'Survivor' alum Eva Erickson says she narrowly avoided Brown University shooting

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND: Eva Erickson, a doctoral candidate at Brown University and runner-up on 'Survivor 48', revealed that she narrowly avoided the deadly shooting on campus, leaving the building minutes before a gunman opened fire.

The shooting prompted people, including Erickson, to take shelter elsewhere when the chaos began.

Eva Erickson says she was in the building just minutes before shooting

Taking to Instagram, Erickson, a PhD candidate in engineering and fluid and thermal science, recounted 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 has claimed that the shooting began five minutes after she exited the building on Saturday, December 13, during final exams.

She later sheltered in Brown’s campus gym for about four hours while police searched the area. She also noted that the only other member of her lab who was present was safely evacuated.

The tragic event prompted a campus-wide lockdown after which Erickson was escorted to the campus’ Olney-Margolies Athletic Center, where she reunited with her hockey teammates.

Erickson made history on 'Survivor' as the show’s first openly autistic contestant. 

According to the university, 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.

Shooting occurred during review session for a Principles of Economics final exam

The shooting happened inside a classroom where students were attending a review session for a Principles of Economics final exam. The class professor, Rachel Friedberg, told The New York Times that the session was going on when the incident began.

A student from the class said she was leaving the review session, which ran from 2 pm to 4 pm, when she heard loud bangs and saw students running out of the room.

She said some students were still inside the classroom and hid behind the teacher’s desk to stay safe.

Shooting leaves 2 dead, 9 injured

The shooting led to the deaths of two and injured nine others, who were taken to Rhode Island Hospital. 

According to hospital spokesperson Kelly Brennan, one was in critical condition, six required intensive care but were not getting worse, and two were stable.

On Sunday morning, authorities said they have a person of interest in custody related to the shooting. However, the person has since been released.