Authorities announced on December 18, 2025, that Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, the 48-year-old suspect in the December 13 mass shooting at Brown University, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire. Valente, a Portuguese national and former Brown graduate student in physics who withdrew in 2003, was also confirmed responsible for the murder of MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro two days after the campus attack. The discovery ended a six-day multi-state manhunt involving federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.

The Brown University shooting occurred during a finals review session in the Barus and Holley engineering building, resulting in the deaths of two students and injuries to nine others. Investigators linked Valente to the crime through surveillance footage, a rented vehicle traced to a Massachusetts agency, and a critical tip from an individual seen in proximity to the suspect. This information rapidly advanced the case, leading to the identification of Valente and the location of his rental car parked outside the New Hampshire storage unit.

Federal prosecutors established Valente's connection to the fatal shooting of Loureiro, a prominent nuclear physicist and director of MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center, at his Brookline, Massachusetts home on December 15. Evidence, including vehicle sightings and hotel records, tied Valente to both incidents. Notably, Valente and Loureiro had attended the same academic program in Portugal from 1995 to 2000, though authorities have not disclosed a clear motive for either attack.

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Providence Police Chief Oscar L. Perez and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha detailed the recovery of two firearms and crime scene-matching evidence from the storage unit during a press conference. Brown University President Christina Paxson confirmed Valente's brief enrollment in the physics Ph.D. program from 2000 to 2001, noting his classes were primarily held in the building targeted in the shooting. Valente, whose last known address was in Miami, had entered the U.S. on a student visa and became a lawful permanent resident in 2017.

The resolution brings relief to affected communities but leaves unresolved questions about the perpetrator's intentions. Colleagues remembered Loureiro as an exceptional mentor and leader in fusion energy research, while the Brown victims included promising students whose losses have deeply impacted the university. Investigations continue into ballistic and forensic evidence to fully close the cases.

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