The suspect in last week’s mass shooting at Brown University has been found dead in a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, ending a six-day, multi-state manhunt, authorities said. Police identified the suspect as Claudio Neves Valente, 48, a Portuguese national who briefly studied at Brown about 25 years ago.
Investigators believe Valente also fatally shot an MIT professor two days after the December 13 attack at Brown. Rhode Island Attorney General officials said Valente was discovered with two firearms and a satchel, while evidence found in a nearby vehicle matched the Brown University crime scene. Preliminary findings indicate he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Brown University President Christina Paxson confirmed Valente was enrolled from 2000 to 2001 and had no current affiliation with the school. Authorities linked the two cases using CCTV footage and witness accounts that tracked the same vehicle near both crime scenes.
The Brown shooting left two students dead and nine injured during final exams. FBI officials said hundreds of agents assisted in the investigation, which remains ongoing as authorities work to determine Valente’s motive.
