Autopsy confirms Brown, MIT shooting suspect died by suicide

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The suspect in the deadly shootings at Brown University and the killing of an MIT professor died by suicide days before his body was discovered in a New Hampshire storage unit, authorities said Friday.

According to Fox News' report, New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella said an autopsy conducted by the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner found that Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, 48, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, with investigators estimating his death occurred on Tuesday.

His body was found two days later, Thursday evening, inside a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire.

Providence police had publicly identified Neves Valente as the suspect in the Dec. 13 shooting at Brown University in Rhode Island, which killed two students – Ella Cook of Alabama and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov of Virginia – and wounded nine others during a finals-week study session at the Barus & Holley Engineering Building.

No clear motive found

Authorities later confirmed he was also responsible for the Dec. 15 fatal shooting of MIT nuclear science professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Federal investigators recovered two 9 mm pistols near Neves Valente’s body, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) Boston office said. The ATF and FBI, working with the Connecticut State Police forensic laboratory, matched one weapon to the Brown shooting and the other to Loureiro’s killing.

Brown University President Christina Paxson said Neves Valente was a Portuguese national and former Brown student who studied physics from 2000 to 2001 before withdrawing in 2003.

“I think it’s safe to assume that this man, when he was a student, spent a great deal of time in that building for classes and other activities as a Ph.D. student in physics,” Paxson said. “He has no current active affiliation with the university or campus presence.”

Authorities said Neves Valente acted alone in both attacks. Investigators continue to review his recent movements, including credit card activity, and have not found any writings or documents indicating a clear motive.

ISTANBUL

His body was found two days later, Thursday evening, inside a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire.

No clear motive found

Authorities later confirmed he was also responsible for the Dec. 15 fatal shooting of MIT nuclear science professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Brown University President Christina Paxson said Neves Valente was a Portuguese national and former Brown student who studied physics from 2000 to 2001 before withdrawing in 2003.