The suspected Brown University shooter was found dead in New Hampshire. Police had been searching for the Portuguese national when he was discovered in a storage unit from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
On Saturday afternoon, the man opened fire on students taking their final exams, killing two. He then fled the scene, prompting a multi-day manhunt
Another photo of Claudio Manuel Neves‑Valente pic.twitter.com/QIEwXXbv4Y
— 🅽🅴🆁🅳🆈, 🅴🆂🆀 (@Nerdy_Addict) December 19, 2025
Claudio Neves Valente, a 48-year-old man from Portugal, was identified as a prime suspect in the case. On Thursday, dozens of officers surrounded the man who was hiding in a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire. Officers found him dead in the storage unit from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
“He took his own life tonight,” Oscar Perez, who serves as the Providence police chief, revealed in a press conference. Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha shared that the suspected shooter was found with a bag and two firearms at the scene.
After Perez’s photo was released, someone with information came forward. With the help of this person, the law enforcement officers were able to track the suspect down.
Valente, a former student, had been admitted to the Ph.D. program in physics in 2000. He dropped out of the course in July 2003. The Providence police chief shared that Valente lived in Miami but had moved to Providence back in October.
Ella Cook of Alabama, 19, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, 18, both lost their lives in the shooting, and 9 others were shot but survived.
An anonymous law enforcement officer spoke to The Associated Press and revealed that investigators who are working on the case suspect that the shooter who killed Nuno Loureiro as well.
Loureiro, a professor of nuclear science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was found dead inside his home on Monday night. Police reports revealed that the man had been shot multiple times and was rushed to the hospital. Unfortunately, the MIT professor was pronounced dead the next morning.
Investigators found that Valente and Loureiro both attended the same university in Portugal. The case is still being investigated, while Valente’s crimes are being labelled as a “senseless act of violence.”
🚨 BREAKING: The FBI announced they believe suspected Brown University shooter Claudio Neves Valente went to school in Lisbon, Portugal with the MIT professor who was murdered on Monday
In other words, if Providence PD weren’t incompetent, that MIT professor would be alive today pic.twitter.com/eMqBPjC9Fg
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) December 19, 2025
As the investigation was underway, Kash Patel received a lot of heat for the way it was handled. The FBI director was criticized for the agency bringing in a “person of interest” initially, who wasn’t really the shooter.
Trump stepped in to defend Patel while noting how difficult the investigations can be. “So far we’ve done a very good job of doing it,” he noted confidently. “But you’d really have to ask the school about that because this was a school problem,” he immediately added.
