Brown University shooting suspect committed suicide, officials say
19 Dec 2025

The suspect in the Brown University shooting has allegedly committed suicide, authorities said. The man was found dead at a storage facility on Thursday.

He is also suspected of killing a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor at his Boston-area home, per AP.

The US Attorney's Office for the District of New Hampshire issued a press release stating that the gunman and the MIT professor's killer were the same person.

The suspect has been identified as 48-year-old Claudio Neves Valente.

Suspect identified as Claudio Neves Valente, 48
Identity revealed

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said Valente was found dead with a bag and two firearms.

Investigators also discovered that he studied at Libson with the murdered MIT nuclear science professor Nuno Lourerio, 47. The professor was killed on Monday in his $1.4 million townhouse in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Valente had entered the Rhode Island Ivy League University's Barus & Holley building and opened fire inside a lecture hall, killing two students.

Suspect's capture aided by tip-off from public
Investigation progress

A key tip-off from a member of the public helped authorities track down Valente.

The individual approached two Providence police officers after a photo of the suspect was made public.

This information led to the discovery of a vehicle linked to Neves Valente, which had different license plates in an attempt to evade law enforcement.

Brown University confirms suspect's former enrollment
University connection

Brown University President Christina Paxson confirmed that Valente was a graduate student in physics from fall 2000 to spring 2001. He took a leave of absence in April 2001 and formally withdrew in 2003.

The manhunt for the gunman began again on Monday morning after the state's attorney general revealed that a person of interest detained on Sunday had been released, a situation that Providence Mayor Brett Smiley acknowledged would "likely cause fresh anxiety for our community."

Victims of Brown University shooting identified
Victim details

The two victims of the Brown University shooting have been identified as Ella Cook (19) and MukhammadAziz Umurzokov (18).

Cook was a sophomore from Alabama and vice-president of Brown's College Republicans of America chapter.

Umurzokov was an Uzbek national and first-year student at Brown, who aspired to become a neurosurgeon.

Nine other people were injured in the hail of bullets, with six still hospitalized as of Wednesday.