Autopsy confirms Brown University and MIT shooting suspect died by suicide
Autopsy concludes Claudio Neves Valente died Dec. 16, days before his body was found in a New Hampshire storage unit; investigators continue to probe motive in the Brown University and MIT killings.
The man suspected in the Brown University mass shooting and the killing of an MIT professor died by suicide before his body was found in a New Hampshire storage unit, authorities said Friday after an autopsy.
New Hampshire officials said Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, 48, died from a gunshot wound to the head, and the manner of death was ruled a suicide. Forensic findings indicate he died on Dec. 16, 2025, and his body was discovered two days later Thursday evening in a storage unit in Salem, N.H.
Authorities say Valente is the suspect in the Dec. 13 Brown University shooting in Providence, Rhode Island, which killed two students and wounded nine others at the Barus & Holley Engineering Building. The two students killed were Ella Cook of Alabama and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov of Virginia. He was also identified as the suspect in the Dec. 15 fatal shooting of MIT nuclear science professor Nuno F. G. Loureiro at his Brookline home.
Federal investigators recovered two 9 mm pistols near Valente's body in New Hampshire. The ATF Boston office said one gun was matched to the Brown shooting, and a second gun to Loureiro's killing.
Brown University President Christina Paxson said Valente is a Portuguese national and a former Brown student who studied physics from the fall of 2000 through the spring of 2001 before withdrawing in 2003. He had no current affiliation with the university at the time of the attack.
Authorities say Valente acted alone in both attacks. Investigators canvassed neighborhood surveillance video, released images of a person of interest, and questioned others who were later ruled out. There have been no writings or documents indicating a clear motive.
Investigators are examining Valente's movements in the days before the attacks, including tracing credit card transactions. FBI agents have also been in Florida, where he reportedly last lived, as part of the review.
The case remains under active investigation by federal and local authorities.
