A 48-year-old former physics student, Claudio Neves Valente, opened fire on Brown University’s engineering building on Dec. 13, killing two students and injuring nine, before later murdering MIT professor Nuno Loureiro and dying in New Hampshire.
The Shooting at Brown
On the morning of Dec. 13, 2023, Valente entered Brown’s engineering building through the street-facing door and fired a 9 mm handgun in a lecture hall where students were studying for a final. Two students were killed and nine others sustained injuries. The gunman fled the scene amid the chaos, leaving the building largely unmonitored by cameras.
Police released grainy footage of the attacker, but his face was hidden behind a mask and a black beanie. Providence police chief Col. Oscar Perez said, “I wish the video could speak, and then I’d have the answers I need,” during a week’s briefing.
Background of the Suspect
Valente, a Portuguese national who studied physics at Brown during the 2000-01 school year, arrived in Boston from Miami, his last known address, in late November. He stayed at a Boston hotel from Nov. 26 to Nov. 30 and rented a gray Nissan with Florida plates on Dec. 1.
A campus custodian spotted Valente twice inside the engineering building-first on Nov. 28 and again on Dec. 1-entering through the same street entrance the attacker used on the shooting day. Authorities noted that the suspect had stuck a Maine license plate over the rental car’s plate to conceal his identity.
A tip from an unnamed witness, later identified only as “John,” described a meeting in a first-floor bathroom where John said the man had a “weathered” and “cinnamon color complexion” and wore clothing “inappropriate and inadequate” for New England in December.
The Sequence of Events on Dec. 13
Surveillance footage shows Valente appearing just after 10:30 a.m., jogging and walking around campus for hours. At about 2 p.m., John followed him outside, leading to a “game of cat and mouse.” John reported seeing the suspect approach a silver Nissan with Florida plates, click the key fob, and then abruptly turn away.
At approximately 4 p.m., Valente entered the lecture hall and opened fire, killing two students and injuring nine before slipping away. With few cameras inside the building, investigators relied on blurred images from home security systems and passing vehicle cameras.
Early on Sunday, FBI Director Kash Patel announced on social media that investigators had identified or detained a person of interest, but authorities released that individual hours later after confirming he was not involved.
The Link to MIT Professor Loureiro
On Monday night, shots rang out in Brookline, a Boston suburb, where MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro was fatally shot in his home. Loureiro, a 47-year-old physicist and fusion scientist, had studied in Portugal with Valente from 1995-2000.
Loureiro died at a hospital the next day, the same day initial autopsy results indicated that Valente had apparently shot himself in New Hampshire. Investigators later linked the Brown shooting and Loureiro’s killing, noting that the attacks occurred within days of each other.
Investigation Breakthroughs
The tip from John enabled Providence police to tap into a network of more than 70 street cameras operated by Flock Safety, which track license plates and other vehicle details. Video footage showed Valente entering an apartment building near Loureiro’s, and about an hour later, entering a New Hampshire storage facility where he was later found dead.
Authorities emphasized that the suspect had used a Maine plate to conceal his rental car’s Florida plates, complicating early identification. Despite limited evidence, investigators acknowledged the challenge of piecing together the suspect’s movements across state lines.
Key Takeaways
- Claudio Neves Valente, a former Brown physics student, opened fire on Dec. 13, killing two students and injuring nine.
- The same suspect later shot and killed MIT professor Nuno Loureiro and died in New Hampshire.
- Investigators relied on a tip from a witness named “John,” street-camera footage, and the suspect’s use of a Maine license plate to trace his movements.
The series of attacks across Providence, Brookline, and New Hampshire has left the academic community in shock and highlighted the challenges of tracking a suspect who moved between states and concealed his identity.
