A Portuguese foreign national carried out a deadly multi-state shooting spree targeting elite American universities, killing two Brown students and an MIT professor before taking his own life, leaving investigators scrambling to understand why this coordinated attack struck at the heart of our nation’s academic institutions.
Story Snapshot
- Cláudio Manuel Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national, executed linked shootings at Brown University and MIT within 48 hours
- Two Brown engineering students died in a classroom massacre during finals week, while MIT plasma physics professor Nuno Loureiro was gunned down at his apartment
- Ballistics connected two handguns found on the suspect’s body to both crime scenes after he died by suicide in a New Hampshire storage unit
- Authorities confirm no ongoing threat but acknowledge they still have no clear motive for the coordinated attacks on America’s prestigious universities
Foreign National Executes Calculated Campus Attack
Cláudio Manuel Neves Valente systematically targeted two of America’s most prestigious universities in a calculated 48-hour killing spree that shattered the safety of academic communities. On December 13, 2025, the Portuguese national entered Brown University’s Barus & Holley engineering building wearing a mask and unleashed approximately 40 rounds in a classroom filled with students during finals week. Two students lost their lives while others suffered injuries in what became an unprecedented attack on the Providence campus.
The gunman’s methodical approach raises serious concerns about how foreign nationals can exploit vulnerabilities in our university security systems. Brown’s emergency alert system activated at 4:22 p.m., triggering campus-wide lockdown procedures as law enforcement launched a massive response. The timing during finals week maximized potential casualties among concentrated student populations, suggesting deliberate planning that exploited predictable academic schedules.
Elite MIT Professor Becomes Secondary Target
Two days later, Valente struck again with surgical precision, targeting MIT professor Nuno Loureiro at his Brookline apartment building around 8:30 p.m. on December 15. Loureiro, an internationally recognized expert in plasma physics and fusion energy research, was shot multiple times in his residential building’s foyer before being transported to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he died the following morning. The attack’s location at the professor’s home demonstrates advance surveillance and planning.
The targeted nature of Loureiro’s killing distinguishes it from the more indiscriminate Brown shooting, suggesting the suspect had specific knowledge of the professor’s residence and routine. This level of premeditation by a foreign national targeting American scientific leadership in critical research areas like fusion energy raises questions about potential connections to international interests or academic grievances that authorities have yet to uncover.
Cross-State Investigation Reveals Coordinated Spree
Law enforcement agencies across Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire coordinated efforts that culminated on December 18 when police located Valente at a Salem, New Hampshire storage facility. Officers found the suspect dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, with two firearms on his body that ballistics testing directly linked to both crime scenes. This forensic evidence confirmed what investigators suspected: both attacks were part of a single offender’s multi-state killing spree.
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The storage unit location in New Hampshire suggests careful planning for the attacks and potential escape routes across state lines. Despite the suspect’s death closing the immediate threat, authorities acknowledge they remain baffled by the motive behind these coordinated strikes against American academic institutions. The lack of apparent connections between Valente and either university compounds the mystery surrounding why a Portuguese national would target these specific locations and victims.