The suspect in the mass shooting at Brown University that left two people dead and nine others injured was found dead Thursday, Dec. 18, inside a storage facility in New Hampshire, authorities said. Investigators believe the 48-year-old man died by suicide.
At a Thursday evening press conference, FBI Boston Special Agent in Charge Ted Docks identified the suspect as Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a former Brown student originally from Portugal.
“We got him,” Docks said, adding that while the suspect was found dead, “our work is not done.” Officials stressed that investigators are still working to determine what motivated the attack.
Brown University President Christina Paxson said Neves Valente attended the university from 2000 to 2001 as a graduate student in the physics department. She noted that he likely would have been familiar with the Barus and Holley building, where the shooting happened.
Authorities said the gunman entered the building around 4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 13. Investigators believe he went to a lecture hall as about 60 students were preparing to leave their study sessions. He then opened fire. Two people were killed, and nine were wounded, officials said. After the gunfire, authorities said the shooter was seen walking away from the scene.
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Investigators also believe the same suspect is linked to the killing of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology physics professor in Brookline, Mass., on Monday, Dec. 15. The victim was identified as Nuno F.G. Loureiro, who was also born in Portugal.
Authorities Identify New Person of Interest in Brown University Shooting, Probe Potential Links to MIT Murder
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said at the press conference that investigators were “100 percent confident” they had identified the person responsible, while emphasizing that key questions—especially around motive—remain unanswered.
Authorities said the suspect evaded detection in the days after the shootings in part by switching the license plates on a rental car. Investigators said the vehicle ultimately helped connect the crime scenes.
The investigation gained momentum after authorities released an image of an individual who had crossed paths with the suspect on Dec. 13 and asked to speak with them. Neronha said the person was able to identify the suspect’s car, a lead that “blew this case right open.” Investigators then tracked the car’s movements, saying it was rented in Boston and traveled to Providence and later to Brookline over the following days.
Earlier this week, the FBI said it was “offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the identification, arrest, and conviction of the individual.”
On Thursday, investigators also conducted door-to-door outreach near Brown’s campus on Providence’s East Side, asking residents for security-camera footage from the morning and afternoon of Saturday, Dec. 13. Officials said the collected videos helped the FBI build a timeline of the shooter’s movements on and around campus that day.
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An earlier person of interest was questioned on Sunday, Dec. 14, and later released after investigators determined there was “no basis” to treat him as a person of interest.
As of Dec. 18, authorities said six people remained hospitalized in stable condition, and three others had been released.
The two people killed in the shooting were identified as Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov.
In the aftermath, the university cancelled final exams and sent students home early for winter break.
