Two students have died after a shooting in the engineering building at Brown University in the United States.

A further nine people were injured in the shooting and the suspect remains at large after fleeing the Ivy League school, officials said.

Providence Police responded to reports of a shooting shortly after 4pm on Saturday local time.

The suspect was a male dressed in black and was last seen leaving the building, said deputy chief of police, Timothy O’Hara.

Police believe the male suspect could be in his 30s and the firearm used in the shooting has not been found.

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Officers were hunting through buildings on campus more than two hours after the shooting.

Mayor Brett Smiley said a shelter-in-place was in effect for the area and encouraged people living near the campus to stay inside and not to return home until it was lifted.

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“We have all available resources” to find the suspect, Mr Smiley said. 

Brown, one of the nation’s most prestigious colleges, has roughly 7,300 undergraduates and more than 3,000 graduate students.

Tuition, housing and other fees run to nearly $100,000 ($150,000) per year, according to the university.

Saturday was the second day of exams for the fall semester.

Follow live: The latest updates from the Brown University shooting

Shooting in engineering building 

The incident was reported in the Barus & Holley building, a seven-storey structure that houses the School of Engineering and Physics Department, according to the school’s website.

It includes 117 laboratories, 150 offices, 15 classrooms and 29 labs. 

Engineering design exams were underway there when the shooting occurred.

A police officer warned members of the media to take cover in vehicles because the area was still an active scene.

An armed policeman patrols the streets in Providence.

Armed police are patrolling the Brown University campus. (AP: Steven Senne)

Officers carrying assault weapons and emergency vehicles lined many of the streets surrounding the engineering school.

Brown senior biochemistry student Alex Bruce was working on a final research project in his dorm directly across the street from the building when he heard sirens outside and received a text about an active shooter shortly after 4 pm.

“I’m just in here shaking,” he said.

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He said he feared for a friend who he thought was inside the engineering building at the time.

Students in a nearby lab hid under desks and turned off the lights after receiving an alert about the shooting, said Chiangheng Chien, a doctoral student in engineering who was about a block away from the scene.

Emergency services line a street in Providence.

Ambulances line Hope Street at Brown University in Providence. (AP: Mark Stockwell)

Chief public information officer for the city of Providence, Kristy DosReis, said officials were still gathering information from the active scene.

Trump says FBI on the scene

US President Donald Trump said he had been briefed on the incident and that the FBI was on the scene.

“God bless the victims and the families of the victims!” he posted on Truth Social. 

A law enforcement official carries a rifle in a neighborhood near Brown University.

Mayor Brett Smiley said “we have all available resources” mobilised to find the suspect. (AP: Steven Senne)

Providence Council member John Goncalves, whose ward includes the Brown campus, said: “My heart goes out to all the family members and the folks who’ve been impacted.” 

“As a Brown alum, someone who loves the Brown community and represents this area, I’m heartbroken.”

AP