Search for Brown University Mass Shooter Ends in Tragedy

Fri Dec 19 2025 18:05:57 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Claudio Neves Valente, a former graduate student, is identified as the suspect in the recent mass shooting at Brown University, implicating him in the murder of an MIT professor as well.

Police have identified Claudio Neves Valente, a former graduate student at Brown University, as the shooter responsible for a mass shooting on campus that left two students dead and nine others injured. He later fatally shot MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro before taking his own life in a storage facility in New Hampshire. The investigation revealed Neves Valente had no current affiliation with the university and had been living legally in the U.S. since 2017. The motives behind his violent actions remain unclear, raising concerns about campus safety and mental health.

A frantic search for the suspect in last weekend’s mass shooting at Brown University ended at a New Hampshire storage facility where authorities discovered the man dead inside and then revealed he also was suspected of killing a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor.

Claudio Neves Valente, 48, a former Brown student and Portuguese national, was found dead Thursday night from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Providence police chief Col. Oscar Perez. Investigators believe he is responsible for fatally shooting two students and wounding nine other people in a Brown lecture hall last Saturday, then killing MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro two days later at his home near Boston, about 50 miles away from Providence.

Brown University President Christina Paxson stated that Neves Valente was enrolled as a graduate student studying physics from fall 2000 to spring 2001, but emphasized he had no current affiliation with the university.

Authorities indicated that Neves Valente and Loureiro had both attended the same academic program at a Portuguese university from 1995 to 2000. Loureiro, a prominent physicist and head of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, was known for his work addressing solar flares.

Law enforcement has stated that Neves Valente secured legal permanent residence status in the U.S. in September 2017, though there are gaps in his residency records between leaving Brown in 2001 and obtaining a visa.

President Trump reacted to the news by suspending the green card lottery program that allowed Neves Valente to stay in the U.S., while Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha remarked on the lack of clarity surrounding the motivation for the attacks, questioning why they occurred now and why specific targets were chosen.

A pivotal tip from an individual who had several interactions with Neves Valente was crucial in leading police to him. This person reported their concerns after recognizing Neves Valente in security footage shared by police.

The two students killed during the shooting were identified as Ella Cook, 19, and MukhammadAziz Umurzokov, 18. Cook was involved in her church community and in student politics, while Umurzokov aspired to be a doctor. Officials noted that three of the nine injured were discharged and the others were in stable condition.