Two mass shootings rocked the world over the weekend, with one occurring on a famed Rhode Island collegiate campus, and another across the world at a beach in Australia. Here’s everything you need to know about both tragic events.
The first incident unfolded Saturday afternoon at Brown University in Providence, where gunfire was reported around 4 p.m. near the school’s engineering facilities.
Providence Police Deputy Tim O’Hara told Fox News that the suspect was dressed in black and was last seen leaving the campus area on foot shortly after the shooting.
Federal authorities quickly responded. FBI Director Kash Patel said on X that agents were assisting local law enforcement as the investigation unfolded.
“FBI personnel are on the scene and assisting this evening after the shooting at Brown University and we will provide all capabilities necessary. Please pray for all those involved,” Patel wrote.
The shooting took place inside the Barus & Holley building, a seven-story structure that houses Brown’s School of Engineering and physics department, according to Politico.
Investigators told the Associated Press they were not immediately certain how the gunman gained access to a first-floor classroom inside the building.
By Saturday night, police released surveillance footage showing a man dressed entirely in black whom authorities described as a person of interest.
The New York Times reported that the individual was later detained as investigators worked to determine his connection to the shooting.
NBC News identified the detained individual as 24-year-old Benjamin Erickson, citing three senior law enforcement officials briefed on the case.
Erickson was taken into custody early Sunday morning at a Hampton Inn in Coventry, roughly 15 miles from Brown’s campus, after federal authorities used geolocation data following a tip from local police.
According to NBC News, Erickson served as an Army infantryman from May 2021 through November 2024. Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Ruth Castro said he had no overseas deployments and left the military at the rank of specialist.
Late Sunday night, authorities reversed course. Erickson was released from custody after investigators said newly reviewed evidence pointed away from him.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said the case had shifted. “I think it’s fair to say that there is no basis to consider him a person of interest, so that’s why he’s being released,” Neronha remarked, according to NBC News.
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Authorities said the surveillance video showing a man dressed in black remains the most useful lead.
Neronha said that if clearer footage existed, the public would have already seen it.
During a tense exchange with reporters, Neronha addressed questions about the lack of campus surveillance.
“There just weren’t a lot of cameras in that Brown building, is the reality,” he told the crowd of journalists.
“The reality is it’s an old building attached to a new one. I don’t know what to tell you, but we’re going to go out and find whatever evidence we can to solve this case as quickly as we can.”
He added, “I mean, we’re not holding back a video that we think would be useful. And I don’t think I should even have to say it.”
The shooter has still not been identified as of Monday. The FBI offered a $50,00 reward for information “the identification, the arrest and the conviction of the individual responsible, who we believe to be armed and dangerous.”
According to Providence Police Chief Oscar L. Perez, Jr., a second person of interest has not been taken into custody.
While investigators in Rhode Island continued searching for answers, another mass shooting was unfolding across the globe the next day.
On the first night of Hanukkah, gunfire tore through a Jewish gathering at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens more, authorities said.
CBS News reported that more than 40 people were hospitalized, including two police officers and three children.
Police said two gunmen, identified as a 50-year-old father and his 24-year-old son, opened fire during the beachfront celebration.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon told CBS News that the older man was killed at the scene, while his son was taken to a hospital in serious condition.
The younger suspect was identified as Naveed Akram, a Pakistani national living in Sydney, based on a U.S. intelligence briefing and a driver’s license provided by Australian police.
Lanyon later clarified earlier statements, noting that the father, not the son, was shot and killed by responding officers.
Lanyon said the deceased gunman legally owned multiple firearms. “He has six firearms licensed to him. We are satisfied that we have six firearms from the scene yesterday, but also as a result of the search warrant at the Campsie address,” he commented.
“Ballistics and forensic investigation will determine those six firearms are the six that were licensed to that man, but also they were used in the offense yesterday at Bondi.”
Authorities seized all six firearms believed to be connected to the shooting.
Police also raided a short-stay rental property on Brighton Avenue in Campsie where the suspects had spent the weekend, along with their family home in Bonnyrigg Heights.
The victims included members of the local Jewish community who had gathered for a public Hanukkah celebration known as Chanukah by the Sea.
One of those killed was Alex Kleytman, a Holocaust survivor who reportedly tried to shield his wife from the gunfire.
The Australian reported that Kleytman collapsed as his wife, Larisa, looked on.
“He pushed his body up because he wanted to stay near me,” Larisa told the newspaper.
“His body is still there, and I am sitting there and don’t know what I have to do.”
Kleytman, a retired civil engineer, survived brutal conditions in Siberia during World War II alongside his mother and younger brother before later immigrating to Australia from Ukraine.
Rabbi Eli Schlanger, a Chabad emissary and father of five, also died in the shooting.
Schlanger had organized the beach event and invited members of the community to attend the candlelighting ceremony just hours before the attack. His youngest child was born six weeks ago.
Australian officials confirmed that an Israeli citizen was among those killed, and another Israeli was injured.
Police said the victims had not yet been formally identified, but their ages were believed to range from 10 to 87.
