The relentless pursuit for the suspect in the deadly December 13 mass shooting at Brown University, concluded Thursday evening in a New Hampshire storage facility. Authorities found Claudio Neves Valente, a former Brown student and Portuguese national, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, marking the end of a harrowing chapter that also implicated him in the murder of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor.
The 48-year-old suspected gunman is believed to have acted alone in the shootings that left two students dead and nine wounded in a lecture hall at Brown University, followed by the killing of Portuguese MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro at his Brookline, Massachusetts residence.
Brown University and MIT Shooting Suspect Background
Brown University President Christina Paxson confirmed Valente’s brief academic tenure at the institution, noting his enrollment as a graduate physics student from fall 2000 to spring 2001, reports the Associated Press. While a student, the suspect only took physics classes, the majority of which were held in the Barus and Holley building… the same building where the mass shooting occurred, reports the Providence Journal.
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Despite his lack of current affiliation with Brown University, Valente’s time at a Portuguese university overlapped with Loureiro’s in the nineties. Loureiro, a distinguished MIT faculty member, graduated from Instituto Superior Técnico in 2000, the same year Valente faced professional termination in Lisbon.
The timeline of Valente’s life presents gaps, notably between his 2003 formal withdrawal from Brown and his 2017 acquisition of legal permanent U.S. residence status. His last known home address was in Miami, and he appears to have no recorded criminal history in the U.S. until this week’s shootings.
Witnesses Provide Crucial Evidence in the Investigation
The investigation into the shootings gained momentum through digital clues and vigilant eyewitnesses, reports the Providence Journal. A pivotal break occurred on December 16 when a Reddit post mentioned a suspicious grey Nissan with Florida plates near the Rhode Island Historical Society. The author, identified only as “John,” recounted an unsettling encounter with Valente at Brown’s Barus and Holley building on December 13.
The Rhode Island Attorney General’s affidavit also unveiled a custodian’s account of a suspicious figure matching Valente’s description, seen on multiple occasions near the crime scene before the mass shooting at Brown. Surveillance footage corroborated these observations, capturing the suspect’s presence on December 1.
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Further evidence emerged from a Brown faculty member who reported seeing a grey sedan with a Florida license plate driving unusually slowly on December 11, aiding in tracing Valente’s movements through license plate reading cameras from Flock Safety.
Implications and Unanswered Questions
With Valente’s death, authorities face unresolved questions about his activities between his departure from Brown and recent events. U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley highlighted the complexities of tracking Valente, including his use of a Google phone and possibly European SIM cards, alongside an unregistered Maine license plate, reports the Providence Journal.
