Live updates: Suspect in mass shooting found dead

In a 6:51 p.m. joint press release between the Boston Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Boston Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, law enforcement officials provided updates on the forensic analyses of the two firearms recovered with Claudio Neves Valente’s body on Thursday night.

The ATF and FBI confirmed that one of the 9mm pistols found matched the shell casings in last Saturday’s shooting at Brown, and that the other 9mm pistol matched the shell casings from the murder of MIT professor Nuno Loureiro in Brookline, Massachusetts. The shell casings in the two shootings “were not fired from the same gun,” the press release read.

The two bureaus also wrote that preliminary DNA findings match Neves Valente with DNA “recovered from evidence at Brown University.”

An autopsy report released by the New Hampshire Department of Justice today estimated that Claudio Neves Valente died on Dec. 16, the day after Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno Loureiro was shot and killed in his home. The report also confirmed that he died of a gunshot wound to the head and ruled his death a suicide.

Neves Valente’s body was found in a Salem, New Hampshire storage facility on Dec. 18. He was found with a satchel, the contents of which have not been disclosed, U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said yesterday during a Boston press conference.

Following the Thursday night announcement that the suspect was identified and found dead, several R.I. officials and lawmakers released statements.

In a statement posted online and on X, U.S. Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) wrote that there are “many remaining questions” in the case, even with the suspected gunman found dead. Still, he said, “tonight, I hope Rhode Islanders can breathe a little easier.”

“Two amazing young people — Brown students Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov and Ella Cook — were tragically taken from us,” Reed said in the statement. “Their lives were cut short, several others were wounded by the gunman, and many more in the Brown community and our state have invisible scars from this tragedy.”

U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) also took to X to reflect on the investigation. “It’s been a long, difficult week in Providence,” he wrote.

Whitehouse wrote that although “nothing will bring back the two students who should be home enjoying their holiday break,” he hopes that the families affected can “begin to heal” in the wake of the most recent news.

Following the death of the suspected gunman, “I hope Rhode Islanders can find a measure of relief,” U.S. Rep. Gabe Amo (D-R.I. 1) wrote in a press release. Still, he added, “Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov should be here today.”

“As our community begins to heal, we must stand together, support one another and work to create a safer future for all Rhode Islanders,” Amo said.

U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner ’06 (D-R.I. 2) wrote in a press release that while “Brown and Rhode Island will never be the same,” he hopes the news “can bring closure and help the process of healing” for community members.

A press release from the office of Gov. Dan McKee also thanked law enforcement for their “extraordinary collaboration and professionalism.”

“In this difficult moment, we saw heartbreaking tragedy, but we also saw Rhode Island come together and together will be the way forward,” McKee said in the statement.

In a statement sent to the community, City Councilor John Goncalves ’13 MA’15 — who oversees the ward Brown is located in — thanked law enforcement and expressed relief “that this chapter has come to a close and that this long and painful saga is over.”

“We now begin the hard but necessary work of healing,” Goncalves wrote. Though “nothing can undo the loss or fully ease the grief” of families affected by the shooting, “today allows us to take a collective breath and begin moving forward together.”

“Providence is a city that looks out for one another,” Goncalves added.

In a Thursday post on X, United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced she was “immediately directing” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to pause the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program “at President Trump’s direction” after authorities named the suspect in Saturday’s mass shooting.

Claudio Neves Valente, the suspect in Saturday’s shooting, entered the United States in 2017 through the DV1 program, Noem confirmed in the post.

“This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country,” she wrote.

The program currently distributes up to 50,000 immigrant visas in an annual lottery to individuals from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.

In an email to the Brown community sent around 11:30 p.m, President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 shared additional details about the suspect identified in the Brown shooting and criticized doxxing activity that took place during the aftermath of the shooting.

Paxson wrote that shooting suspect Claudio Neves Valente “has no active affiliation with Brown and has not been affiliated with Brown since 2003.” Brown has additionally “found no indication of any concerns pertaining to conduct or any public safety interactions during the short time Neves Valente was enrolled as a graduate student at Brown,” Paxson clarified.

“Nothing can fully bring closure to the lives that have been shattered by last weekend’s gun violence,"" Paxson wrote. “Now, however, our community has the opportunity to move forward and begin a path of repair, recovery and healing.”

In the email, Paxson also criticized “harmful doxxing activity directed toward several students, faculty and staff.”

This targeting stems from “rampant and baseless speculation, some of it based on individuals’ ethnic origin, culture and religion,” she wrote. “It is my hope that this news also will end the harmful and dangerous online targeting of members of the Brown community.”

The University has “worked aggressively to combat disinformation in online media and activity that has gone as far as to threaten individuals in our community,” she added.

Paxson wrote that Brown will “continue to partner with law enforcement” to provide information about the motive of the shooting and other aspects of the case.

According to security footage, Claudio Neves Valente was seen within a half mile of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor’s Brookline residence.

“My understanding is that they did know each other,” U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said during a Boston press conference.

Additional footage showed Neves Valente entering the Brookline apartment. Later, he was seen entering a New Hampshire storage unit in the same clothing.

Officials said that the motives behind both shootings are still under investigation.

Officials in Boston and Providence shared that the suspect in the Brown shooting is also believed to have killed Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno Loureiro. Loureiro was found shot on Monday in Brookline, just outside of Boston. He was pronounced dead on Tuesday.

During a Providence press conference, officials stated that they believe both individuals attended Instituto Superior Técnico, a public university in Lisbon, Portugal.

The person of interest in the Brown shooting was found dead at a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, according to reports from the New York Times, the Associated Press and ABC.

According to reports from the Providence Journal and ABC, law enforcement — including officers from the Providence Police Department — have been seen in Salem, New Hampshire.

The reports come after officers found an abandoned vehicle matching the description of a vehicle allegedly driven by the suspect, according to CNN and Boston25.

Gun violence scholar Ieva Jusionyte, the director of Brown’s Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies and a professor of international security and anthropology, wrote about the unique difficulty of processing Saturday’s school shooting in a Dec. 17 Boston Globe op-ed.

Usually when school shootings happen, Jusionyte calls for policy changes, providing analysis and answers, she wrote in the op-ed. But this time, she described being at a loss for words.

Juisonyte told The Herald she started writing the day after the incident. “That’s how I process things, I write,” she told The Herald.

“We need to change our culture and our society,” Jusionyte wrote in her op-ed.

“Gun laws do save lives,” she added in the interview, but “they are insufficient and they would not prevent every tragedy.” She noted that Rhode Island and Massachusetts already have very strict gun laws.

She reiterated that “we need to begin healing before we can think rationally and critically,” she said. “We will do that work, next month or next year.”

“Unfortunately, Brown will be seared in the collective memory of this country as Parkland and as Columbine” were, she told The Herald. “We will bring their attention back. We will find a way.”

On Thursday evening, WPRI reported that authorities have identified the person of interest in Saturday’s shooting. Law enforcement has not yet been confirmed to the public that a person of interest has been identified, nor has the name of the suspect been released by officials.

CBS News, Fox News and the New York Times also reported that the person of interest was identified. Multiple outlets, including CNN, have reported that a warrant was issued for the individual’s arrest.

The investigation has “intensified significantly over the last 24 hours,” the WPRI article reads, adding that police have “received a growing number of tips.”

As of 2:45 p.m., all six victims still in Rhode Island Hospital are in stable condition, according to an update shared with The Herald by Kelly Brennan, a spokesperson for the hospital. Three patients were discharged as of 5 p.m. yesterday.

Thursday’s press conference — which was initially scheduled for 4 p.m. — has been delayed, City Spokesperson Josh Estrella told WPRI.

City officials and law enforcement “currently do not have a time” for the rescheduled press conference, Estrella told WPRI, adding that when a new time is confirmed, officials will update the community.

In a Thursday afternoon email to students, the Division of Campus Life announced modified dining hours “based on shifting numbers of students on campus.”

According to the email, late night campus eatery Josiah’s is now closed for winter break. A previous Division of Campus Life email sent on Tuesday noted that Josiah’s would close at 10 p.m. on Tuesday instead of its usual 2 a.m. closing time, and would adjust its hours based on demand.

Sharpe Refectory will continue its regular operating hours from 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. every day “through this weekend,” the email noted.

According to the Brown Dining website, all dining locations will reopen for the Spring semester by Jan. 18.

According to WPRI, “senior law enforcement officials” told Target 12 reporters that federal, state and local law enforcement have begun to investigate possible connections between the fatal shooting of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor in his Brookline, Massachusetts home on Dec. 15 and Saturday’s shooting on Brown’s campus.

Target 12 reported that “multiple people familiar with the investigation” told reporters that they found “evidence showing the two might be linked.” The person responsible for the shooting of the MIT professor has not been apprehended.

This does not match statements made Tuesday by Ted Docks, the special agent in charge for the Boston Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who said there did not seem to be a reason to suspect a connection.

Correction: An earlier version of this update misstated that the MIT professor was shot on Dec. 16. The date has been updated. The Herald regrets the error.

Students will now have until Jan. 14 to submit course feedback on fall 2025 classes, according to an email from Provost Francis Doyle. The previous deadline was Jan. 6. Students can also immediately opt out of the feedback process and will be able to see their grades once they either opt out or complete the process, Doyle added. Automatic prompts reminding students who have not completed course feedback to do so will be disabled.

Doyle announced the changes in an email sent to members of the Brown community around 11:30 a.m. The adjustments were made based on recommendations by Brown's Course Feedback Review Committee, he wrote.

On Dec. 10, the Office of the Provost announced the formation of the committee, which is tasked with reviewing the ways course feedback is collected and relayed to instructors. The committee also aimed to form long-term recommendations on Brown’s course feedback process.

According to the Dec. 18 email, Doyle asked the committee how to “manage the course feedback process this semester as we all cope with the recent events that have deeply affected our community.” Doyle wrote that interpreting student feedback for fall 2025 classes may prove difficult “in light of the current emergency; changes around grading policies; and anticipated low response rates.”

Doyle also stated that the committee has recommended to include advice to faculty on how to interpret course feedback in light of recent events, adding that the Sheridan Center will lead the development of this guidance in “consultation with faculty and the appropriate deans.”

In a Thursday email to the Brown community, Counseling and Psychological Services announced their “Community Care Series,” consisting of “brief drop-in sessions” to support people in the wake of Saturday’s shooting. The first session was yesterday, and there are sessions scheduled for today, tomorrow and Monday. Each session will be hosted via Zoom from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

CAPS and BWell will also be providing handouts on stress and anxiety management in the Sharpe Refectory this week, according to the email.

As of 5 p.m., one additional victim of Saturday’s shooting has been discharged from the Rhode Island Hospital, according to an update shared with The Herald by Kelly Brennan, a spokesperson for the hospital. Three patients have now been discharged since Saturday.

Of the six patients who remain hospitalized, one is in critical but stable condition and five are stable.

Minden Hall reopened to residents at noon, and the Providence Police Department was present to provide security and speak with students who wanted to share information, according to a 4:48 p.m. email from Vice President for Campus Life Patricia Poitevien and Dean of Engineering Tejal Desai.

Barus and Holley will remain closed “per instructions from the law enforcement agencies leading the investigation,” the email reads.

The PPD and the FBI have established a space in Alumnae Hall to facilitate the return of “urgent” items left in Barus and Holley, which include identification documents and prescription medication. Items will be available for pick up on Thursday, Dec. 18 between 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Students and staff may also access “private spaces” to share information with the PPD. “It is vitally important to contribute information as part of a shared effort across our community to support the investigation and efforts to ensure our safety,” Poitevien wrote.

The American Red Cross, counseling resources, crisis intervention, spiritual care providers and FBI victim specialists will also be available to speak with students.

According to Poitevien, Brown has “continued to provide assistance to our injured students so they are able to access the same support services.”

Today at 5 p.m., the seven other Ivy League schools planned to hold vigils on their campuses to honor the victims of the shooting at Brown. There was a moment of silence scheduled for 5:15 p.m.

In a 3:45 p.m. press release, the Providence Police Department shared a map highlighting specific streets east of the Brown campus that have confirmed sightings of the person of interest. The map marks streets in green to show where the individual was before the incident and in red to show where they were after. Investigators requested “vehicle or property camera footage” from the streets within the map’s blue outline.

In a post to X, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y. 21) wrote that President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 should be “hauled in front of Congress for a hearing under oath.”

Stefanik gained national attention for her questioning of Harvard, Penn and MIT’s university presidents over alleged antisemitism on their campuses during December 2023.

During a Wednesday Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the mass shooting, U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) urged commentators online to “just shut up” when it comes to speculating about the attack. “We don’t know who did it, we don’t know what motivated them,” he said in his remarks.

Online speculation “by people who have no idea what they are talking about, who have no clue about what is happening, is not helpful to the investigation,” he added. He explained that misinformation can often “cascade into tip lines,” diverting law enforcement from pursuing other leads in their investigation.

He also urged commentators to give families of the two students killed in the attack and the nine injured victims “a bit of grace” by not speculating about the attack. He added “ill-informed and unnecessary speculation” about the incident does “no good at all” to the affected families.

“All the conspiracy theories, all the creepy, weird plot ideas, please, just knock it off,” Whitehouse said.

As of 10:45 a.m., seven victims of Saturday’s shooting remain patients at Rhode Island Hospital, according to Sharon Torgerson, a hospital spokesperson.

One patient is in critical but stable condition, while six others are in stable condition. Two patients had previously been discharged.

In a 12:36 p.m. post on X, the Providence Police Department shared photos of an individual who was “in proximity of the person of interest” in Saturday’s shooting.

“Investigators are asking for the public’s help in identifying and speaking to the individual shown in these photos,” the post reads. In the images, the individual appears to be wearing a dark-colored jacket over a light-colored hoodie and carrying a white bag.

The post urged “anyone with information” to report it to the PPD tip line.

In a 10:21 a.m. email to several media outlets, University Spokesperson Brian Clark shared additional details about the University’s security system, including information about its security cameras, building access and emergency notification system.

Brown has more than 1,200 security cameras in various interior and exterior locations around campus, according to Clark. The cameras are focused on high traffic areas and “do not extend to every hallway, classroom, laboratory and office” in the over 250 buildings on campus.

The University will continue to provide investigators with available security footage as necessary, including footage from Barus and Holley and surrounding buildings, he added.

After Brown’s Department of Public Safety learned about the active shooter, the emergency notification system alerted 20,000 people “within minutes,” Clark wrote. The public safety team chose not to activate the campus-wide siren to avoid putting people into the path of the shooter.

The University plans to conduct a “large-scale systematic security review of the entire campus,” he added. Most buildings on college campuses are “open and accessible,” during the day with required ID card swipes after hours, which is “common” practice across the nation.

The University “heightened” security in recent days, he wrote. “We know we live in a different time.”

In a Tuesday afternoon email, the Global Brown Center for International Students shared resources and reflected on Saturday’s shooting on behalf of a number of campus affinity spaces.

The 4:59 p.m. email was co-signed by the Brown Center for Students of Colour, the LGBTQ Center, the Office of Military-Affiliated Students, the Sarah Doyle Center for Women and Gender and the Undocumented, First-Generation College and Low-Income Student Center.

The email offered virtual support to students “while our physical centers are temporarily inaccessible” through virtual support from each center and interfaith community prayer spaces.

According to the email, the virtual centers — where administrative staff will provide guidance and give support to students virtually — will be available until Monday, Dec. 22.

The interfaith community prayers space would see “prayer, silence, music and shared presence across faith traditions,” the email reads. “All students are welcome, including those who do not identify with a particular faith.”

The email also directed students to the GBC’s Winter Break Resources page posted to their website, which connects students remaining on campus over the break via a group chat. The GBC will also run its Holiday Table program this break, matching Brown faculty and staff with international students “to connect through a meal or activity,” the resources page reads. The center also plans to host a Winter Break Lunch, so that students can “say hi to old friends and make new ones.”

“We know that healing happens in community — especially if it feels like others cannot fully grasp what we have been through,” the email reads, adding, “in this space, you don’t have to explain the grief you may be feeling.”

At 6:40 p.m., the Office of University Communications sent an email to The Herald with the subject line “Brown University Statement: Doxxing of a Community Member.”

“We’ve seen harmful doxxing activity directed toward at least one member of the Brown University community,” the statement read. “It’s important to make clear that targeting individuals could do irrevocable harm.”

The email stated that “accusations, speculation and conspiracies” online are “irresponsible, harmful and in some cases dangerous for the safety of individuals in our community.”

“It is not unusual as a safety measure to take steps to protect an individual’s safety when this kind of activity happens, including in regard to their online presence,” the statement read.

The ride-booking service Uber is providing a 50% discount code for travel to Providence Station, Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport and Boston Logan International Airport, according to Talib Reddick ’26, president of the Undergraduate Council of Students.

The code BROWNU2025_DEC can be used once per person and is available until Dec. 21, Reddick wrote in a message to The Herald.