The suspect in last weekend’s mass shooting at Brown University was found dead Thursday night in a New Hampshire storage facility, Providence police said, as investigators worked to determine whether he was also responsible for the killing of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor two days later.
The Associated Press reported that Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez identified the suspect as Claudio Neves Valente, 48, a former Brown student and Portuguese national. Perez said Valente died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and, based on what investigators know so far, appears to have acted alone.
The announcement ended a dayslong manhunt that began Saturday after a gunman opened fire inside Brown’s Barus & Holley building as students prepared for final exams. Two students were killed and nine others were injured.
Authorities have been investigating whether the Brown attack is connected to the fatal shooting of MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro, who was shot Monday at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, and later died. A law enforcement official told The Associated Press investigators believe Valente is responsible for both incidents, though officials have not formally confirmed the connection between the two shootings.
How the suspect was found
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said a key break came after someone with information contacted authorities following a Wednesday press conference. Neronha said that tip led investigators to a vehicle, then to a name, helping them accelerate the search, per The Associated Press.
Brown President Christina Paxson said Valente had no current affiliation with the university and was enrolled at Brown from the fall of 2000 to the spring of 2001 as a graduate student studying physics, per The Providence Journal.
What remains unknown
Even with the suspect’s death, investigators emphasized that major questions remain, including the motive.
“We don’t know why now, why Brown, why these students and why this classroom,” Neronha said, according to The Associated Press.
The investigation is ongoing.