Brown University announces new safety measures in wake of deadly mass shooting

Following the Dec. 13 mass shooting at Brown University, school officials announced new security measures Tuesday, including the installation of security cameras at the Barus and Holley engineering and physics building, where 11 students were shot, two fatally.

In a letter to the community, Hugh T. Clements Jr., interim vice president of Brown University’s Department of Public Safety, said immediate measures would include increasing public safety personnel across campus and the continued use of card access, keys or ID checks at building entrances.

He added that before the Spring 2026 semester, university police will transition remaining buildings using key access to card access, expand blue light phones with cameras, install security cameras in key locations including the Barus and Holley buildings, and expand panic buttons in critical areas.

New trauma-informed safety and active shooter readiness training will also be provided in the spring semester.

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Clements, who previously served as chief of the Providence Police Department, was recently named Brown’s interim deputy chief of public safety after former chief Rodney Chatman was placed on leave following a report. Boston GlobeHe claimed that school principal Derek Lisi saw the attacker at Barus and Holley weeks before the incident and notified a security guard.

Authorities say Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, 48, a former Brown student, opened fire in the elite university’s engineering and physics building, killing students Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov., before heading to Boston to kill MIT professor Nuno Loureiro. Days later authorities Found Neves-Valente dead By suicide in a warehouse in Salem, New Hampshire.

Interior view of Barus and Holley Room 166 on the Brown University campus in Providence, RI (Kenna Lee/The Brown Daily Herald)

The Department of Education has launched an investigation into Brown University for possible violations of the Jeanne Clery Campus Security Act (Clery Act), which requires colleges to meet campus safety and security requirements to receive federal student aid.

The department will also conduct a comprehensive, externally-led campus safety and security assessment that will include an external after-action review of the incident and emergency response and community input, according to Clements.

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“The Brown community has suffered an unspeakable tragedy,” Clements wrote in his letter. “I want to say this loud and clear: What happened on December 13th, at Brown or anywhere else, must never happen again, and we must confront this imperative for our society with determined purpose.”

Visitors stand at the makeshift memorial for the victims of the mass shooting at the Van Wickle Gate at Brown University. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

“As I step into this role, I am fully aware that there are critical questions about the strength of our safety and security systems,” he added. “Acknowledging these questions is not about assigning blame; it is about accountability, learning, and healing. … Security requires more than apparent security. It is built through preparedness, transparency, trust, and partnership.”

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The department said it will work to improve coordination with local agencies, improve emergency communications and training, and strengthen awareness of safety and emergency resources.

Fox News Digital’s Adam Sabes contributed to this report.