The Boston Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts released their findings from a nearly five-month investigation into the Dec. 13 mass shooting. The investigation confirmed that Claudio Neves Valente, who was identified as the shooting suspect in December, committed the mass shooting at Brown and the Dec. 15 murder of MIT Professor Nuno Loureiro.
The investigative team, with assistance from the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, found that Valente worked alone and that the “victims were symbolic in nature,” according to the FBI press release.
“Brown University as a whole and Dr. Loureiro represented to the shooter his personal failures and injustices he perceived were inflicted by others over time,” the press release reads, noting that his actions “were determined to have no nexus to terrorism.”
Valente was found dead on Dec. 18 in a Salem, New Hampshire storage unit with two 9 mm pistols, one of which was used in the mass shooting at Brown. The other pistol was “positively correlated” with the murder of Loureiro. The pistols were purchased in 2020 and 2022, respectively.
The investigation found that Valente planned the mass shooting over a period of several years in isolation, which left few opportunities for bystanders to observe his behavior. The release also states that he had “lacked traditional support, such as family, peers and authority figures” who could have reported possible warning signs in his behavior to the authorities.
The FBI also believes that the shooter experienced “a failure to thrive” and “long-standing suicidality,” which was exacerbated as his failures outweighed his successes and led him to become “mentally unwell and committed to dying.”
“However, mental health stressors alone cannot fully explain the attacks that occurred,” the release reads.
The investigation determined that Valente enrolled in a doctoral program at Brown in fall 2000 before he withdrew in May 2001 and left the country. He became a legal permanent resident of the United States in 2017, while living in Miami. When the shooting occurred, Valente had no criminal record.
The FBI used over 112 pieces of evidence, 490 leads, 11,000 files of surveillance footage and 815 videos. In addition, they used 1,327 audio files found on the shooter’s electronic devices and conducted over 260 interviews for the team to come to their conclusions, according to the press release. The investigation remains ongoing.
“It is important to note that only Neves Valente knew the real reason why he committed these heinous acts,” the press release reads.
Emily Feil is a university news and metro editor covering staff & student labor and RISD. She is from Long Beach, NY and plans to concentrate in English and international & public affairs. In her free time, she can be found watching bad TV and reading good books.
