Brown University economics professor says shooting occurred during review session for her final exam

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND: Rachel Friedberg, a professor of economics at Brown University, said the shooting that took place on Saturday, December 13, occurred during a review session for the final exam of her popular Principles of Economics course. Reportedly, the course is taken by half of all undergraduates and is the most heavily attended class at the university.

Friedberg was not present during the review, which was led by her teaching assistant, who immediately alerted her to the incident. 

Teaching assistant describes shooter's entry and attack

Upon hearing the shocking news, Friedberg rushed to Rhode Island Hospital, where she spoke with an Ocean State Media reporter and recounted the details she heard from her teaching assistant. 

She explained the layout of the room, "The room has stadium seating with doors that enter at the top."

The shooting began instantly upon the attacker's arrival, so the TA reported that "the shooter came in the doors, yelled something — he couldn’t remember what he yelled — and started shooting."

Students scrambled to get away from shooter

Friedberg described the horrific measures students took to avoid gunfire within the stadium-style seating environment.

She quoted her TA as saying, “Students started to scramble to try to get away from the shooter, trying to get lower down in the stadium seating, and people got shot,” before adding, “I don’t know if they’re the only ones who got shot or not.”

This rapid, desperate attempt to seek cover was an integral part of the chaotic event the witness described.

Professor expresses profound shock and grief

As a professor of economics and a faculty associate in the program for Judaic Studies, Friedberg said she was "in a state of deep shock and sorrow" over what had happened to her students.

She said she still has no idea who the two victims killed in the shooting were.

The professor voiced the deeply unsettling feeling of the tragedy: “I don’t know if they were my students. It’s really surreal to think about,” and concluded by stating, “Just horrible.”

Meanwhile, Brown University president Christina Paxson later confirmed that at least 10 of the 11 people shot were students, although she said she was unaware that the gathering was an exam review.