An 18-year-old male was shot multiple times around 2 a.m. Saturday outside of The Celtic Lounge at Finnegan's Wake, a bar and club in downtown Providence that is popular among Brown students. The victim was hit twice, in the hand and in the thigh. First responders brought the teenager to Rhode Island Hospital, where he was treated for non life-threatening wounds, reported Eyewitness News.
Though the shooting occurred outside of the club, multiple sources reported that the people involved had not gone to Finnegan's prior to the incident. Finnegan's was not directly involved.
The club often hosts events affiliated with Brown groups, but no University-related activity was planned for Friday night.
Several students said the disturbance tarnished their opinion of the club. Both Lucy Fernandez '14 and Zal Shroff '14 said they were less likely to go to the club knowing it had been the site of a shooting.
Jesse Gumbiner '15 said he would not worry about returning to the club for Brown-related events. But he added, "It might affect my desire to go if it wasn't a Brown event."
Sigma Chi held an after-party for a rush event at Finnegan's Saturday. Though president of the fraternity David Rattner '13 said he did not believe the bar contacted the fraternity to tell them about the shooting, the organizers of the event had learned about the incident Saturday prior to the scheduled event.
"It wasn't ideal for us, but people were expecting us to do something that we couldn't back out of," Rattner said. "It was an unfortunate coincidence that we had to deal with." The fraternity did not inform the attendees that the bar had been the location of a shooting the previous night.
The party featured additional security from the Providence Police Department. At least two police officers were stationed outside the club all night, and the officers kept their cars' lights on for the duration of the party. Brown students who attended the party said the additional security made them feel safer under the circumstances.
