Brown Univ. Shooter was ‘Sophisticated in Hiding His Tracks’ Authorities Say

Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, the man accused of shooting up Brown University Saturday and then gunning down MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro at his home Monday, used “sophisticated” tactics to hide his tracks as he attempted to conceal his horrid actions.

US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Leah Foley laid it all out in a press conference Thursday night, revealing Neves Valente likely used an untraceable phone and avoided using credit cards tied to his name. He is also said to have switched the Florida license plates of his rental Nissan to unregistered license plates from Maine within 24 hours of the Brown shooting, and before he slayed Loureiro.

As for his connection to the MIT nuclear physicist, prosecutors say the pair attended the same academic program in Portugal between 1995 and 2000. Loureiro was found shot at his Brookline, Massachussetts home Monday and died Tuesday. The specific motive for murdering Loureiro remains unclear.

Neves Valente entered the United States in August 2000 as an F-1 student at Brown University to study in a doctoral program, authorities said. He eventually dropped out. He obtained U.S. lawful permanent residency in April 2017.

Detectives were able to trace him to a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire Thursday night after locating an abandoned car with a license plate they believed to be connected to him. They entered the unit upon obtaining a search warrant and found him dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, ending a highly publicized 5 day manhunt.