A body found resolves the shooting mystery at a U.S. university

19th December 2025

3 minutes read

A body found resolves the shooting mystery at a U.S. university

U.S. authorities announced the discovery of the body of a man suspected of being behind the mass shooting at Brown University and the killing of a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), following a search that lasted several days.

The suspect was identified as a 48-year-old Portuguese national named Cláudio Neves Valente, who had previously studied physics at Brown University, according to officials speaking at two press conferences in Providence and Boston.

No indications have yet emerged regarding the motive behind the two killings at these prestigious U.S. universities.

Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez said that the body of the alleged attacker was found inside a storage unit in New Hampshire, alongside two firearms, adding that the suspect had taken his own life.

Investigators believe that Neves Valente, who had held permanent resident status in the United States since 2017, acted alone.

“Today, our neighbors in Providence can finally feel a measure of relief,” Mayor Brett Smiley told reporters.

On December 13, the attacker stormed a building at Brown University in Rhode Island while students were sitting exams and opened fire, killing two people and injuring nine others.

The two victims who were killed were Ella Cook, vice president of the Republican association at Brown University, and Mohammad Aziz Omurzakov, an Uzbek national specializing in neurosurgery.

Six of the injured remain hospitalized in stable condition, while three have been discharged, university president Christina Paxson said in a statement late Thursday.

On December 15, MIT physics professor Nuno Loureiro was shot and killed at his home in Brooklyn.

For several days, investigators found little evidence that could lead them to the suspect and released images of a person seen near him in the hope of identifying those involved.

Officials provided daily briefings to the media, during which they voiced growing frustration over the lack of progress in the search.

They ultimately identified the suspect through financial data and surveillance footage collected from both locations.

“He covered his tracks”

Perez said that “the work that began in the city of Providence led us here”.

In Boston, federal prosecutor Leah Foley explained how Neves Valente was “highly skilled at covering his tracks”. He had changed the license plates on his rented vehicle and used a phone that investigators found difficult to trace, though the situation eventually became clearer.

Authorities initially arrested another man in connection with the shooting but later released him.

The university faced questions, including from President Donald Trump, regarding its security arrangements after it was revealed that none of the campus’s 1,200 security cameras were connected to the police monitoring system.

The United States has recorded more than 300 mass shootings this year, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive, which defines mass shootings as incidents involving firearms that result in four or more people being injured.

Efforts to impose restrictions on access to firearms remain mired in political divisions.

“Nothing can bring comfort to those whose lives were shattered by gun violence last weekend,” Paxson said. “But our community now has an opportunity to move forward and begin the process of healing and recovery.”