The authorities identified a Portuguese man Thursday night as the suspect in the deadly shooting at Brown University and in the killing of a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, 48, killed two students and injured nine others on Saturday on the Brown campus in Providence, R.I., according to the city’s police chief. He managed to leave the campus and eluded police for days.
While the manhunt went on, he traveled to Brookline, Mass., where he shot a professor at M.I.T. on Monday, according to the U.S. attorney in Massachusetts. On Thursday, the police found Mr. Neves Valente’s body inside a storage unit in Salem, N.H., where he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Here is what we know about the suspect:
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Academic career: Mr. Neves Valente briefly studied physics as a graduate student at Brown University, enrolling in the fall of 2000 and leaving in the spring of 2001. He took a leave of absence in April 2001 before formally withdrawing in 2003. During his time at the university, he likely spent time in Barus and Holley, the physics complex where the shooting later occurred. Officials said there was no indication that he knew the two students who were killed or nine people who were wounded in the attack.
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Portuguese roots: Mr. Neves Valente entered the United States on a student visa through Boston Logan International Airport in 2000 from Portugal. He later became a lawful permanent resident in 2017.
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Earlier studies: Authorities said Mr. Valente was believed to have attended Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon, the same university where the slain M.I.T. professor, Nuno F.G. Loureiro, studied physics. Dr. Loureiro, 47, was found shot in his home in Brookline, Mass. on Monday night and was pronounced dead Tuesday morning. Leah Foley, the U.S. attorney for Massachusetts, said she believed Mr. Valente knew Dr. Loureiro but did not elaborate on the nature of their relationship.
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Miami address: The suspect’s last known address was in Miami, officials said. During his time at Brown, he had an address in Providence, R.I., according to an affidavit.
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Rental car: Authorities said Mr. Valente rented a car in Boston, and the vehicle was seen in the area of Brown University in the days leading up to the campus shooting. After killing Dr. Loureiro, authorities said, he drove to a storage unit he had rented in Salem, N.H.
Pooja Salhotra covers breaking news across the United States.
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