PROVIDENCE, R.I. — In a surreal twist of fate, a Brown University graduate student who has already experienced the horror of a campus shooting found herself once again in the midst of gunfire. The shock only deepened when she learned that the suspect apprehended on Sunday night was released less than 24 hours later.

Sachi Gandhi, a second-year master’s student specializing in biotechnology, recounted the chilling events to Fox News Digital. She was in the safety of her off-campus residence in Fox Point when the chaos erupted.

The terrifying incident instantly brought back memories of the 2023 shooting at the University of North Carolina. During that ordeal, Gandhi endured an excruciating eight-hour lockdown in a lab, while tragically, a professor was fatally shot in a nearby building.

“I was locked in the lab for what felt like an eternity,” Gandhi shared. “The situation mirrored this one, with students left in the dark about the true extent of events. Misinformation spread like wildfire, fueled by the palpable fear that gripped everyone when they heard the gunshots.”

Amidst the aftermath, a lone bicycle was eerily left behind within the sealed crime scene at the Barus and Holley Building on Brown’s campus. The shooting resulted in the tragic deaths of two students and injuries to another nine, leaving the community reeling.

Gandhi stressed that the two shootings were very different, noting the Brown incident involved multiple victims — a “mass casualty,” in her words. But the emotional experience, she said, was still “equally as scary.”

Speaking about the Brown shooting, Gandhi said students initially breathed a sigh of relief when police announced they had taken a suspect into custody. But when authorities later released that same individual, panic spread across campus.

“It was really, really scary,” she told Fox News Digital. “Most of my friends have already left. My parents called saying they were driving up from Georgia to get me.”

Emergency personnel gather on Waterman Street at Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

She said the reversal left students feeling exposed and unprotected.

“It’s really messed up,” Gandhi said. “And where is our money going if we can’t catch this guy?”

She clarified she was referring to taxpayer dollars, not her Brown tuition.

Police tape off hotel rooms where the person of interest was arrested in a shooting, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Coventry, R.I. (Kimberlee Kruesi/AP Photo)

Gandhi praised Brown University, calling it an “amazing institution” with extensive camera coverage. Her frustration lies with the process that allowed the detained suspect to walk free so quickly.

“I’m more upset about finding someone and then releasing them a day later,” she said. “It just messes with a lot of students, especially the ones who are still here.”

The shooting at Brown resulted in multiple victims and sent the campus community into lockdown as police launched a manhunt for the gunman. Authorities have not announced any new arrests.

People hold candles during a vigil, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Providence, R.I., for the victims of Saturday’s shooting on the campus of Brown University. (Steven Senne/AP Photo)

Gandhi said that while the shootings were different in scale and circumstance, both left students facing the same fog of fear, confusion, and misinformation.

“No one knew what was real,” she said. “That’s exactly what happened at UNC, too.”

Despite the fear, she said she has seen Brown students support each other in the aftermath, just as UNC students did following their campus shooting.

“It’s nice to see the community band together,” she said.

But for many students, including Gandhi’s friends, the fear hasn’t subsided.

“They’ve already packed up and left,” she said. “People don’t feel safe right now.”

Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.