LAW enforcement officials have confirmed that the man suspected of carrying out a deadly mass shooting at Brown University and the subsequent murder of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor has been found dead.
The Guardian reported on Friday that Claudio Neves Valente, a 48 year old Portuguese national, was discovered on Thursday evening inside a rented storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire, having died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The discovery follows an intensive manhunt across New England that intensified after investigators linked the Saturday afternoon shooting in Providence, Rhode Island, to an attack two days later in the Boston area. Oscar Perez, the Providence police chief, told a news conference that as far as investigators know, the suspect acted alone.
He took his own life tonight, Perez said, as he described the sequence of events that led tactical teams to the storage facility.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha informed reporters that the breakthrough in the case came from a member of the public.
After a photograph of the suspect was released to the media, an individual came forward to two Providence police officers over on the east side and said he had information that he was that person and that he had information that could help this case.
Neronha praised the witness, stating that he blew this case right open.
The information provided led authorities to a vehicle, which in turn provided a name. This led us to the photographs of that individual renting the car, which matched the clothing of our shooter here in Providence, that matched the satchel, Neronha explained.
He noted that the suspect had attempted to evade capture by switching registration plates, using both a local plate and a Florida plate on the same vehicle. He knew what he was doing, the Attorney General added.
Upon locating Valente, officers found him with a bag and two firearms. Neronha stated there was evidence in the car that matches exactly what we see at the scene here in Providence.
The suspect was a former graduate student at Brown University, enrolled from the autumn of 2000 to the spring of 2001 to study physics.
Christina Paxson, the president of Brown University, clarified that he had no current affiliation with the institution.
She noted that physics classes often require access to specialised equipment, which was located in the specific building where the Saturday shooting occurred. That attack left two students dead and nine others wounded.
The victims of the campus shooting were identified as Ella Cook, a sophomore from Alabama and vice president of the university’s College Republicans of America chapter, and MukhammadAziz Umurzokov, a first year student from Uzbekistan who aspired to be a neurosurgeon.
The investigation took a significant turn on Thursday when authorities connected the campus violence to the death of 47-year-old MIT professor Nuno FG Loureiro.
Ted Docks, the FBI special agent in charge of the Boston office, told reporters that investigators believe Valente attended the same university in Lisbon as the professor.
The resolution of the manhunt follows a period of public tension. Earlier in the week, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley acknowledged that the release of a previous person of interest on Monday was likely to cause fresh anxiety for our community.
While he admitted the release was a setback, he maintained that the investigation had continued without pause. During the interim, FBI Director Kash Patel faced criticism for prematurely celebrating an arrest on social media before the individual was cleared and released.
Records indicate that Valente had obtained lawful permanent resident status in the United States in September 2017. Authorities are continuing to process evidence from the New Hampshire scene to finalise the connection between the two shooting incidents. - December 19, 2025
