Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente, identified by authorities as the suspect in both the Dec 13 mass shooting at Brown University in Providence that killed two and injured nine and the Dec 15 murder of MIT Professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro in Brookline, MA, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Dec 18 in a storage locker in Salem, NH.
In a Thursday night press conference in Providence beginning around 9:30pm, local and federal police said that Valente, age 48, and Loureiro, age 47, had been undergraduate classmates together at the Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon (Portugal). Loureiro graduated with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physics in 2000, while Neves-Valente was “terminated” according to a report in Vanity Fair. In a press conference in Boston beginning around 10:30pm, US Attorney for Massachusetts Leah Foley confirmed the same suspect committed both crimes.
An affidavit filed by Providence Police in RI said Neves-Valente was a Portuguese national who was a PhD candidate in physics at Brown on a student visa during Fall 2000 and Spring 2001 semesters, taking a leave of absence and eventually withdrawing in Fall 2003. He then appears to have left the United States until receiving permanent resident status in 2017 through the “Green Card Lottery,” which has a 0.25% chance of success with over 20 million applications.
The suspect took considerable effort to evade capture, Foley said, switching out European SIM cards to prevent cellular telephone tracking and covering the Florida registration plate on his Boston rental car with a Maine plate not registered to any vehicle. Col Oscar Perez, Providence Police chief, said the suspect used side streets and avoided main streets to try to evade plate reading cameras.
There were two main breaks in the case, according to the affidavit. A Brown custodian told police he recalled meeting a suspicious person in the Barus-Holley Building, the site of the Dec 13 shooting, earlier on Nov 28 and Dec 1, and this person matched the appearance of the “person of interest” and walked with a limp. This report enabled police to find surveillance camera video from inside the building on Dec 1.
The second break resulted from an individual identified by police only as “John” who posted on Reddit, the social media web site, on Dec 15 at 9:30pm EST, by user “lamin_kaare” in the “r/providence” subreddit:
I’m being dead serious. The police need to look into a grey Nissan with Florida plates, possibly a rental. That was the car he was driving. It was parked in front of the little shack behind the Rhode Island Historical Society on the Cooke St side. I know because he used his key fob to open the car, approached it and then something prompted him to back away. When he backed away he relocked the car. I found that odd so when he circled the block I approached the car and that is when I saw the Florida plates. He was parked in the section between the gate of the RIHS and the corner of Cooke and George St.
According to the affidavit, police regarded this post as highly credible once they learned of it because a Brown faculty member reported on Dec 17 an encounter at 9:15am on Dec 11 with a suspicious gray sedan with Florida plates driving unusually slowly on Waterman Street toward Thayer Street.
When made aware that Providence Police wanted to speak with him, “John” approached two officers near Brown Alumni Hall and agreed to be transported to headquarters for a voluntary interview. He said he noticed the suspect because he was dressed inappropriately and inadequately for the weather, wearing a “flimsy” jacket and gloves. He said he first encountered the suspect in a bathroom in the Barus-Holly Building about two hours before the shooting, was in close proximity and “locked eyes” with him. After this encounter in the bathroom, the suspect exited the building into the parking lot.
“John” decided to follow the suspect along Manning Street and near the RI Historical Society saw him approach a gray or silver sedan which flashed its lights as if being unlocked by a key fob, but when the suspect saw “John” turned and walked away from the vehicle. “John“ looked inside and saw two “fanny pack” bags on the floor, then remained in the area, seeing the suspect return repeatedly but turn away each time he saw “John” in what was described as “a game of cat and mouse.” Finally, on George Street, the suspect began running away and “John” ran after him, “speed-walked” past him, and turned around to confront the suspect, saying “Your car is back there. Why are you circling the block?” The suspect then said, in what “John” said seemed an Hispanic accent, “I don’t know you from nobody. Why are you harassing me?” After that, the suspect walked back toward the car and “John” broke off.
Subsequently on Dec 17 at 11:12pm EST, ‘John” posted again on Reddit:
The following is all I will say regarding the matter. This evening I spoke to Providence Police, the Rhode Island State Police and I imagine the FBI were listening in another room. They know who I am. I am not the individual posted in the recent round of photos. I wish that individual Godspeed and if they have yet to come forward I strongly encourage them to do so. All the law enforcement personnel that I interacted with today were extremely professional and worked hard to really put me at ease. Respectfully, I have said all I have to say on the matter to the right people. If any follow up is needed the right people know how to reach out to me. Though it is certainly your right to try, any news media attempting to reach out to me will not receive a response. This is a pseudo-PSA and my participation in the comments will be limited to upvoting reasonable takes. Thank you for your time and let’s hope the POI is apprehended soon so the authorities can get to the bottom of this. Hopefully you all are able to enjoy the holidays with your family and loved ones but if you are not may the following days treat you kindly.
Once the police had the location and description of the car, a Nissan Sentra, they were able to use surveillance camera video from the RI Historical Society and city-operated Flock traffic cameras to determine the plate number, which led to the Alamo Rent-a-Car office on Boston, which had identifying data for the lessee including financial information and surveillance video of the rental transaction on Dec 1 at 11:36am. The first hit of the plate on the Flock readers was later that same day at 5:50pm, at the intersection of Camp Street and Doyle Avenue. The Flock readers detected the plate a total of 14 times.
With this financial information, authorities determined that the suspect had rented a locker at Extra Space Storage in Salem, NH. When the FBI SWAT team arrived, the suspect was already dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He had the rental car and two handguns, one found near his thigh and the other near his leg.
As of early Friday morning, authorities said they do not know a motive for either crime and do not know why the suspect targeted Brown University or his former classmate from Portugal.
Strong public support has been expressed on social media for giving “John” the $50,000 reward offered by the FBl.