Brown University student’s chilling text to mother during shooting: ‘I’m going to run, love you’

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND: A mother shared text messages sent by her son, Jaden Anselmo, a student at Brown University, while he was hiding in a supply closet during an active shooting on campus.

The incident occurred while students were on campus for final exams and left two people dead and nine injured, with the suspect still at large.

Brown University student texts mother during campus shooting 

It began with a message from Jaden to his mother, alerting her to gunfire on campus. “Mom, there's a live shooting on campus, I'm going to run, I love you,” the student wrote. “It's a nightmare,” she said.

She explained that students were on campus for finals. “They were in the middle of finals, so they were all on campus, studying at the library and about an hour and a half ago, the first text I get from my son is.. ‘mom there's a live shooting on campus and I'm going run and I love you.’”

The mother then recounted the stressful, ongoing communication with her son. She said, “so we've only been texting and I'm getting live updates from him because he's been and we've told them to turn off his phone, not make a single sound but he's in a supply closet room on campus, barricaded."

She added, "They've turned off the lights, they have put chairs on their door, one of his classmate’s having a panic attack so the friends are trying to keep her quiet so that no sounds are being made. They have a radio update that they're getting as students and the most recent update is that there's nobody in custody and there's an active shooter that's still on campus with some casualties but we don't know how many.. we just know that their situation is not resolved at all.”

Mayor says two dead, suspect still at large 

Providence Mayor Brett Smiley confirmed the toll of the violence, saying two people have died and nine others remain hospitalized in critical but stable condition, adding that the numbers could change. The mayor also confirmed that no suspect is currently in custody.

Nearly four hours after the shooting began, the eastern edge of the Providence campus remained under lockdown as law enforcement actively searched surrounding neighborhoods for the suspected shooter.

Trump calls university shooting 'terrible,' urges prayers

President Trump addressed the incident upon his return to the White House, describing the shooting as “a terrible thing.” He offered solemn words for those affected, adding, “All we can do right now is pray for the victims and for those that were very badly hurt.”

The president concluded his brief statement by urging people to “just pray” for the victims, stating, “We’ll inform you later as to what’s happening.”