The lockdown began at 4:22 p.m. when gunfire erupted in room 166 of the Barus & Holley Engineering building.
Over 400 local, state and federal law enforcement officers searched the Ivy League campus until 5:40 a.m. Sunday, when the shelter-in-place order was lifted. One victim remains in critical condition; another is stable.
Shortly before dawn Sunday, at least 20 officers—including local police, U.S. Marshals and FBI agents—descended on a Hampton Inn in Coventry, about 20 miles from Providence. Law enforcement banged on a hotel room door and detained a man they had identified as a person of interest, asking where he had been during the shooting.
Officers told the man they had a warrant for his apartment and took him into custody. However, late Sunday night, authorities released him without charges.
"The evidence points in a different direction," said Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha. "It's fair to say that there is no basis to consider him a person of interest. So, that's why he's being released."
Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee acknowledged there are "a lot of steps left to take" in the investigation, adding: "After 30 years in law enforcement, there were a lot of twists and a lot of roads that I've walked down. I can't tell you what direction it's going to take right now, but we're going to solve this case."
