News Update: Brown University Shooting
- Rex Ballard
- Dec 19, 2025
- 3 min read
Suspect Identified - Found Dead
Recap:
On December 13, 2025, a mass shooting occurred at Brown University's Barus & Holley engineering building in Providence, Rhode Island, during a study session amid final exams. A gunman entered a first-floor classroom and opened fire, killing two students: 19-year-old sophomore Ella Cook from Alabama and 18-year-old freshman Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, who was studying biochemistry and neuroscience. Nine others were wounded in the attack. The shooter, who acted alone, escaped the scene, prompting a multi-state manhunt involving the FBI, U.S. Marshals, Providence Police, and other agencies. No motive has been confirmed, but authorities have ruled out antisemitism as a factor, and the victims at Brown were not personally known to the suspect.
Breaking December 18, 2025
The incident was linked to the murder of MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro, a 47-year-old Portuguese plasma physics expert who led MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center. Loureiro was shot in his home in Brookline, Massachusetts (about 50 miles from Brown), on December 15, 2025, and died the following day. Officials confirmed the connection through shared evidence, including a vehicle spotted near both crime scenes via CCTV footage and witness accounts. Loureiro, who joined MIT in 2016 after studying in Lisbon and earning a doctorate in London, was married and had no known disputes tied to the attack.
The suspect was identified as Claudio Manuel Neves Valente (also referred to as Neves-Valente), a 48-year-old Portuguese national and U.S. permanent resident since September 2017, with a last known address in Miami, Florida. Valente was a former Brown student, enrolled in the physics Ph.D. program from fall 2000 to spring 2001, during which he took graduate classes in the same Barus & Holley building where the shooting occurred. He took a leave of absence in April 2001 and formally withdrew on July 31, 2003, with no active affiliation since. Valente knew Loureiro from their shared time at the Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon, Portugal, between 1995 and 2000, where both studied physics and Loureiro taught. Records indicate Valente was fired from a position at that institution in 2000. Authorities believe Loureiro was the primary intended target, though the exact motive for either crime remains under investigation.
Valente was found deceased on December 18, 2025, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a rented storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire. He was dressed in the same clothing seen in footage after Loureiro's murder and was discovered with a satchel containing two firearms and other evidence matching the Brown crime scene. There was no direct confrontation with law enforcement; his body was located during the execution of a search warrant involving heavily armed teams of police and federal officers.
The breakthrough came from public tips, including one leading to a car rental agency, combined with CCTV, license plate recognition, and a witness who interacted with Valente in a Brown bathroom earlier on the day of the shooting. Another individual captured in footage came forward, accelerating the case. The FBI deployed around 500 agents, and officials declared no ongoing threat to the public, closing the active manhunt.
Valente was described as sophisticated in evading detection, using a phone that obfuscated tracking and switching vehicle plates. The investigation spanned Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, with press conferences held in Providence and Boston on December 18 to announce the developments.
Details on Suspect's Movements (Timeline)
Early October 2025: Valente flew into Providence, Rhode Island, and began moving around New England states during October, November, and December.
November 26–30, 2025: Rented a hotel room in Boston, Massachusetts.
December 1, 2025: Rented a gray Nissan Sentra with Florida plates from a Boston car rental agency and drove to the vicinity of Brown University. The vehicle was observed intermittently in the area until December 12.
December 13, 2025 (Day of Brown Shooting): Earlier in the day, interacted with a witness in a Brown University bathroom; the witness followed him out and questioned his presence, but Valente responded defensively before leaving. Around 2 p.m., seen pacing a few blocks from campus and jogging on nearby streets, dressed in black and masked. Shooting occurred around 4 p.m.; last spotted at 4:06 p.m. cutting through a parking lot.
December 13–14, 2025: Returned to Massachusetts after the Brown shooting.
December 15, 2025 (Day of MIT Murder): Vehicle spotted near Loureiro's home in Brookline; Valente seen within a half-mile of the apartment and entering the building. Murder committed; afterward, switched the rental car's plates to an unregistered Maine plate. About an hour later, entered his rented storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire.
December 18, 2025: Authorities tracked the vehicle to the Salem storage facility; Valente found deceased inside during the search.
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