In a chilling revelation, the U.S. Department of Justice has disclosed that the gunman responsible for the deaths of two Brown University students and an MIT professor meticulously planned his attack for years. The shooter, identified as Claudio Neves Valente, left behind a series of videos confessing to the murders but offering no clear motive for his actions.
The Shootings and the Shooter's Background
Claudio Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national and former Brown student, carried out the first attack on December 13. He opened fire inside an engineering building at Brown University in Providence, killing two students and injuring nine others. The victims were sophomore Ella Cook, 19, and 18-year-old freshman MukhammadAziz Umurzokov.
Two days later, on December 15, Valente travelled to the Boston suburb of Brookline. There, he fatally shot MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro inside the professor's own home. Authorities later discovered a connection between the two men: they had both attended the same academic program at a university in Portugal between 1995 and 2000.
Loureiro graduated in physics from the prestigious Instituto Superior Técnico in 2000. In a stark contrast, archival records show Valente was terminated from a position at the same Lisbon university in February of that same year.
Chilling Confessions Found on Electronic Device
Valente's body was discovered in a New Hampshire storage facility on December 18. During a search of the unit, which Valente said he had rented for about three years, the FBI recovered an electronic device. The device contained several short videos recorded by Valente after the shootings.
In the videos, spoken in Portuguese, Valente admitted he had been working out the details of his plan for at least six semesters. He provided no reason for targeting Brown University or Professor Loureiro, despite their shared past.
"I'm not going to apologize because during my lifetime no one sincerely apologized to me," Valente said in an English-translated transcript provided by the Justice Department. He expressed no remorse, only complaining about injuring his own eye during the shootings and describing his execution of the murders as "a little incompetent."
Debunking Rumors and Revealing a Random Target
Valente used the recordings to explicitly address false rumors that spread online after the attack. He denied conservative influencer Laura Loomer's baseless claim that he shouted "Allahu akbar" upon entering the Brown auditorium. Valente stated he did not speak Arabic and had no intention of making any political or religious statement.
He revealed that his original plan was not to attack an auditorium. "I never wanted to do it in an auditorium. I wanted to do it in a regular room," he said, adding that he had "chickened out" of many previous opportunities. He claimed he shot students at random, thinking the auditorium was empty because students were hiding under desks.
Valente insisted he was not mentally ill and said he did not seek fame. His stated objective was to leave on his "own terms" and to ensure he "wouldn't be the one who ended up suffering the most."
The Tip That Led to His Identification
The videos also contained Valente's account of being confronted by a witness at Brown University, an encounter that proved crucial for investigators. According to police affidavits, the witness had several encounters with Valente before the attack.
After police released images of a person of interest, the witness took to Reddit, theorizing that authorities should look for a "possibly a rental" gray Nissan. Urged by other users, the witness contacted the FBI. This tip was pivotal, as officials had not yet connected a vehicle to the shooter.
"I actually was confronted," Valente said in the video, acknowledging the witness saw his license plate. "I honestly never thought it would take them so long to find me."
A Life Without Roots
Valente first arrived in the United States about 25 years ago to study physics in Brown University's graduate program, which he left in the spring of 2001. He entered on a student visa and later obtained legal permanent residence in September 2017. His last known residence was in Miami, Florida.
In his final messages, he expressed a profound sense of detachment. He stated he harbored neither hatred nor love for the United States. "It's the same thing with Portugal, and most of the places where I have been," he said, adding, "I've been here without caring for a very long time now."
University and Community in Mourning
Brown University released a statement in response to the Justice Department's findings, emphasizing the ongoing impact of the tragedy. "The gravity of this tragedy continues to weigh heavily on the full Brown University community," the statement read. The university continues to mourn the lost students and pray for the full recovery of the injured.
The revelations from the Department of Justice provide a disturbing, albeit incomplete, portrait of a gunman who planned his violent acts for years, left a record of his cold confessions, and took his own life, leaving a community to grapple with unanswered questions and profound loss.
