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WASHINGTON — On a day marked by tragedy, Eva Erickson, a doctoral student at Brown University and known to many as a runner-up on CBS’s “Survivor,” narrowly missed being caught in a violent incident. The serene atmosphere of Brown’s engineering building was shattered by gunfire just moments after Erickson left her lab.
The shooting took place on Saturday afternoon amidst the typically quiet time of final exams at the prestigious Ivy League institution in Providence, Rhode Island. The sudden eruption of violence left nine individuals with gunshot wounds. They were rushed to Rhode Island Hospital, where one person’s condition was critical. Kelly Brennan, a spokesperson for the hospital, reported that six individuals required intensive care, though their conditions were not worsening, and two others were in stable condition.
Erickson, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in engineering with a focus on fluid and thermal science, shared her close call on social media. She recounted feeling “very unproductive” during her time in the office and decided to step out for dinner. Her decision to leave came mere minutes before the gunfire began, a fact that underscores how narrowly she avoided the tragic event.
As police conducted a search of the campus, Erickson, like many others, sought safety and sheltered in place, reflecting the tense atmosphere that gripped the university community during the incident.
Erickson, a Ph.D. candidate in engineering and fluid and thermal science, recounted on social media how she had been working in the building where her office is located but decided to leave for dinner because she was feeling “very unproductive” at work. She believes she exited the building within five minutes of the shooting.
Erickson, who made history on “Survivor” as the show’s first openly autistic contestant, later sheltered in Brown’s campus gym for about four hours while police searched the area. She shared on social media that the only other member of her lab who was present was safely evacuated.
After the lockdown ended, Erickson was escorted to Brown’s Olney-Margolies Athletic Center, where she reunited with her hockey teammates.
At Brown, Erickson’s research focuses on how seals use their whiskers to locate objects underwater and how those biological mechanisms could be adapted for new technologies, according to the university.
Police in Rhode Island said Sunday morning they have a person of interest in custody related to the shooting.
Col. Oscar Perez, the Providence police chief, said Sunday afternoon that the person in custody was in their 20s and that no one has been charged yet. Perez, who earlier had said the person was in their 30s and that no one else was being sought, declined to say whether the detained person had any connection to Brown.
