The search for a suspect involved in the recent Brown University mass shooting concluded on Thursday when authorities located the individual deceased in a New Hampshire storage unit. The suspect, also linked to the murder of an MIT professor, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Providence police chief Col. Oscar Perez.
Identified as Claudio Neves Valente, a 48-year-old former Brown University attendee and Portuguese citizen, he was believed to have acted alone. Valente reportedly killed two students and injured nine others during a shooting spree at Brown University. Just two days later, he allegedly murdered Nuno F.G. Loureiro, a Portuguese professor at MIT, at Loureiro’s residence in Brookline, Massachusetts, roughly 50 miles from Providence.
Brown University President Christina Paxson stated that Valente was a graduate student in physics at Brown from fall 2000 to spring 2001 and has had no recent ties to the university. Meanwhile, U.S. attorney for Massachusetts Leah B. Foley noted that both Valente and Loureiro were part of the same academic program in Portugal from 1995 to 2000. Loureiro completed his studies at Instituto Superior Técnico, a leading Portuguese engineering school, in 2000. That same year, Valente’s employment at the Lisbon university was terminated.
Valente initially entered the U.S. on a student visa, later gaining legal permanent residency in September 2017. His whereabouts between leaving Brown in 2001 and receiving residency in 2017 remain unclear. His last known address was in Miami.
Following Valente’s identification, President Donald Trump announced the suspension of the green card lottery program that facilitated Valente’s stay in the U.S.
Investigation Insights
A key tip from an individual familiar with Valente played a significant role in the investigation. This lead, which emerged on Reddit, identified Valente’s connection to a specific Nissan sedan with Florida plates. This information enabled police to utilize Flock Safety’s surveillance cameras to track the vehicle.
Surveillance footage later captured Valente entering a building near Loureiro’s Boston-area home and subsequently entering the New Hampshire storage facility where he was found. Authorities discovered Valente with a satchel and two firearms.
Loureiro, who joined MIT in 2016 and led its Plasma Science and Fusion Center, was an esteemed researcher focusing on phenomena such as solar flares. The FBI has found no connections between the two separate shootings.
Brown University’s campus, equipped with 1,200 cameras, failed to capture footage of Valente due to the attack’s location in a less surveilled area. The suspect reportedly entered and exited through a door facing an adjacent residential street.
Cases of Similar Nature
Mass shooting cases frequently end with the perpetrator’s death or capture, as noted by retired FBI agent Katherine Schweit. High-profile incidents like the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and the recent Lewiston, Maine shooting illustrate the variability in capture timelines, ranging from days to hours.
