The FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts have concluded their investigation into the horrific December mass shooting at Brown University and the subsequent murder of an MIT professor, revealing that the lone gunman started plotting the attack as early as 2022.
Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, 48, a Portuguese national who lived as a legal permanent resident in Miami, Florida, carried out the December 13 massacre in Providence, Rhode Island, before murdering MIT Professor Nuno Loureiro in Brookline, Massachusetts, two days later.
Two Brown students, Ella Cook, 19, and Muhammad Aziz Umurzokov, 18, were killed in the on-campus attack and nine other people were wounded.
Valente, a former Brown student, studied physics with Loureiro from the fall of 2000 through the spring of 2001 before withdrawing from the program by 2003. The FBI confirmed the shootings had no connection with terrorism.
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According to the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, Valente viewed his victims as “symbolic” targets. Struggling with long-term suicidal ideations, paranoia and an ongoing “failure to thrive,” the unemployed former ride-hailing driver had an “inflated sense of self” and blamed others for preventing him from reaching his full potential.
Valente, a former physics prodigy, used violence to overcome his shame and punish those he felt contributed to his downfall, investigators found.
The FBI said the attacks were meticulously planned over several years in isolation.
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Valente began plotting the Brown University massacre as early as 2022, renting a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire, to stash his weapons.
Officials said that because of his transient lifestyle and social isolation, Valente did not have family or peers to report warning signs to authorities.
Following the two shootings, Valente left behind a chilling series of audio and video files confessing to the murders, showing no signs of remorse and failing to explain why he committed the crimes.
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In one file, he called his shooting victims “kind of stupid.” Valente added that he didn’t “give a d—” if he was judged for his actions.
Authorities recovered his body in Salem, New Hampshire, alongside two 9mm Glock pistols after he committed suicide.
The FBI noted both firearms, a Glock 34 used at Brown University and a Glock 26 used in the murder of Loureiro, were legally purchased by Valente from a Florida pawn shop in 2020 and 2022.
Officials said the multi-agency probe into Valente’s motivations involved scouring more than 11,000 surveillance files, analyzing over 2,100 audio and video files from his personal devices, and conducting upward of 260 interviews.
