© FOX NewsClaudio Neves Valente, suspected of the murder an MIT professor and a mass shooting at Brown University was previously spotted in a series of grainy images.
Valente, a Portuguese national, was found dead Thursday night following a nearly weeklong manhunt spurred by the shooting Saturday that killed two Brown students, Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez announced at a press conference.
The 48-year-old former graduate student was discovered dead with a satchel and two firearms inside a Salem, New Hampshire, storage facility, where authorities carried out a search warrant around 9 p.m.
© ReutersAn undated handout photo of Brown and MIT gunman Claudio Neves Valente, 48, who was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Dec. 18, 2025.
Loureiro was born and raised in Portugal and studied physics at the Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon.
The two studied together in the same academic program between 1995 and 2000, Leah Foley, the US attorney in Massachusetts, revealed in a second press conference late Thursday.
Valente was then enrolled at Brown University between 2000 and 2001 in a graduate physics program. He primarily took classes at the university's Barus & Holley building — where he opened fire on students inside a classroom on Saturday, according to Brown University president Christina Paxson.
"It is safe to assume that this man, when he was a student, spent a lot of time in that building," Paxson told reporters.
© MITMIT nuclear science professor Nuno Lourerio, 47, who was shot dead in his Brookline, Mass., home on Dec. 15, 2025.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed Valente entered US through the lottery immigrant visa program DV1 in 2017. He was later granted a green card.
"This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country," she wrote.
"In 2017, President Trump fought to end this program, following the devastating NYC truck ramming by an ISIS terrorist, who entered under the DV1 program, and murdered eight people," she continued.
She wrote that Trump will be suspending the lottery program that allowed Valente to enter the US.
"At President Trump's direction, I am immediately directing USCIS to pause the DV1 program to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous program," she concluded.
© Gofundme; Linkedin/Ella CookStudents Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov and Ella Cook were gunned down on the Brown campus in Providence, Rhode Island, on Dec. 13, 2025.
Nine others were wounded in the barrage of bullets, with six remaining in the hospital on Wednesday.
Authorities were finally able to crack the case open after a man posted on Reddit that cops should investigate a possible rented gray Nissan with Florida plates that he spotted in Providence while having an odd interaction with a man.
© The New York PostTimeline of Claudio Neves Valente’s believed trail, December 2025
At one point, as they encountered each other on the street, the man asked Valente, "Your car is back there, why are you circling the block?" according to an affidavit prepared for Valente's arrest.
The suspect responded, "I don't know you from nobody," and then, "Why are you harassing me?"
© WBZAuthorities swarmed a Salem, New Hampshire, warehouse to pursue the suspected shooter, Claudio Neves Valente.
The Portuguese gunman was then connected to the death of Loureiro through the rental car and other movements, Foley said.
The top prosecutor said there was enough probable cause to charge Valente with the death of Loureiro and the shooting at Brown University.
Security footage captured Valente within a half-mile of Loureiro's home. There is also video footage of him entering an apartment building near the location of the professor's apartment, Foley said.
Foley believes Valente knew Loureiro from their time studying together, but was unable to provide further details on their relationship or if they had recently stayed in contact.
Valente appeared to have shot Loureiro, then driven to a rented storage unit in New Hampshire about an hour later — where he was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Foley detailed.
Valente used a phone that masked his location and had credit cards that weren't under his name, the prosecutor added.
"He was sophisticated in hiding his tracks," Foley said, noting that authorities have not yet determined a motive.
Investigators probing the Brown case said they are still unsure what, or if, the gunman cried out as he entered the Brown University classroom. Some students heard nothing, and others claimed they heard "barking," said Neronha.
Cops released grainy video and stills from surveillance cameras in the area of the university, showing the doughy suspect walking on city sidewalks both before and after the mass shooting.
After the first video was released, 24-year-old Benjamin Erickson was taken into custody Sunday and questioned about the shooting, but was let go, with authorities admitting they had nabbed the wrong guy.
Authorities said they did not know of Valente's name until Wednesday, "that's when this thing heated up. As soon as you have a name, I believe you can find anybody in this country," Neronha said.
Reader Comments
"He was sophisticated in hiding his tracks". Right, wants to get away with it but then decides to "suicide" himself?