(NewsNation) —A Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor was fatally shot at his home near the campus Monday night, authorities reported.
Nuno F. Gomes Loureiro, 47, was taken to a local hospital with gunshot wounds and died from his injuries Tuesday morning, the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
Police responded to Loureiro’s home in Brookline following reports of a shooting, the office said, adding that “this is an active and ongoing homicide investigation.”
Loureiro was the director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center and a professor of nuclear science and engineering, according to the university. He had been named director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center in May 2024.
“The next few years are certain to be an exciting time for us, and for fusion as a whole. It’s the dawn of a new era with burning plasma experiments,” Loureiro said at the time.
Loureiro pursued his studies in Portugal and London and did 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.
“Our deepest sympathies are with his family, students, colleagues and all those who are grieving. Focused outreach and conversations are taking place within our community to offer care and support for those who knew Professor Loureiro,” the university said in a statement to NewsNation.
The U.S. ambassador to Portugal, John J. Arrigo, expressed his condolences for Loureiro in a post on X.
“I extend my deepest condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Nuno Loureiro, who led MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center. We honor his life, his leadership in science, and his enduring contributions,” he said.
The professor’s killing comes days after an on-campus shooting at Brown University left two students dead and at least nine injured. Brown is about 50 miles south of M.I.T.