Claudio Manuel Neves‑Valente, a 48‑year‑old former Brown University physics student, has been confirmed by law enforcement as the person responsible for a mass shooting at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, that left two students dead and nine others wounded — and is believed to have also fatally shot Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro at his Brookline home two days later. Neves‑Valente’s body, with an apparent self‑inflicted gunshot wound, was discovered Thursday night inside a rented storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire, bringing a six‑day multistate manhunt to a dramatic close.
The shooting at Brown unfolded just after 4 p.m. last Saturday inside a classroom in the Barus & Holley Science Building, where students were preparing for final exams. A gunman dressed in black burst into the room and began firing, killing 18‑year‑old Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov from Virginia and 19‑year‑old Ella Cook, a sophomore from Alabama, and injuring nine others. Chaos engulfed the campus as students dove under desks and emergency alerts blared across phones.
In the immediate aftermath, more than 400 law enforcement officers from federal, state and local agencies combed campus buildings and nearby neighborhoods. Initial investigations produced images and surveillance clips of a suspect in dark clothing, but police struggled to pin down his identity. A 24‑year‑old man was briefly detained early in the probe, but forensic testing cleared him, and he was released.
Days later, authorities in Brookline, Massachusetts, responding to a separate homicide, found MIT physics and fusion expert Nuno F.G. Loureiro shot in his home. The 47‑year‑old professor, celebrated for his contributions to clean energy research and leadership at MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, died from his injuries. Initially, law enforcement saw no connection between the two cases. But Thursday night, prosecutors and FBI officials confirmed that they were linked — and that Neves‑Valente was the suspect in both.
Investigators pieced together Neves‑Valente’s movements after a tip from the public helped them trace a vehicle tied to both incidents. The suspect had used multiple license plates on the same car — a tactic authorities believe was meant to throw off law enforcement — but a license plate reader ultimately flagged one of them near the storage facility where he was found. Surveillance video reportedly shows him entering the Salem complex before his death was discovered.
Neves‑Valente was previously enrolled at Brown University from 2000 to 2001 as a graduate physics student, and officials believe he may have spent significant time in the same building where the shooting occurred. Born in Portugal and a legal permanent resident of the United States, his last known address was in Miami, Florida. Authorities are investigating whether any personal links — including the fact that he and Loureiro both studied in Portugal years earlier — played a role in the attacks, though no motive has been publicly confirmed.
With the suspect now dead, federal officials say the immediate threat to the public has passed. But the investigation continues as prosecutors and law enforcement examine digital records, eyewitness accounts, and other evidence to build a clearer timeline of Neves‑Valente’s actions and possible motivations. Both Brown University and MIT communities remain in mourning, grappling with the shock of violence that claimed young lives and cut short a brilliant academic career.
