Trigger Warning: The following article mentions gun violence and self-harm. Readers’ discretion is advised.
On December 13, 2025, a mass shooting at Brown University left two students dead and nine wounded. Two days later, a respected MIT professor was gunned down at his own apartment.
At first, the two crimes looked unrelated. However, investigators now believe the same man was responsible for both the attacks.
According to The Mirror US, the connection between the suspect and the MIT professor goes back decades and spans continents. Both were reportedly in the same academic discipline.
Authorities previously identified 48-year-old Portuguese national Claudio Manuel Neves Valente as the gunman behind the tragic Brown University shooting.
Following a multi-state manhunt, Neves Valente was found dead inside a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, on Thursday, December 18.
He is said to have died by suicide. Two firearms and a satchel were recovered from the scene, and law enforcement said they are “100% confident” about having successfully identified the shooter.
Valente’s last known residence was in Miami, Florida. No motive behind his attack on the university has been revealed so far.
What was the reason behind Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente’s attacks? Why target Ella Cook, a College Republicans VP, Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, a freshman international student, and Nuno Loureiro, an MIT professor involved in cutting-edge nuclear research? None of this connects.… pic.twitter.com/Op9RdxcE3m
— Digital Gal (@DigitalGalX) December 19, 2025
The gunman’s violent ordeal began on Saturday, December 13, when he opened fire inside Brown University’s Barus and Holley engineering building in Providence, Rhode Island.
Sadly enough, two exams were scheduled in the area at the time. Two students (Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov) were killed. Nine others, as we mentioned before, were injured.
On Monday night, 7-year-old MIT professor, Nuno F.G. Loureiro, was shot multiple times in the lobby of his Brookline, Massachusetts, apartment building.
The internationally respected physicist died the next day. It took days to piece together surveillance footage, rental records, and financial data to realize the same person was linked to both university scenes.
A gray Nissan Sentra was a crucial thread.
According to prosecutors, Neves Valente rented the car in Boston. As seen in security footage near Brown University, he visited the location multiple times in the days leading up to the shooting.
He was later spotted near Loureiro’s apartment before the latter was killed. Hours later, cameras caught Valente entering the New Hampshire storage facility, where he would later be found dead.
A couple of photos from last night’s discovery of the alleged gunman responsible for shooting and killing 2 Brown University students and an MIT professor in 2 separate shootings over the weekend.
Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente was found dead inside by authorities. pic.twitter.com/mgPQ2laiZI
— Kevin Wiles, Jr (@kwilesjrphoto) December 19, 2025
The worst part is that officials say Neves Valente and Loureiro knew each other. Both men were born in Portugal and studied physics. Investigators even believe they were classmates in the same academic program in Lisbon between 1995 and 2000.
Loureiro went on to become a leader in fusion energy research and the director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center. Meanwhile, Neves Valente enrolled in Brown University’s PhD physics program from 2000 to 2001.
However, he took a leave of absence and withdrew in 2003. Officials said he was only ever enrolled in physics classes in the same building where the shooting occurred.
Investigators do not believe Neves Valente targeted the university students specifically. However, the reason behind both of his attacks remains unknown.
