The suspect in the mass shooting at Brown University and the killing of an MIT professor has been found dead, authorities said.At a news conference on Thursday night, authorities confirmed the suspect was found dead at a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. It remains unclear how long the suspect was in the storage facility. >>> Watch the full Providence Police Department news conference <<> Download the free WMUR app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google Play <>> Read the full Providence Police Department affidavit <<>> Watch full U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, FBI, and ATF news conference <<> Subscribe to WMUR’s YouTube channel <> View video of the potential person of interest in the Brown U. shooting:Brookline, Massachusetts, is about 50 miles north of Providence, Rhode Island.
MANCHESTER, N.H. —
The suspect in the mass shooting at Brown University and the killing of an MIT professor has been found dead, authorities said.
At a news conference on Thursday night, authorities confirmed the suspect was found dead at a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. It remains unclear how long the suspect was in the storage facility.
>>> Watch the full Providence Police Department news conference <<<
Officials said the suspect was identified as 48-year-old Claudio Neves Valente with a last known address in Miami, Florida. Authorities said the suspect had been moving around New England since October.
Police said Neves Valente was a Brown University student and a Portuguese national.
According to Brown University President Christina Paxson, he was enrolled at Brown from fall 2000 through spring 2001. Paxson said Neves Valente was enrolled in a doctoral program, but later withdrew. He was said to only be enrolled in physics classes at the university.
On Wednesday, investigators released new surveillance footage in hopes of identifying an individual seen “in proximity” to the suspect.
Police said within an hour after releasing the footage, the person came forward and was able to help investigators identify the suspect.
>> Download the free WMUR app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google Play <<
According to an affidavit, the person told investigators he encountered the suspect inside a bathroom on the ground floor of the Barus and Holley building. He said he made eye contact with him multiple times, before the suspect exited the building into the parking lot. The person followed the suspect when he saw him go up Manning Street.
>>> Read the full Providence Police Department affidavit <<<
Police said the person gave investigators information regarding the suspect’s appearance and the car he was seen driving, a grey sedan with a Florida registration plate.
Officials said they received another report from a different person on Wednesday also regarding a grey sedan with a Florida registration plate described to be moving “unusually slow.”
After reviewing street cameras, authorities concluded the vehicle, a Nissan Sentra, was rented from Alamo Rent A Car in downtown Boston by Neves Valente.
Surveillance video from Alamo Rent A Car showed Neves Valente, wearing the same clothes seen in the photos police released of the person of interest.
Authorities said they did not release the suspect’s name in hopes of catching him if he tried to return the car. The suspect was said to have changed the license plate on the rental car, making it more difficult to track it down. That car was eventually found in New Hampshire.
According to officials, financial records led investigators to the Salem storage unit Neves Valente was found dead in. His time of death is unknown.
Police said the suspect was found with the same satchel he was seen wearing in the person of interest photo they released to the public.
In a separate press conference held by the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Leah B. Foley, the FBI and ATF, officials said Neves Valente drove to the Salem storage facility after killing MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro on Monday.
>>> Watch full U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, FBI, and ATF news conference <<<
Officials said there is no evidence to suggest the suspect was working with anyone and they are not aware of any criminal record he had in the U.S.
Authorities said Neves Valente attended the same academic program as Loureiro from 1995 through 2000, leading them to believe Loureiro was an intended target for Neves Valente.
Regarding the Brown University shooting, police said there is no indication Neves Valente knew any Brown students who were in the room where the shooting happened.
Officials are continuing to process evidence and search for answers regarding the motive behind the attacks.
>> Subscribe to WMUR’s YouTube channel <<
Find previous coverage below
The search for the suspect expanded into New Hampshire on Thursday around 6 p.m.
Investigators announced early Thursday that they were looking into a possible connection between the killing of an MIT professor and last weekend’s mass shooting at Brown University.
New Hampshire State Police, Rhode Island State Police, Providence police, U.S. marshals and FBI agents were seen in Salem, New Hampshire.
News 9 crews saw authorities focused on a storage complex in the area of Hampshire Road just off of South Broadway. Several roads were blocked off around the complex.
Just after 8:30 p.m., the Salem Police Department asked the public to avoid the area of Route 28 and the Methuen city line for an ongoing investigation with several federal agencies.
Police told people in the area to remain vigilant and exercise heightened caution, but said there was no information indicating an imminent risk to safety.
Pelham Police Department also said they were aware of police activity in Salem and were monitoring the situation.
Sources told WCVB and the AP that law enforcement officials identified a person they believed was connected to both cases and were actively looking for the person. No name was released at the time.
This new investigative lead came to be within the past 24 hours, sources told ABC News.
ABC News said multiple sources confirmed that a warrant had been issued for the individual’s arrest.
Two people were killed and nine others were injured in the shooting just after 4 p.m. Saturday at Brown’s Barus and Holley engineering building, where exams were scheduled.
A memorial has been set up at the Van Wickle Gates on Brown’s campus to honor sophomore Ella Cook and freshman Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokow, the two students who lost their lives.
Then, two days later, Nuno F.G. Loureiro, 47, was shot around 9 p.m. Monday at his home on Gibbs Street in Brookline, Massachusetts. He was taken to an area hospital with apparent gunshot wounds and died the next morning, according to the Norfolk County district attorney’s office.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Loureiro was an MIT faculty member in the departments of Nuclear Science & Engineering and Physics, as well as the Director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center.
No arrests have been made in either case.
In Providence, officials have released several images of a person of interest in the shooting, but to date, he has not been identified.
>> View video of the potential person of interest in the Brown U. shooting:
Brookline, Massachusetts, is about 50 miles north of Providence, Rhode Island.