Suspect in Brown University, MIT professor shootings found dead: Police

(NewsNation) — Federal authorities said the man suspected of killing two students at Brown University and an MIT professor was found dead inside a storage facility in New Hampshire, ending a six-day, interstate manhunt.

Brown University, MIT professor shootings suspect identified

Police in Providence, Rhode Island, identified the suspect as Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, 48, a Portuguese national who once studied at Brown University.

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said Valente was born in Torres Novas, Portugal, and became a U.S. legal permanent resident in 2017 after arriving as a student in 2000. He later returned under a diversity immigrant visa.

Brown University President Christina Paxson confirmed Valente had enrolled in a doctoral program in physics before withdrawing in 2003. She said he likely attended most of his classes in the Barus & Holley building, where he is accused of opening fire Saturday.

Timeline of Brown University shooting and MIT professor killing

Two students were killed and nine others injured when a gunman opened fire last weekend at Brown University. Police said they recovered dozens of shell casings, high-capacity magazines and multiple types of ammunition at the scene.

Two days later, MIT professor Nuno F. Gomes Loureiro, 47, was shot and killed at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts. Loureiro, director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, had previously studied in Portugal with Valente.

Loureiro pursued his studies in Portugal and London and completed postdoctoral work at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, according to the school. He was a researcher at the Institute for Plasmas and Nuclear Fusion at IST Lisbon before joining MIT in 2016.

U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley said Loureiro was the intended target of the attack at Brown and that authorities have no indication Valente knew the other victims.

Investigators tracked the suspect across New England after identifying his rental car through surveillance video. Police said he had been switching license plates, including one from Maine that had been out of circulation for a decade, and was also using phones and SIM cards designed to block tracking.

On Thursday, police located an abandoned car in Salem and later focused on a nearby storage facility.

According to authorities, tactical teams entered the building and found Valente dead with a satchel, two firearms and other evidence linking him to the Providence shooting. They believe he took his own life, though the exact timing remains unclear.

Police interviewed person who was ‘in proximity’ to shooter, which they say ‘blew this case wide open’

The investigation accelerated after tips from the public, including one posted on Reddit about a Nissan with Florida plates. Surveillance cameras later confirmed Valente had rented the vehicle in Boston.

Another man, initially considered a person of interest, told police he had confronted the suspect before he fled — a tip Neronha said “blew this case wide open.”

The shootings rattled campus communities in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Six Brown students remain hospitalized in stable condition, while three others have been discharged.

Authorities were continuing to search the Salem storage unit late Thursday and have not determined Valente’s motive.

Diversity lottery halted by Trump

President Donald Trump, as of late Thursday night, suspended the green card lottery program that authorities said allowed Valente to enter the U.S.

“I am immediately directing USCIS to pause the DV1 program to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous program,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media.

NewsNation affiliate WPRI contributed to this report.