Authorities have identified former Brown University student Claudio Neves Valente as the gunman responsible for both the deadly shooting at Brown University in Rhode Island and the murder of an MIT professor in Massachusetts. Police confirmed Thursday night that Valente died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound following a nearly weeklong manhunt.
Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez announced that Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national, was found dead inside a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, where law enforcement executed a search warrant around 9 p.m. Authorities recovered two firearms and a satchel at the scene.
Valente is believed to have carried out the Saturday shooting at Brown University, which killed two students and wounded nine others, before allegedly murdering MIT nuclear science professor Nuno Loureiro, 47, at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, on Monday.
Academic Connection to Victim
Federal officials revealed a disturbing link between the suspect and the MIT victim. FBI Special Agent Ted Docks said Valente and Loureiro studied together in Lisbon at the Instituto Superior Técnico between 1995 and 2000.
Loureiro, a highly respected physicist and director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, was shot multiple times inside his $1.4 million townhouse. Authorities confirmed late Thursday that Valente was responsible for the killing.
Loureiro, also a Portuguese national, was born and raised in Portugal before pursuing an international academic career that eventually brought him to MIT.
Brown University Shooting
After studying in Lisbon, Valente enrolled at Brown University from 2000 to 2001 in a graduate physics program. According to Brown President Christina Paxson, Valente primarily attended classes in the Barus & Holley building—the same building where he allegedly opened fire on students during a classroom session Saturday afternoon.
“It is safe to assume that this man, when he was a student, spent a lot of time in that building,” Paxson said.
Valente took a leave of absence in April 2001 and formally withdrew from Brown in 2003. Authorities said he initially entered the U.S. on a student visa.
Immigration Status and Federal Response
Valente later obtained lawful permanent resident status in September 2017, after entering the United States through the Diversity Visa Lottery (DV-1) program, according to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
“This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country,” Noem said in a statement.
She noted that President Trump previously sought to end the program following the 2017 ISIS-inspired truck attack in New York City and announced that, at Trump’s direction, USCIS will immediately pause the DV-1 lottery program.
“No more Americans should be harmed by this disastrous program,” Noem added.
Victims and Investigation Breakthrough
The Brown University shooting claimed the lives of Ella Cook, a 19-year-old sophomore from Alabama, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, an 18-year-old freshman from Virginia. Six of the nine injured students remained hospitalized as of Wednesday.
Investigators said the case broke open after a Reddit user reported a suspicious interaction with a man near campus and suggested police look into a gray Nissan with Florida plates. Surveillance images released by police prompted the witness to come forward, providing critical details about the suspect’s behavior, clothing, and vehicle.
Authorities later learned Valente had rented the Nissan in Boston and changed the license plates, complicating efforts to track him. Security footage placed him near Loureiro’s home shortly before the professor was killed.
Valente allegedly drove to New Hampshire shortly after the MIT murder, where he rented the storage unit in which he was later found dead.
Still No Known Motive
U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said there was sufficient probable cause to charge Valente in both the Brown shooting and Loureiro’s murder, though authorities have not identified a motive.
“He was sophisticated in hiding his tracks,” Foley said, noting that Valente used burner phones, masked his location digitally, and carried credit cards not issued in his name.
Investigators are still unsure whether Valente said anything as he entered the Brown classroom. Some students reported hearing nothing, while others claimed they heard what sounded like “barking,” according to Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha.
Police acknowledged that an early suspect, Benjamin Erickson, was wrongly detained and released after authorities realized they had the wrong person.
“We didn’t know his name until Wednesday,” Neronha said. “Once you have a name, you can find anybody in this country.”
The investigation into Valente’s actions and motivations remains ongoing.
