SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) -- Jean Fernandez, a student at Springfield Technical Community College, walked into class just after hearing about the Brown University shooting. He couldn’t stop thinking; could his campus be next?

“Rhode Island is not too far from here. You know, Brown University is a big campus, and it’s just crazy that, you know, that’s like a few-hour ride, and it’s so close to home, and it’s right here in New England,” he told us.

Brown University is just a two-hour drive from here. For students across western Mass, that shooting hit way too close to home.

“I think that’s absolutely awful. I woke up, I checked the news, I saw a couple people dead. It’s a really sad situation. It’s kind of scary to think that you’re in here trying to learn, and then you just got to hear those shots fired and people’s brains, everything just goes crazy. It goes from learning to fighting for your life. It’s a very emotional thing,” Fernandez continues.

He is not alone in this fear. Western Mass News reached out to some local universities following the shooting.

We received a statement from UMass Amherst that reads in part, “Our thoughts are with the Brown University community as they grapple with difficult and heartbreaking circumstances that touch us all. UMass Amherst is encouraging our students to take care of themselves as they enter the last stretch of finals. This includes getting rest, leaning on friends, classmates, or loved ones, and remembering that asking for help is part of being a successful student.”

On Western Mass News @ 6pm, we’re going to hear from college students calling for action, one of whom is originally from Austria, as they compare the prevalence of mass shootings there to here in the U.S.

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