Investigation into Brown University Mass Casualty Shooting Continues

Update 23 December 2025:

The suspect in the shooting that killed two Brown University students and wounded several others on 13 December was found dead of a self-inflicted wound in a storage unit in New Hampshire on 18 December.

In addition to the mass shooting at Brown, authorities believe the same individual, Claudio Neves Valente, shot and killed Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro in his home two days after the Brown shooting.

Neves Valente is a Portuguese national with connections to Brown and Loureiro. He attended Brown as graduate student in physics from fall 2000 though spring 2001, at which time he took a leave of absence, which was followed by a formal withdrawal in 2003. He also attended the same academic program as Loureiro at Instituto Superior Técnico in Portugal from 1995 to 2000. Beyond the connections, no additional evidence on possible motives has been reported.

Surveillance footage and other evidence shows that Neves Valente had visited the Brown campus several times in late November. A Brown employee saw him in the building where the attack occurred when most students had left campus for Thanksgiving. The same employee reported seeing him three days later. He may have been casing the building, because the employee saw him use the entrance he used on the day of the shooting.

A tip led authorities to connecting the two incidents. A man identified as “John” in police reports connected Neves Valente to the engineering building, gave a description of him, and connected him to a car. It is not currently known if the informant is also the Brown employee.

The identification of the car with Florida plates enabled authorities to tap into street cameras. Surveillance footage also shows Neves Valente entering an apartment building near Loureiro’s residence and other footage shows him at the New Hampshire storage facility.

Neves Valente had gained legal permanent residence status in 2017. After the attack, the Trump Administration suspended the green card lottery system Neves Valente used to gain permanent residence.

On 22 December, Brown University placed its police chief, Rodney Chatman, on leave. The Associated Press reported that in October Chatman received a vote of no confidence from the union representing school police officers, which local media said was because “serious concerns over the failed leadership, contract violations, and policies that jeopardize public safety.”

Published 16 December:

On Saturday afternoon, a group of approximately 60 students in Barus & Holley, Brown University’s engineering and physics building, were finishing a final exam preparatory session when gunshots could be heard in the hallway outside the lecture hall. Seconds later, a masked man with a rifle entered the classroom and started shooting, said the teaching assistant who was leading the session.

Two students died in the attack, and nine others were wounded. The shooter fled the scene, and as of Tuesday morning, authorities were still searching for the perpetuator.

The Search for the Shooter

Authorities have released several security footage videos showing a person of interest and offered a reward for tips that lead to the capture and ultimate conviction of the shooter.

The person is described as a 5-foot 8-inch, stocky male, though his head and face are mostly covered in the footage by a mask and a dark knit winter hat. The videos show the man walking on a sidewalk in a Providence, Rhode Island, neighborhood near the shooting and are timestamped from both before and after the shooting occurred. Police have gone door-to-door in areas surrounding the incident seeking information or potentially additional home surveillance that might show the individual. They have also asked any faculty or students who accessed the building on Friday or Saturday to come forward for an interview, noting that even seemingly insignificant details could be important.

Authorities gave no indication that their investigation was leading them to focus in any given area, and they said the person should be considered armed and dangerous. They also said they had no indication that another attack was imminent or likely.

Detention and Release of “Person of Interest”

Early Sunday, police surrounded a hotel in nearby Coventry, Rhode Island, and detained a man, announcing they were questioning a person of interest. Several news outlets obtained the man’s identity, published his name, and began investigating his background; however, after holding him most of the day, authorities released the man and said he was not involved in the incident.

The detention had brought some cautious relief to the area that at least the immediate threat of danger had subsided and the university cancelled its lockdown status. However, anxiety ramped up on news of the release and what appeared to be stepped up investigation work Sunday evening and during the day Monday.

CNN quoted Rhode Island Attorney General Pater Neronha on the situation:

“The bottom line is we don’t know where he is, and we don’t know what his intentions are, and I understand how that makes people feel unsafe,” Neronha said, adding Providence police have had a large presence in the community to deter crime and help people feel safe.

“As Rhode Islanders, the people that elected me to do this job, my counsel to them is use common sense, but go about your daily lives. We’re on it,” Neronha said.

Brown Campus Security

Authorities said the Barus & Holley building is an older building with limited surveillance camera resources. Doors to the building were unlocked following the customary practice during exams. All footage released of the suspect by authorities so far have been from outside in the surrounding area.

Brown does not have visible campus boundaries that delineate campus from the surrounding city. Brown uses a texting emergency alert system, which the incident triggered. According to Associated Press interviews, “students said the school’s emergency alert system kept them relatively well-informed about the presence of an active shooter.”

However, the hours-long lockdown that followed into Saturday evening left many students unsure what they were supposed to do.

The city of Providence has an emergency alerting system that required residents to opt-in to receiving emergency text updates, as well as a system designed to give an alert to every cell phone in particular area. The city confirmed that messages were sent through the opt-in system. According to The Providence Journal, it is unclear if the automatic alerting system sent messages, and the outlet interviewed several residents who said they learned about the shooting from telephone calls from concerned people who had seen news of the incident.

Brown’s Schedule Decisions

On Sunday afternoon, Brown announced it had cancelled all remaining in-person exams for the Fall term. Students were given options: to accept the final grade based on work completed prior to 13 December; students could elect a “satisfactory/no credit” designation for courses that had not concluded; and deadlines for final papers, projects, or take-home exams that were due after 13 December were extended to 7 January.

The school noted it remained open, with only staff designated as “essential” were to report to work. “Units will need to ensure sufficient coverage to support students in residence and daily operations, including the full range of student services and support,” the notice said. Some dining facilities and other services—including shuttle and safety escort services—were to remain in place.

Broader Regional Impact

Brown University is located within two hours drive of many high-profile institutions, including Harvard University and all other Boston-based schools, as well as Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Providence is also home to several private, preparatory high schools in addition to its public school system. Several other colleges are nearby, including the University of Rhode Island.

The New York Times reported many of these schools stepped up security as a result of the shooting and the confirmation that no suspect is in custody.