The suspect in last weekend’s mass shooting at Brown University has been found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, with authorities saying they are certain he also killed a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor two days later. Officials disclosed the developments at press conferences in Rhode Island and Massachusetts on Thursday.
The gunman was identified as Claudio Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national and lawful permanent resident of the United States. His body was discovered in a storage rental facility in Salem, New Hampshire, where he had rented a unit last month. Two firearms, including a 9mm pistol believed to have been used in the attacks, were found at the scene.
Valente entered a building housing Brown University’s engineering and physics departments on December 13 and fired at least 44 rounds, killing two students and wounding nine others, according to police. Investigators said he later traveled to Massachusetts, where he fatally shot MIT professor Nuno Loureiro inside the professor’s Brookline home before disappearing.
Authorities said Valente and Loureiro were former classmates in Portugal and that Valente had attended Brown more than two decades ago as a doctoral student in physics.
Despite these links, officials said the motive for the killings remains unclear. Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said investigators have no definitive explanation for why Valente targeted the university, the students, or Loureiro.
Federal prosecutors said Valente took steps to evade capture, including switching license plates on a rental car, using a phone that was difficult to track, and avoiding credit cards tied to his identity.
Investigators linked him to Loureiro’s killing through surveillance footage, rental car records, and digital evidence placing his phone near the professor’s home.
Police said a key breakthrough came from a witness who noticed Valente behaving suspiciously inside a Brown University building before the shooting and followed him outside, later providing crucial details about his vehicle. Authorities believe Valente acted alone and said the investigation is continuing to determine what drove the deadly attacks.
