Suspect in Brown University shooting found dead in New Hampshire; investigators weigh links to MIT professor killing

A man suspected of killing two people and wounding several others in a mass shooting at Brown University was found dead Thursday evening in a storage facility in New Hampshire, according to two law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation. He is believed to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and investigators are evaluating whether the suspect was also involved in the fatal shooting of MIT professor Nuno Loureiro in Brookline earlier in the week. Authorities have not publicly confirmed a connection between the two episodes.

Two people were killed and nine wounded in the Brown University attack on a Saturday, prompting an intensive manhunt and a campus lockdown that drew responses from local, state, and federal authorities. By Thursday, investigators had begun examining whether the Brown shooting and the Brookline homicide may be linked as part of a broader pattern of violence near Boston, though officials stressed that no definitive link has been established and that the investigations remain active.

Brown officials have noted that the campus features thousands of cameras, but the specific attack occurred in an older engineering building where surveillance coverage is limited. Investigators believe the shooter entered and exited through a door facing a residential street that borders campus, a factor that may have reduced the likelihood of video footage capturing the suspect.

In mass-attack investigations, analysts say it is common for shooters who flee to take longer to identify or locate. Past events from the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing to other recent cases show that authorities sometimes take days to piece together a suspect’s movements and motives before making an arrest or confirming a connection between incidents. Experts emphasize that while each case is unique, the pattern of rapid escalation and the potential for cross-incident links often drives extended investigations.

MIT mourns the loss of Nuno Loureiro, a professor of physics and nuclear science and engineering who joined MIT in 2016 and was named last year to lead the university’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, one of the school’s largest laboratories. The center employed more than 250 people across seven buildings when he took the helm, and Loureiro had focused his research on clean energy technology and fusion energy as a path to broader societal benefit. Loureiro grew up in Viseu, Portugal, studied in Lisbon, and earned a doctorate in London, according to MIT. Colleagues described him as a mentor, friend, and leader who was dedicated to solving humanity’s biggest problems. He had said fusion energy could fundamentally change the course of human history.

The Associated Press corrected a line in early reports to note that MIT is not an Ivy League institution.