The man suspected of carrying out last week’s deadly shooting at Brown University has been found dead, bringing an end to a six-day manhunt spanning several US states, authorities said.
Police identified the suspect as Claudio Neves Valente, 48, a Portuguese national who briefly studied at Brown University about 25 years ago. His body was discovered inside a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire.
Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez said investigators were able to track Valente through surveillance footage and information provided by the public. This led officers to a car rental location, where records helped confirm his identity as the main suspect.
Law enforcement officials believe Valente was also responsible for the killing of an MIT professor two days after the Brown University shooting. Evidence recovered near the storage facility, including items found in a nearby vehicle, was linked to the crime scene in Providence.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said preliminary findings indicate that the suspect died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Authorities did not disclose how long he may have been inside the storage unit before being found.
FBI officials confirmed that hundreds of federal agents were deployed to support local police during the search. They stressed that the investigation remains active, as several aspects of the case still require clarification.
Brown University President Christina Paxson said Valente had been enrolled at the institution from late 2000 to early 2001 as a PhD student in physics, adding that he had no current ties to the university.
Investigators also said Valente is believed to have shot and killed MIT professor Nuno F. Gomes Loureiro, 47, at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts. Both men reportedly studied at the same university in Portugal in the late 1990s.
Authorities linked the two cases after identifying the suspect’s vehicle through CCTV footage and witness accounts. The same car was seen near both crime scenes. Prosecutors noted that the suspect took deliberate steps to avoid being tracked, using methods that complicated efforts to follow his movements.
No motive has yet been established for either attack.
The shooting at Brown University occurred during final exam period, when a gunman opened fire inside the Barus & Holley engineering building. Two students were killed and nine others were injured, several of whom remain hospitalized.
The victims were identified as Ella Cook, 19, a sophomore from Alabama, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, 18, a first-year student of Uzbek-American background. In the days following the attack, authorities had appealed for public patience as the investigation progressed and offered a reward for information leading to the suspect.
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