Content warning: This story is about gun violence.
On the afternoon of Dec. 13, a school shooting rocked yet another college campus. This time, it was Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. As of Dec. 15, there have been two confirmed deaths and nine other reported injuries, with officials still searching for a suspect. Since the shooting, over 2,000 students have been relocated to safe locations, and all remaining final exams have been canceled.Â
For Brown students, a day that was meant for studying, completing exams, and getting excited about their winter break became a day that changed their lives forever. In the aftermath, many students are left reeling from the tragedy and attempting to regain some sense of normalcy. And with campus shootings unfortunately being a quintessential part of growing up Gen Z, some students are coping with what happened in a very Gen Z way: sharing their experiences on TikTok.Â
For some students, their first reaction was disbelief. “I didn’t believe it was a real shooting,” a student named Zana, who had been in the area on campus at the time of the shooting, said in a video. “It just didn’t set in. I realized how narrowly I had missed that, and how lucky I am.”Â
Many students on TikTok are highlighting just how close they came to the attack. “To think the only reason I can post this is because I left the library 5 minutes early to get coffee since I was so stressed from finals and now none of that matters,” one student named Anya shared. Another student, named Grace, posted a video of her desk pushed up against the door of her dorm room. “To think the only reason I’m safely barricaded in my dorm is because my sweatpants were dirty and I didn’t want to walk in the cold without them,” the video’s text read.Â
For many students, this situation is something they have, sadly, been at least somewhat prepared for. According to CNN, there have been at least 75 school shootings in the U.S. in 2025 alone, with 43 of them taking place on college campuses. Per the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit providing free public access to information about gun-related violence nationwide, there have been 392 mass shootings this year, more than there have been days in the year. One student expressed his frustration and anger over this reality in a TikTok video. “Today I had to make the phone call to my parents and send that text message in which I say I love them… and [say] I won’t see them again,” creator @jjkuoo said. “That’s not normal.”Â
For many students, the shooting will forever change their college experience. “I used to study at those places a lot,” Heela, a college content creator, said in her video, referring to the part of campus where the shooting took place. “I don’t think I want to step foot in there again.”
William, a senior and TA at Brown, spoke out in a video serving as a message to other students, urging them to let themselves feel scared following this tragedy. “I teach review sessions in that classroom all the time,” William said. “Let yourself feel scared … [and] don’t stop thinking about those most affected.”Â
Brown held a vigil held on the evening of Dec. 14, which hundreds of students, faculty, and community members attended to mourn the victims and their families, and to show support for the Brown community. The mayor of Providence, Brett Smiley, spoke at the vigil, saying he hoped it would be the “first little flicker for our community to get together and heal.”