Brown University shooter identified as suspect in killing of MIT professor

The suspect was found dead Thursday night inside a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, on the fifth day of an intensive search involving multiple agencies.

By Eitan Devir, Jewish Breaking News

Authorities say the man responsible for last weekend’s mass shooting at Brown University is the same individual suspected in the killing of an MIT professor days later in Massachusetts.

During a news conference Thursday, officials identified the suspect as Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a 48 year old Portuguese national and former Brown University graduate student.

Authorities said Valente died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound as law enforcement was closing in to arrest him, bringing an end to a multistate manhunt.

Investigators believe Valente is also responsible for the fatal shooting of MIT professor Nuno F. G. Loureiro, who was killed outside his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, two days after the Brown University attack.

Officials said both men are believed to have attended the same university in Portugal, though a motive has not been publicly disclosed.

Valente was found dead Thursday night inside a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, on the fifth day of an intensive search involving multiple agencies.

Brown University President Christina Paxson said Valente enrolled as a PhD student in the university’s physics program in 2000 and attended for only a short period.

As a physics student, he was believed to have spent significant time in the Barus and Holley engineering building, which was later targeted in the attack.

Valente had no current affiliation with the university.

Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez said Valente was a native of Portugal with a last known address in Miami.

Authorities said he entered the United States on a student visa in 2000 and later obtained lawful permanent residency in 2017.

Investigators said surveillance footage and a vehicle-related tip led police to a car rental business in Massachusetts.

Officers obtained a rental agreement in Valente’s name and video that matched footage of the suspect seen on the Brown University campus on the day of the shooting.

On Saturday afternoon, the gunman entered a first-floor classroom at Brown University and opened fire, killing two students and wounding nine others before fleeing the scene.

Officials described the suspect as highly sophisticated, saying he used a phone configured to avoid detection by cellular towers and used credit cards that were not issued in his name.

Authorities believe the same caliber firearm was used in both attacks, pending confirmation through a full ballistic investigation.

The investigations into both shootings remain ongoing.