The man believed to be responsible for the deadly Brown University campus shooting and the subsequent killing of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor was discovered dead late Thursday in a New Hampshire storage facility, authorities confirmed. The discovery brings a dramatic conclusion to a multi-state manhunt that had gripped law enforcement and communities across the Northeast.
Suspect Identified as Former Brown Student Found Dead
Law enforcement officials identified the suspect as 48-year-old Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a Portuguese national and former graduate physics student at Brown University who lived in Miami prior to the incidents. After an exhaustive search that lasted several days, Valente was located in a rented storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire, where he apparently died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound as officers closed in.
Investigators confirmed Valente was linked to both the campus shooting and a separate homicide two days later. Two firearms and a bag were found at the scene, suggesting the suspect took his own life before he could be apprehended by law enforcement.
Deadly Attacks at Brown University and MIT
Officials say the tragic sequence began on December 13, when a gunman opened fire inside a lecture hall at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, killing two students and leaving nine others injured during final exam week. The victims were identified as Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, both students at the Ivy League institution.
Just two days later, law enforcement linked Valente to the fatal shooting of MIT physics professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts. The professor, also Portuguese, was fatally shot on December 15, prompting a homicide investigation that eventually tied both tragedies to the same suspect.
Investigation and Manhunt Details
The multi-agency manhunt involved local, state, and federal police including the FBI, who traced Valente’s movements through surveillance footage, vehicle rentals, and a key tip from a person who had spotted him before the Brown shooting. Authorities confirmed Valente had switched license plates on his rental car in an attempt to evade detection.
Despite the arrest of an initial person of interest early in the investigation — who was later released — tips from the public and detailed analysis of video evidence helped law enforcement narrow the search to the Salem storage unit where Valente was ultimately found.
Officials say the motive for the attacks remains unclear, and investigations continue as communities mourn the loss and trauma inflicted by the violence.
