Federal prosecutors released disturbing new details Tuesday about the gunman responsible for the mass shooting at Brown University and the killing of an MIT professor, confirming what many already suspected: this was not an impulsive act, and remorse was nowhere to be found.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, investigators recovered an electronic device containing video recordings after executing a federal search warrant on Dec. 18, 2025, at a storage facility used by Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, described by authorities as “the Portuguese national responsible for the senseless murders.” The videos were recorded in Portuguese and later translated into English.
In the recordings, Neves Valente openly described the attack as the result of long-term planning. In one video, he said the violence was “done” and referred to planning that stretched not just months, but years—“six semesters,” by his own words. Hardly the profile of someone who just “snapped,” despite what some narratives like to suggest.
Authorities said Neves Valente identified Brown University as his intended target but offered no clear motive for shooting students or for killing MIT professor Nuno Loureiro, 47, two days later in Brookline. The investigation into motive remains ongoing.
The Dec. 13 shooting at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, left two students dead—Ella Cook, 19, and Muhammad Aziz Umurzokov, 18—and wounded nine others. Just two days later, Loureiro was killed, deepening the shock across the academic community.
Throughout the transcripts, Neves Valente repeatedly refused to express remorse. Speaking from a storage unit, he stated plainly that he would not apologize, arguing that no one had ever sincerely apologized to him. He also dismissed mental illness as an explanation, calling it “bull---- excuses,” and insisted he was sane. Apparently, accountability was only for everyone else.
In a moment that stood out, Neves Valente referenced President Donald Trump directly, saying Trump was right to have called him “an animal.” He added that he had no hatred toward America and described the killings as an issue of “opportunity,” a chilling admission prosecutors said underscored his lack of empathy.
Prosecutors noted that Neves Valente showed no remorse in the recordings and even blamed victims for their deaths, criticizing how people reacted during the shooting and calling them “kind of stupid.” He also claimed not to care how the world judged him and said he had no interest in fame—though he recorded videos explaining himself anyway.
Rather than reflecting on the lives he took, Neves Valente repeatedly focused on his own injury, pointing out damage to his eye, which he claimed was caused by a shell round that bounced into it.
An autopsy later determined that Neves Valente died by suicide two days before his body was discovered in the Salem, New Hampshire, storage unit.
The release of these transcripts paints a clear and unsettling picture: a calculated killer, fully aware of his actions, rejecting excuses, and devoid of regret. While the details are grim, transparency matters—and confronting the truth head-on is a necessary step toward justice, accountability, and protecting innocent lives moving forward.
