Brown University, MIT shooting suspect likely died days before body found: autopsy.
The suspect behind the deadly Brown University shooting and the killing of an MIT professor died by suicide days before he was found dead in a New Hampshire storage unit, authorities confirmed Friday, as investigators continue searching for a motive behind the attacks.New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella said Friday the New Hampshire Department of Justice Office of the Chief Medical Examiner performed an autopsy on the body of Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, 48, who was identified as the suspect in the Brown University mass shooting and the subsequent killing of an MIT professor.
The examination confirmed Neves Valente died from a gunshot wound to the head, and the manner of death was ruled a suicide.
Based on forensic findings and investigative information available to date, authorities estimate he died Tuesday, Dec. 16. Neves Valente was found dead in a storage facility in New Hampshire two days later on Thursday evening.
Neves Valente was publicly identified by Providence police as the suspect in the Dec. 13 shooting at Brown University, which occurred during a finals week study session and left two students dead. Nine others were wounded at the Barus & Holley Engineering Building.
Authorities later confirmed he was also the suspect in the Dec. 15 fatal shooting of MIT nuclear science professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro, who was found shot at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Federal investigators also recovered two 9 mm pistols in New Hampshire near Neves Valente’s body, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives's Boston office.
The ATF and FBI, working through the Connecticut State Police forensic laboratory, positively matched one of the guns to the weapon used in the Brown shooting. The second gun was matched to Loureiro's killing, authorities said.
According to Brown University President Christina Paxson, Neves Valente was a Portuguese national and former Brown student who studied physics from the fall of 2000 through the spring of 2001 before withdrawing from the program in 2003. He had no recent affiliation with the university at the time of the shooting on campus.
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Brown University Suspends Safety VP After Ignored Shooter Warnings.
On December 13, 2025, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente killed two Brown students and wounded nine in the engineering building, after Lisi warned security at least twice about his suspicious behavior starting late November. The university placed Vice President Rodney Chatman on administrative leave pending reviews, while the U.S. Department of Education probes potential Clery Act violations. Valente, a former Brown student linked to an MIT professor's murder, died by suicide days later, leaving investigators to examine his premeditated plans and possible old resentments.
