A Brown University shooting on December 13 left two people dead and nine wounded; authorities tracked a person of interest to Salem, New Hampshire, where he was later found dead, and the case has exposed sharp questions about university security and how officials handled the response.
The attack unfolded inside Brown’s engineering building on December 13, killing two people and injuring nine more, and the suspect left campus on foot where surveillance is sparser. Observers noted Brown publicly posts locations of its security cameras, which raised questions about how the shooter moved through the campus. After chaotic days of briefings from local and university officials, investigators identified a person of interest and began a manhunt. That lead ended in Salem, New Hampshire, where police converged on a storage facility connected to the suspect.
The suspect’s vehicle was found at that storage facility, and police surrounded and entered the site as the search intensified. Fox News reported the person of interest died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after law enforcement moved in. Investigators say this was not a random act: the attacker planned the operation, repeatedly changed license plates, and took steps to evade facial recognition and areas with heavy camera coverage. Those tactics make the case more disturbing and suggest premeditation rather than a momentary breakdown.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said a second person of interest, who was “in proximity” of the Brown shooting suspect, stepped forward with crucial information about the suspect and the vehicle. Authorities reported the suspect had two firearms and was wearing items matching footage from the scene, and an arrest warrant was issued. The affidavit will be posted on the state’s website, officials said, and law enforcement confirmed the individual is a legal permanent resident named Claudio Neves-Valente, 48, a Portuguese national. As of the latest public statements, investigators believe he acted alone and are still probing motive.
Officials have said antisemitism is not considered a motivation at this time, and there’s no public record yet of what the suspect might have said before opening fire. The broader probe spans jurisdictions, and investigators are comparing evidence and timelines as they try to piece together why this happened. An arrest warrant issued today formalized parts of the case, but it won’t answer every question on its own. Plenty remains to be made public about planning, movements, and communications tied to the suspect.
Critical eyewitness information emerged days into the investigation, but progress was slowed because police had not interviewed student witnesses in the early days after the shooting. The university’s handling of communications and its alert system drew heavy criticism from students and families, and campus leaders struggled to answer basic questions. Brown’s president, Christian Paxson, said “I don’t know” to several queries during the first briefings, and the mayor’s public response did little to calm concerns. All of that contributed to an image of confusion when urgent clarity was needed.
A student assistant who was briefly scrubbed from Brown’s website was dragged into speculation despite never being a suspect, and officials’ evasive answers only made matters worse. Faculty, students, and parents pressed for straightforward statements: confirm who is and is not under investigation and stop feeding rumors. Instead, veiled references to doxxing and procedural excuses fueled frustration on campus. The mishandling of those early communications fed a narrative of incompetence rather than comforted a shaken community.
Investigators also reopened questions about whether recent violence in the region is linked; police probing the Brown attack and the killing of MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro in Brookline on December 15 compared notes and found enough overlap to consider a possible connection. That line of inquiry remains preliminary but serious, because any link would broaden the scope and urgency of the investigation. Authorities say they will share more as forensic work and witness interviews continue.
Claudio Neves-Valente attended Brown, according to reporting, and that detail has added to the bewilderment felt by the campus community. The manhunt that led to a storage facility in Salem ended in a fatal self-inflicted wound and leaves questions about how an alumnus could carry out such violence. Law enforcement continues to gather digital footprints, surveillance footage, and witness statements to construct a timeline of his actions before, during, and after the shooting.
There are still no clean answers on motive, and the lines between bad operational choices and true investigative gaps have become a political issue as much as a law enforcement one. Republicans and others demanding accountability will point to the mishandled briefings and the slow pace of student interviews as proof that institutions need to do better. Meanwhile investigators work to assemble the facts so the public can finally get concrete, verifiable answers about what led to this tragedy.
