TW: This article mentions details about a mass shooting incident.
Shooting cases across America have always been a tragic sight to behold, but in 2025, some devastating cases of targeted shootings have shattered several people and changed their lives forever. From school kids to university students to political leaders, it can happen to anyone and everyone at this point in time.
Regardless of where blame is placed, the surge in violence is cause for concern. A mass shooting occurred inside a classroom at the prestigious Brown University in the Barus and Holley engineering building around 4 p.m. on December 13, 2025.
According to Fox News, two students were killed, and at least 9 others were injured. The suspect, who was taken into custody, is claimed to be the “person of interest,” but full details about him haven’t been released.
As people mourn the aftermath of the violent incident, a law enforcement official said the shooter fired more than 40 rounds from a 9mm handgun. The motive behind the action remains unknown at the time of writing.
According to Tyla, among those on campus during the attack was 20-year-old undergraduate student Zoe Weissman. Six years earlier, Weissman was a student in Parkland, Florida, when a gunman killed 17 people and wounded others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The shooter, Nikolas Cruz, is now serving life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Two Brown University students — Mia Tretta & Zoe Weissman — have now survived two different school shootings before age 22.
Mia was shot in 2019. Zoe lived through Parkland in 2018.
Now they’re hiding under desks again.
“How dare this country allow this to happen to someone like… https://t.co/BhECDMnvWj pic.twitter.com/5kJl9aNv3R
— Carolyn Barber, MD (@cbarbermd) December 14, 2025
Students were reportedly writing their exams on the first floor of the Rhode Island campus when the incident happened. Everyone heard loud noises, and panic erupted immediately. Talking to the media, Zoe expressed her emotions after surviving not one but two shooting episodes less than a decade ago.
“I’m really angry,” she said. “I’m angry that this is happening to me all over again. I’m in shock. Mentally, I feel like I’m 12 again. This feels exactly how I felt in 2018.” The youngster claimed that these shooting episodes are not new, as she knows a lot of other students who have also been in her shoes.
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“There are already students who survived the Oxford school shooting in Michigan and then later survived another shooting at Michigan State,” she said.”This isn’t a new phenomenon, and we’re going to reach a point where there are more people like me who have survived two of these.”
In response to the attack, Brown University President Christina H. Paxson called the shooting “a day that no university community is ever prepared for.”
Back in August 2025, a similar shooting incident took place at Annunciation Church. 2 children tragically died, and 17 others were injured following a mass shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The attacker, named Robin Westman, died of a self-inflicted wound on the spot.
Zoe Weissman, an undergraduate at Brown University, said she was ‘shocked but… not surprised’ by the mass shooting on campus, the second she has experienced https://t.co/azLjjzuYbE pic.twitter.com/jFwD1jZ2OH
— Reuters (@Reuters) December 14, 2025
All injured victims are expected to survive, including a 10-year-old boy who claimed his friend Victor saved him, even though he got hurt. Westman, who was armed with a gun, shotgun, and pistol, fired an estimated 30 to 50 rounds. Police later found a smoke bomb and several disturbing messages written on the weapons.
Law enforcement has not publicly linked the attack to any specific motive. As the students and staff of the prestigious university mourn the loss of their people, President Donald Trump and other members of the administration have offered their condolences.
As per WCVB, more than 350 mass shootings have occurred across the United States so far in 2025. Out of that, 315 people have died and left others injured as of November 1.
The number of mass shootings recorded in 2025 remains lower than in each of the past five years. Mass shooting incidents surged sharply in 2020 before coming down last year.
So far in 2025, mass shootings have been reported in 44 states and Washington, D.C. Also, the outlet reported that even with the recent decline, mass shootings remain significantly more common than they were a decade ago. Between 2014 and 2024, the number of mass shootings nationwide increased by 85%.
Since 2014, more than 5,500 people have been killed and over 23,000 injured in mass shootings. As for the one at Brown University, the identity of the deceased students is yet to be revealed as pressure to fast-track the investigation mounts.
