Gunman in Brown University shooting found dead

BOSTON/PROVIDENCE – The suspect in last weekend’s mass shooting at Brown University has died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and investigators are confident he also killed a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor two days later, officials said Thursday.

The gunman was identified as Portuguese national Claudio Neves Valente, 48. He was found dead Thursday night inside a storage rental facility in Salem, New Hampshire, where he had rented a unit last month, authorities said.

Valente attended Brown University more than two decades ago as a Ph.D. student in physics and was a former classmate in Portugal of slain MIT professor Nuno Loureiro, 47. Despite those connections, investigators said the motive behind the attacks remains unknown.

“I don’t think we have any idea why now, or why Brown, or why these students, why this classroom,” Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said during a Thursday night press conference in Providence.

According to a Providence police affidavit, Valente entered a building housing Brown’s engineering and physics programs on December 13 and fired at least 44 rounds from a 9mm pistol, killing two students and injuring nine others.

Authorities said Valente later fatally shot Loureiro inside the professor’s home in Brookline, Massachusetts, before evading capture during a five-day manhunt. Two firearms, including the suspected 9mm pistol used in the shootings, were found near his body, officials said.

In Boston, U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said investigators had obtained evidence confirming that Valente, who lived in Miami and was a lawful permanent resident of the United States, was responsible for Loureiro’s murder.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO HALT DIVERSITY VISA PROGRAM

The Trump administration cited Valente’s permanent residency status as grounds to halt the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, which awards green cards through a lottery to applicants from countries with historically low immigration rates to the United States.

“This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a post on X late Thursday.

Noem said she would “immediately” carry out President Donald Trump’s directive to pause the green-card lottery system “to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous program.”

Foley said Valente and Loureiro attended the same academic program at a university in Portugal between 1995 and 2000.

Investigators said Valente used a phone that was difficult to track and avoided using credit cards linked to his identity.

“He was sophisticated in hiding his tracks,” Foley said.

Authorities added that Valente switched license plates on his rental vehicle in an apparent effort to avoid detection.

Foley declined to provide specific details about the evidence tying Valente to Loureiro’s killing but said surveillance footage showed a rental car driven by Valente near Loureiro’s home. The IP address linked to Valente’s phone also accessed the internet near the professor’s residence on the day of the murder, she said.

Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez said investigators believe Valente acted alone.

RENTAL CAR BREAKTHROUGH

Officials said a key breakthrough came from a witness who encountered Valente inside a bathroom at the Brown University building hours before the shooting.

The witness told police he found Valente’s behavior suspicious and followed him outside, where he saw Valente unlock a rental car. The witness later provided police with a description of the vehicle and its license plate, Perez said.

Police reviewed surveillance footage and traced the vehicle to a rental agency. Security video from the agency showed Valente wearing the same clothing seen in footage from the Brown University shooting, officials said.

Investigators obtained Valente’s identity from the rental agreement and found that license plate reader data placed him near the university from December 1 until the day of the attack.

Authorities previously said Valente, whose face was concealed by a mask during the shooting, fled on foot into nearby streets after the attack. The lack of surveillance cameras in the classroom building and surrounding area forced investigators to rely heavily on residential security footage.

Police released images and video of a man believed to be the shooter based on survivor accounts and repeatedly appealed to the public for help identifying him. The footage showed the suspect walking through a nearby neighborhood before and immediately after the shooting. -Reporting by Nate Raymond, Brad Brooks, Svea Herbst-Bayliss, Jana Winter, CJ Gunther, Andrew Hay and Andy Sullivan; Editing by Donna Bryson, David Gregorio, William Mallard and Saad Sayeed/Reuters