The suspect in last weekend’s fatal shooting at Brown University has been found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a storage unit he rented in Salem, New Hampshire, Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez announced Thursday night.
The suspect has been identified as Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, 48, a Portuguese national. U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah Foley later confirmed Valente is also suspected of killing Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno F.G. Loreiro two days later in Brookline, Massachusetts.
A car connected to the suspect had been found earlier Thursday outside the storage unit facility.
Valente had been a Ph.D student in physics at Brown University 25 years ago, Brown President Christina H. Paxton revealed. Loreiro was born and raised in Portugal. Police say it is believed the two men attended school together in Lisbon.
Earlier this week, an FBI official said authorities did not believe there was a link between Saturday’s shooting at Brown and the MIT professor’s murder. Loureiro was a member of the departments of nuclear science and engineering and physics as well as MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center.
Authorities had been conducting a manhunt since the Dec. 13 shooting inside a classroom building at Brown University shook Rhode Island’s capital city. Two students were killed and at least eight were wounded.
Seeking the Public’s Help
Investigators in Providence said the suspect in the Brown University shooting escaped on foot into nearby streets, prompting a search that relied heavily on residential security footage because of a lack of surveillance cameras in the classroom building and surrounding area.
Police released images and video of a masked man believed to be the shooter, based on survivor accounts, and have repeatedly asked for the public’s help in identifying that man. The footage showed the suspect walking in a nearby neighborhood both before and immediately after the attack, including moments when police vehicles arrived with flashing lights.
“He could be anywhere,” Perez said on Wednesday, adding that authorities did not initially know the suspect’s identity or motive.
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said residents and students had grown “restless and eager” for an arrest as the search stretched into several days.
Police also circulated photos of another unidentified man seen near the area, saying they wanted to speak with him as a potential witness who may have relevant information. During Thursday night’s press conference, authorities said that potential witness did quickly come forward.
Authorities initially announced a person was in custody a day after the shooting but later released that individual after determining he was not involved.
Reuters contributed to this report.
