Suspect in Brown University Shooting Found Dead in New Hampshire

The man suspected in the Brown University shooting and the killing of an MIT professor has been found dead at a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire. Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez said the suspect died by suicide.

The suspect was identified as Claudio Neves Valente, 48, a Portuguese national whose last known address was in Miami, Florida. Valente was a former Brown University student who attended briefly about 25 years ago. He also attended the same academic program as the murdered MIT professor in Portugal in the late 1990s.

The breakthrough came in the last 48 hours after tips from the Providence community led investigators to identify a vehicle and license plate connected to a person of interest. That trail led to a rental car company in Boston, where police determined the person who rented the car was their suspect. Financial records then revealed Valente had a storage unit in Salem. When police arrived, they found the vehicle they had been searching for and discovered Valente's body inside.

The state attorney general said Valente was found with two firearms and evidence matching the Brown crime scene. Investigators say he went to significant lengths to evade detection, using untraceable phones, multiple credit cards, and swapping license plates on the rental car.

Authorities have linked Valente to both shootings. He was seen approximately half a mile from the MIT professor's home several days after the Brown shooting and again in the hours immediately following that professor's murder. The investigation into a motive in both cases remains active.