found suspicious. What to know about the Brown University, MIT shooter

Authorities announced on December 18 that they had identified the man responsible for both the fatal Brown University shooting and the shooting death two days later of Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno FG Loreiro, who was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a Salem, Massachusetts storage unit.

Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, 48, originally from Portugal, was a former Brown University PhD physics student who knew Loureiro, authorities said in two separate news conferences on the night of Dec. 18.

Investigators said they identified Valente on the afternoon of Dec. 17 and were able to link him to both crime scenes through financial background information, including the car he rented and the car rental records of the car he drove to Providence and back to Massachusetts.

The Brown shooting shook the Ivy League school and the school’s surrounding community.

At a news conference in Boston, officials said Valente was “sophisticated at covering his tracks,” obscuring his cell phone, making it untraceable, switching the plates on his rental car and not using credit cards in his name.

An affidavit signed by a Rhode Island district judge said police cracked the case after a tipster identified a rental car circling the area. The tipster said police were looking for a gray Nissan Altima and a license plate, information police had not previously released. Police then tracked down images of Neves Valiant renting a car at the Alamo location in Boston.

Here’s what to know about the shooter:

When did Claudio Manuel Neves Valente enter the US?

Neves Valente entered the country in 2000 on an F-1 student visa. He was admitted as a lawful permanent resident in 2017.

Brown officials say he was a PhD student before taking a leave of absence in April 2001. He returned on July 31, 2003. According to police, his last known address was in Miami.

The tipster first took his information to the social media site Reddit, posting: “I’m serious. Police need to find a gray Nissan with Florida plates, possibly a rental,” wrote John, whose last name is being withheld by authorities, according to the affidavit.

When was the identity announced?

The announcement comes as authorities urge the public to help with an extensive investigation and search for a suspect in the attack. Earlier in the week, authorities released enhanced images and video footage of a man who investigators believe may be connected to a shooting that killed two people and injured nine others.

Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez said investigators have evidence that a possible suspect was near the university hours before the shooting. Footage from neighborhood cameras shared by authorities showed men dressed in black and wearing masks walking the streets on Dec. 13, a few blocks from campus.

According to Perez, investigators believe it was likely the man was “casing” the scene.

“We have several clues here that show that the person who committed this tragedy is the boy in this video,” the police chief said.

Although authorities said on December 16 that they were confident the man in the video was the suspect, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said they had “zero” evidence of a motive for the attack. Witnesses said the man was possibly in his 30s, and it was unclear if they were affiliated with the university, Perez said.

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Authorities released a video timeline of the possible suspects’ activities

According to Perez, police received more than 200 tips after the shooting. The police chief had asked for the public’s help in identifying the suspected gunman, with investigators hoping the new footage would help identify the man.

“Focus on body movement, how the person moves their arms, body posture, the way they carry their weight,” Perez said. “I think those are important movement patterns that can help you identify this person, which is extremely important.”

The footage included a timeline video that included surveillance video from neighborhood cameras and the vehicle’s dash cam.

In one video, the suspected shooter can be seen leaving the scene of the shooting as a police car with emergency lights arrives. The final video shows the suspect walking down the street minutes after the attack.

Did the suspect target Brown University?

At 4:05 p.m. local time on Dec. 13 at the Ivy League university, gunfire erupted in the engineering building with its doors open while final exams were underway. Authorities said the suspect opened fire with a 9mm handgun inside the classroom and then fled.

The shooting prompted a campus lockdown that left students barricaded in rooms or hiding for hours. Officers recovered a 9mm shell casing from the scene, and Perez said investigators believe the suspect “definitely targeted Brown University.”

Two students were killed and nine were injured in the attack. The two students killed were Ella Cook, a sophomore from Mountain Brook, Alabama, and Virginia, a freshman from Virginia who was from Uzbekistan.

By December 16, the two injured students had been discharged from the hospital. Of the seven people hospitalized, one is in critical condition, five are in critical but stable condition and one is in stable condition, officials said.

Brown University, which has approximately 11,000 undergraduate and graduate students, is considered one of the most prestigious colleges in the country. Brown was founded in 1764 and is located in Providence, Rhode Island.

This is a developing story.

This article originally appeared in USA Today: Brown, MIT suspect found dead. What to know about Claudio Manuel Neves Valente