The suspect wanted in connection with a mass shooting at Brown University in the United States has been found dead, bringing a six-day, multi-state manhunt to a close.
The End of a Manhunt
On Thursday night, police located Claudio Neves Valente inside a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire. The 48-year-old Portuguese national was deceased from what authorities have confirmed was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Neves Valente was identified as the gunman responsible for the attack at the Providence university, which occurred on December 13, 2025. The shooting claimed the lives of two students: 18-year-old MukhammadAziz Umurzokov and 19-year-old Ella Cook. Nine other individuals were wounded in the campus attack.
Investigators also linked him to the fatal shooting of 47-year-old MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, just two days after the Brown University incident. Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez stated that, based on current evidence, Neves Valente acted alone.
How the Investigation Unfolded
The breakthrough in the case came from an unexpected source. A Brown University custodian, who had several encounters with the suspect, provided a crucial tip after recognising him from police-released images. He initially posted his suspicions on Reddit, where other users urged him to contact the FBI, which he did.
His information gave investigators a key detail: a Nissan sedan with Florida license plates. This allowed Providence police to utilise a network of over 70 street cameras operated by surveillance firm Flock Safety, which track vehicle details.
The investigation revealed that after leaving Rhode Island, the suspect placed a Maine license plate over the rental car's original plate to obscure his identity. Footage later showed him entering an apartment building near Professor Loureiro's residence. Approximately an hour after that, he was seen entering the storage facility where his body was ultimately discovered.
Connecting the Suspect to the Victims
Authorities established a historical link between the suspect and one of the victims. Neves Valente and Professor Loureiro attended the same academic programme at a university in Portugal between 1995 and 2000.
Brown University President Christina Paxson confirmed that Neves Valente was enrolled in the university's graduate school to study physics from September 2000 to the spring of 2001. She emphasised he had no current affiliation with the institution.
Records indicate that in February 2000, the same year Loureiro graduated, Neves Valente was dismissed from a position at a university in Lisbon.
Despite the resolution of the manhunt, the motive remains unclear. Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha acknowledged there are still 'a lot of unknowns', specifically questioning why the attack targeted Brown University and those particular students.
