts, MIT professor Nuno Loureiro was found shot to death at his home. Loureiro was an authority in plasma physics and nuclear fusion and led the Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC) at MIT. MIT President Sally Kornbluth said in a statement that she felt "a shocking sense of loss," offering condolences. Police have not identified a suspect in this case either. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) drew a line, saying no direct connection between the two incidents had been confirmed.
In the United States, perpetrators of major mass shootings are often killed at the scene or die by suicide. According to 2023 FBI mass shooting statistics, among perpetrators who carried out shootings in densely populated areas, 25% were killed by police and 14% died by suicide. The remaining 61% were arrested at the scene. Cases that do not end at the scene, like the Brown incident, are extremely rare.
As the case remained unsolved with the perpetrator at large, fear spread across the Eastern college corridor. The New York Times (NYT) noted, "It is rare for a perpetrator to flee and remain uncaught for days in a major shooting," adding, "When the suspects' flight dragged on during the Boston Marathon bombing, an officer was additionally killed in the process." Experts said the very fact that a perpetrator who carried out indiscriminate gunfire is alive and unaccounted for is the core mechanism amplifying fear.
As anxiety grew, Brown canceled the remaining final exams. Rather than a simple class cancellation, the university halted academic operations and sent students home. It is an extremely unusual response even in the U.S. higher education scene. In typical gun threats, universities often close for only a day or two. This time, the special circumstance of "the suspect not caught" played a role. The decision is also seen as reflecting concerns that, if exams proceeded and additional harm occurred, the university could face legal liability.
Harvard University, 80 kilometers from the shooting scene, significantly tightened its campus perimeter. Major buildings such as the Science Center, which are usually open to the public, now require ID checks for entry. Yale University added campus security personnel for the exam period. Some classes were moved online at students' request. On online forums, calls are growing for stronger security measures from universities. Harvard Provost David Deming expressed solidarity, saying, "Brown is our sister campus" and "many of our members are connected as friends and family."
The expense increases and research disruptions from heightened security are becoming visible. Research-focused universities such as MIT and Harvard often interact with corporate researchers and visiting scholars from overseas. With this lockdown, access by outside research personnel is restricted, delaying experiments that use expensive equipment and scaling back year-end academic exchange programs, among other ripple effects. University security experts estimate that for Ivy League–level schools to operate access control systems, high-resolution CCTV, and 24-hour security staff on a permanent basis, they would need more than $10 million (about 14.6 billion won) in additional annual budget.
The two incidents in quick succession have cracked the myth of elite U.S. universities that "the campus is safe." While shootings have occurred on Ivy League campuses in the past, there has been no precedent for indiscriminate gunfire against an unspecified many like the Brown tragedy.
Experts said, "Ivy League universities have long embraced openness and freedom as core values, but if gun crimes become routine like this, they will be forced to choose conflicting options of strengthening campus security and imposing access controls," adding, "It is a case that succinctly reveals the structural dilemma facing U.S. higher education between academic freedom and safety."