PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) 鈥� When a gunman began on the Brown University campus, students didn’t wait for official alerts warning of trouble. They got information almost instantly, in bits and bursts 鈥� through phones vibrating in pockets, messages from strangers, rumors that felt urgent because they might keep someone alive.
On Dec. 13 as the played out during finals week, students took to Sidechat, an anonymous, campus-specific message board used widely at U.S. colleges, for fast-flowing information in real time.
An Associated Press analysis of nearly 8,000 posts from the 36 hours after the shooting shows how social media has become central to .
Fifteen minutes before the university’s first alert of an active shooter, students were already documenting the chaos. Their posts 鈥� raw, fragmented and sometimes panicked 鈥� formed a digital time capsule of how a college campus experienced a mass shooting.
As students sheltered in place, they posted while hiding under library tables, crouching in classrooms and hallways. Some comments even came from wounded students, like one posting a selfie from a hospital bed with the simple caption: #finalsweek.
Others asked urgent questions: Was there a lockdown? Where was the shooter? Was it safe to move?
It would be days before and found him dead in New Hampshire of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, later linking him to the .
Here’s a look at how the shooting unfolded.
Stream of collective consciousness
Described by Harvard Magazine as 鈥渢he College鈥檚 stream of collective consciousness,鈥� Sidechat allows anyone with a verified university email to post to a campus feed. On most days, the Brown feed is filled with complaints about dining hall food, jokes about professors and stress about exams 鈥� fleeting posts running the gamut of student life.
On the Saturday afternoon just before the shooting, a student posted about how they wished they could 鈥減lay Minecraft for 60 hours straight.鈥� Then, the posts abruptly shifted.
Crowds began pouring out of Brown鈥檚 Barus and Holley building, and someone posted at 4:06 p.m.: 鈥淲hy are people running away from B&H?鈥�
Others quickly followed. 鈥淓VERYONE TAKE COVER,鈥� one wrote. 鈥淪TAY AWAY FROM THAYER STREET NEAR MACMILLAN 2 PEOPLE JUST GOT SHOT IM BEING DEAD SERIOUS,鈥� another user wrote at 4:10 p.m.
Dozens of frantic messages followed as students tried to fill the information gap themselves.
鈥渟o r we on lockdown or what,鈥� one student asked.
By the time the university alert was sent at 4:21 p.m., the shooter was no longer on campus 鈥� a fact Brown officials did not yet know.
鈥淲here would we be without Sidechat?鈥� one student wrote.
A university spokesperson said Brown’s alert reached 20,000 people minutes after the school’s public safety officials were notified shots had been fired. Officials deliberately didn鈥檛 use sirens to avoid sending people rushing to seek shelter into harm鈥檚 way, said the spokesperson, Brian E. Clark, who added Brown commissioned two external reviews of the response with the aim of enhancing public safety and security.
Long hours of hiding
Long after the sun had set, students sheltered in dark dorm rooms and study halls. Blinds were closed. Doors were barricaded with dressers, beds and mini fridges.
鈥淒oor is locked windows are locked I鈥檝e balanced a metal pipe thing on the handle so if anyone even tries the handle from the outside it鈥檒l make a loud noise,鈥� one student wrote.
Students reacted to every sound 鈥� footsteps in hallways, distant sirens, helicopters overhead. When alerts came, the vibrations and ringtones were jarring. Some feared that names of the dead would be released 鈥� and that they would recognize someone they knew.
Law enforcement moved through campus buildings, clearing them floor by floor.
A student who fled Barus and Holley asked whether anyone could text his parents to let them know he had made it out safely. Others said they had left phones behind in classrooms when they fled, unable to reach frantic loved ones. Ironically, those closest to the shooting often had the least information.
Many American students expressed emotions hovering between numbness and heartbreak.
鈥淛ust got a text from a friend I haven鈥檛 spoken to in nearly three years,鈥� one student wrote. 鈥淥ur last messages? Me checking in on her after the shooting at Michigan State.鈥� Multiple students replied, saying they鈥檇 had similar experiences.
International students posted about parents unable to sleep on the other side of the world.
鈥淚 just want a hug from my mom,鈥� one student wrote.
Anxiety sets in
As the hours dragged on, students struggled with basic needs. Some described urinating in trash cans or empty laundry detergent bottles because they were too afraid to leave their rooms. Others spoke of drinking to cope.
鈥淚 was on the street when it happened & suddenly I felt so scared,鈥� one student wrote. 鈥淚 ran and didn鈥檛 calm down for a while. I feel numb, tired, & about to throw up.鈥�
Another wrote: 鈥淚鈥檓 locked inside! Haven鈥檛 eaten anything today! I鈥檓 so scared i don鈥檛 even know if I get out of this alive or dead.鈥�
Some students posted into the early morning, more than 10 hours into the lockdown, saying they couldn鈥檛 sleep. Sidechat also documented acts of kindness, including a student going door to door with macaroni and cheese cups in a dark dorm.
Information, and its limits
Students repeatedly asked the same questions 鈥� news? sources? 鈥� and challenged one another to verify what they saw before reposting it.
鈥淔rankly I鈥檇 rather hear misinformation than people not report stuff they鈥檝e heard,鈥� one student wrote.
Others pushed back, sharing a Google Doc that would grow to 28 pages where students could find the most updated, verified information. Some posted police scanner transcriptions or warned against relying on artificial intelligence summaries of the developing situation. Professors 鈥� who rarely post on the app 鈥� joined the feed, urging caution and offering reassurance.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e talking about the active situation please add a source!!!鈥� one student wrote.
But 鈥渞eliable information,鈥� students noted, often arrived with a delay.
Within about 30 minutes of the shooting, posts incorrectly claimed the shooter had been caught. Reports of more gunshots 鈥� later proven false 鈥� continued into the night and the next day, fueling fear and frustration. Asked one student, what are police doing 鈥淩IGHT NOW鈥�?
Replies came quickly.
鈥淭hey are trying their best,鈥� one person responded. 鈥淏e grateful,鈥� another added. 鈥淭hey are putting their lives in danger at this moment for us to be safe.鈥�
A campus changed
Students awoke Sunday to a campus they no longer recognized. It had snowed overnight 鈥� the first snowfall of the academic year.
In post after post, students called the sight unsettling. What was usually a celebration felt instead like confirmation something had irrevocably shifted.
鈥淚t truly hurt seeing the flakes fall this morning, beautiful and tragic,鈥� one student wrote.
Even as the lockdown lifted, many said they were unsure what to do 鈥� where they could go, whether dining halls were open, whether it was safe to move.
鈥淲hat do I do rn?鈥� one student posted. 鈥淚鈥檓 losing my mind.鈥�
Students walked through fresh snow in a daze, heading to blood donation centers. Others noticed flowers being placed at the campus gates and outside Barus and Holley.
Many mourned not only the , but the innocence they felt had been stripped from their campus.
鈥淲ill never see the first snow of the season and not think about those two,鈥� one student wrote.
With the lockdown ended, students returned to their dorms as Sidechat continued to fill with grief and reflection. Many said Brown no longer felt the same.
鈥淪now will always be bloody for me,鈥� one person posted.
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