News Beat
Brown University and MIT shooting suspect found dead in storage facility after massive manhunt
The suspect in the tragic shooting at Brown University last weekend has been found dead in a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire after a five-day manhunt, officials said.
“I will tell you that he took his own life tonight,” Colonel Oscar Perez, the chief of the Providence Police Department in Rhode Island, said Thursday night.
Two students were killed and nine were injured Saturday after a gunman sprayed a classroom with more than 44 rounds of ammunition during a study session on Brown University’s campus. Perez identified the suspect in the shooting as Claudio Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national. Massachusetts authorities later confirmed Neves Valente was also responsible for the shooting of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor earlier this week.
Earlier Thursday, police tracked Neves Valente to a storage unit where he was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Brown President Christina Paxson said Thursday night Neves Valente was a physics PhD student at the university from the fall of 2000 to the spring of 2001 before taking a leave of absence and formally withdrawing in the summer of 2003. Neves Valente arrived to the U.S. 25 years ago on a student visa and obtained lawful permanent residency in 2017, according to officials.
A satchel, two firearms and evidence “that matches exactly what we see at the scene here in Providence” were also found, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said.
Officials have yet to reveal a motive for both shootings.
Rhode Island officials shared details about how they located Neves Valente using video footage.
They said a video provided them with a description of a vehicle, which was corroborated through a tip, that eventually led them to a car rental place in Massachusetts. Law enforcement were then able get a copy of the rental agreement, which included the suspect’s name.
Neronha said a person with information about the suspect “blew this case right open.”
“That person led us to the car, which led us to the name, which led us to the photographs of that individual renting the car, which matched the clothing of our shooter here in Providence, that matched the satchel,” he said.
The car that Neves Valente rented in Boston was found in New Hampshire. He changed license plates on the car while he was driving, making him harder to track, Neronha said.
An arrest warrant for Neves Valente charging him with two counts of murder and 23 felony counts of assault and felony firearms offenses was issued Thursday, according to a press release from Neronha’s office.
Two days after the Brown University shooting, 47-year-old MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro was fatally shot at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts. Brookline is about 50 miles northeast of Providence.
Loureiro, a 47-year-old physicist and fusion scientist, was shot “multiple times” in his home Monday night, and died Tuesday after first responders rushed him to the hospital, investigators said.
Officials said Thursday night Loureiro was a Portuguese national like Neves Valente. Ted Docks, special agent in charge of the FBI Boston field office, said it is believed Loureiro and Neves Valente attended the same university in Lisbon.
Leah Foley, the U.S. attorney in Massachusetts, said Thursday night, “On December 15, [Neves Valente] murdered MIT professor Nuno Loureiro at Loureiro’s home in Brookline, Massachussets.”
Foley said Neves Valente used a phone that obscured authorities ability to find it and credit cards not in his name, calling him “sophisticated in hiding his tracks.”
It’s unclear whether Neves Valente has been officially charged in connection with Loureiro’s shooting.
Community members have been mourning the two students killed on Brown Univeristy’s campus: Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov.
Cook, a 19-year-old from Alabama, was the vice president of the Brown University College Republicans. She was also a parishioner at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham.
Reverend Craig Smalley described Cook as an “incredible, grounded, faithful bright light,” according to AL.com. The College Republicans of America said Cook was known for her “bold, brave and kind heart as she served her chapter and fellow classmates.”
Umurzokov, an 18-year-old from Uzbekistan, was studying to become a neurosurgeon, according to a GoFundMe campaign launched by his family. He was described as “incredibly kind, funny and smart,” and his family’s “biggest role model.”
“He always lent a helping hand to anyone in need without hesitation, and was the most kind-hearted person our family knew,” the GoFundMe reads. “Our family is incredibly devastated by this loss.”
Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee said Thursday night, “We’re going to be forever changed but our commitment on the state level is to continue to support Providence, Brown and the people in the state of Rhode Island in recovery.”
“Nothing can fully bring closure to the lives that have been shattered by last weekend’s gun violence,” Paxson wrote in a letter to the Brown University community Thursday night, per The New York Times. “Now, however, our community has the opportunity to move forward and begin a path of repair, recovery and healing.”
