Mystery Surrounds Suspected Shooter Connected to Brown University and MIT Tragedies

Sat Dec 20 2025 01:55:21 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Claudio Neves Valente, suspected of a mass shooting at Brown University and the murder of an MIT professor, has been found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Investigators are left with many unanswered questions about his motives and background.

Claudio Neves Valente, a 48-year-old with a troubled academic history, is believed to be responsible for a horrific shooting at Brown University, which resulted in two fatalities and multiple injuries. Two days later, he allegedly murdered a former classmate, Nuno Loureiro, an MIT professor. Valente was found dead in New Hampshire, heightening the mystery surrounding his motives and life decisions. His past included a promising start in physics in Portugal but ended with personal turmoil and legal issues in the U.S.

Providence, R.I. (AP) — The man suspected in a mass shooting at Brown University and the killing of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor was in the same academic program as the slain professor before arriving in the U.S. on a student visa.

Claudio Neves Valente was a bright high school physics student in Portugal but faced setbacks, being let go from a top engineering school and withdrawing from Brown's graduate program without a degree.

On Thursday, Neves Valente was discovered dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at a New Hampshire storage facility, according to Providence police chief Col. Oscar Perez.

Investigators suspect the 48-year-old was responsible for fatally shooting two students and wounding nine others during a lecture at Brown two weeks ago. It is believed he killed professor Nuno Loureiro in his Boston-area home two days later.

Although authorities have not disclosed a motive, they have noted that Valente's life had deviated from his earlier aspirations.

Neves Valente was born in Torres Novas, Portugal, approximately 75 miles north of Lisbon. He once ranked third in a national physics competition in 1994 and participated in international competitions. After enrolling in physics at Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon, he shared an academic journey with Loureiro, graduating in the year Valente left the program.

Upon arriving at Brown in 2000, he took leave in 2001 before formally withdrawing in 2003. Brown’s President Christina Paxson noted that during his time at Brown, he engaged exclusively in physics courses but did not have any troubling interactions with the institution.

Valente later gained permanent residency in September 2017, though it remains unclear where he resided in the years preceding this visa. His last known home was about 10 miles north of Miami in a working-class neighborhood where neighbors remarked they hardly knew him.

On the contrary, Loureiro had achieved success at MIT, leading significant research at the school’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center. Portuguese officials expressed their shock at the revelations connecting Valente as the suspect.

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha acknowledged there are still many unanswered questions regarding Valente's motives, including why he targeted Brown University and the specific students involved.