‘Doesn’t need to be this way’: USC hoops coach mourns shooting victims

Saturday fatal shooting at brown university It hit USC women's basketball coach Lindsay Gottlieb especially hard.

After A 79-51 loss to top-ranked Connecticut.Gottlieb learned that at least two people were killed and several others were wounded in the Dec. 13 attack on her alma mater's campus.

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Gottlieb learned about the shooting after the game through a group chat with her former Brown teammates. She spoke about the incident before answering questions from the media at a post-game press conference.

“It doesn’t have to be this way,” Gottlieb said with tears in his eyes. “Sending thoughts and prayers to my teammates who have children there. To the parents who have to worry about their children… we are the only country that lives like this. The college football cycle has been in the news a million times, and are we going to report it? Like, it's a weapon. We are the only country that lives this way.”

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Shots fired at Brown University: Photos show the scene

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Shots fired at Brown University: Photos show the scene

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Shots fired at Brown University: Photos show the scene

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Shots fired at Brown University: Photos show the scene

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Shots fired at Brown University: Photos show the scene

The shooting at the Ivy League university happened shortly before 4:05 p.m. Saturday in an engineering building with its doors unlocked while final exams were in progress.

Authorities in Providence, Rhode Island confirmed early Sunday morning that the person involved in the shooting had been taken into police custody.

Gottlieb played for Brown from 1995 to 1999 and served as a player and collegiate assistant coach her senior season.

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“I hope everyone is safe and praying for peace for those who have lost people,” she said at the conclusion of her first post-game speech. “And that’s it, it’s more important than basketball. We can all be better.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: USC women's coach Lindsay Gottlieb mourns Brown shooting victims