Suspect identified in Brown University shooting; linked to slain MIT professor

The suspect in the mass shooting at Brown University has been identified as a former student and a Portuguese national. He was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in New Hampshire, according to officials. Authorities said the suspect has been linked to the fatal shooting of an MIT professor in Boston.

Providence police confirmed on Thursday night that the suspect was Claudio Neves-Valente, a 48-year-old former Brown University student and a Portuguese national, according to Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez.

Authorities said Neves-Valente took his own life and was found dead at a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire.

Perez said investigators identified Neves-Valente using surveillance video, license-plate data, and a tip that led authorities to a rental vehicle location in Massachusetts. He said the suspect was seen on video walking along Hope Street near the campus before the shooting and was later linked to the rented vehicle through records obtained by investigators.

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said evidence recovered during the investigation included firearms, a satchel, and items found inside the vehicle that matched what investigators observed at the shooting scene. He said the evidence recovered was consistent with surveillance footage and witness descriptions.

According to an affidavit filed in the case, Neves-Valente had recently been linked to an address at 1079 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston.

That address is located a few blocks from where Nuno F. Gomes Loureiro, a 47-year-old Portuguese national and nuclear science and engineering professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), was fatally shot earlier this week in the nearby town of Brookline, Massachusetts.

Ted Docks, FBI special agent in charge, said investigators believe Neves-Valente and the MIT professor attended the same university in Portugal.

The shooting occurred shortly after 4 p.m. on Saturday inside the Barus & Holley Engineering Building on the Brown University campus in Providence, Rhode Island, according to authorities. Two students were killed and nine other people were wounded in the attack.

Authorities said the investigation remains ongoing and that they are still working to determine a motive.