Brown University Suspect Died at Least Two Days Before Authorities Found His Body

The suspect in the mass shooting at Brown University likely died two days before authorities located his body, according to officials.

In a press release issued Friday, Dec. 19, New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella and the state’s Chief Medical Examiner shared an updated timeline for the death of Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a 48-year-old former Brown University student from Portugal.

The release, citing an autopsy report, states Valente “is estimated to have died on December 16, 2025.” Officials also confirmed earlier reports that he “died as a result of a gunshot wound of the head,” and ruled the manner of death a suicide.

At a press conference on Thursday, Dec. 18, authorities said the suspect — accused of killing two people and injuring nine others on Dec. 13 — was found dead from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His body was later discovered in a storage facility in New Hampshire.

Brown University President Christina Paxson said Thursday that Valente attended the university from 2000 to 2001 as a graduate student in the physics department. Referring to the Barus & Holley building — where the attack took place — Paxson said, “It is safe to assume that this man, when he was a student, spent a lot of time in that building.”

Investigators said the attack unfolded around 4 p.m. local time. Authorities have described the gunman as opening fire in a hallway before entering a lecture hall where roughly 60 students had just finished a two-hour economics prep session for winter exams.

Family members identified the two students killed as Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov.

Valente has also been linked to the death of MIT professor Nuno Loureiro, a 47-year-old Portuguese national who was shot and killed at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, on Monday, Dec. 15. Investigators later learned Loureiro and Valente knew each other and studied together in Lisbon, The New York Times reported.

Authorities said the multi-day manhunt advanced after an anonymous Reddit user reported seeing someone matching the suspect’s description in the area around the time of the shooting. In the post, the user urged police to look into “a grey Nissan with Florida plates, possibly a rental,” adding that it was “the car he was driving.”

According to an affidavit, the individual said they saw the suspect lock the car and then suddenly back away — behavior they described as “odd” — which prompted them to pay closer attention. The source also said they later saw the suspect circle the block.

During Thursday’s briefing, FBI Boston Special Agent in Charge Ted Docks said, “even though the suspect was found dead tonight, our work is not done.”