The gunman, recognized as Portuguese nationwide Claudio Neves Valente, 48, was discovered lifeless on Thursday night time (native time) in a storage rental facility in Salem, New Hampshire, the place he had rented a unit final month, officers mentioned.
Valente attended Brown College in Rhode Island greater than twenty years in the past as a PhD pupil in physics and was a former classmate in Portugal of slain MIT professor Nuno Loureiro, 47. Regardless of these hyperlinks, authorities mentioned his motive within the killings remained a thriller.
“I do not suppose we now have any concept why now, or why Brown, or why these college students, why this classroom,” mentioned Rhode Island Legal professional Normal Peter Neronha, at a Thursday night time press convention in Windfall, the place the college is situated.
Valente entered a constructing used for Brown’s engineering and physics programmes on December 13 and fired at the least 44 rounds from his 9 mm pistol, killing two college students and injuring one other 9, in accordance with the Windfall police affidavit for his arrest.
Then, officers say, he fatally shot Loureiro inside his dwelling earlier than disappearing and main investigators on a manhunt that stretched over 5 days. Authorities mentioned two weapons — together with the 9 mm pistol they consider was used within the killings — have been discovered by his corpse.
In Boston, US Legal professional Leah Foley mentioned at a press convention that investigators had proof that made them sure that Valente, who was residing in Miami and was a lawful everlasting resident of the USA, murdered Loureiro in his dwelling in Brookline, Massachusetts.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO HALT DIVERSITY VISA PROGRAMME
The Trump administration shortly pointed to Valente’s everlasting residency standing as a cause to halt the Range Immigrant Visa programme’s lottery system that awards inexperienced playing cards to folks from international locations with comparatively low numbers of immigrants to the USA.
“This heinous particular person ought to by no means have been allowed in our nation,” Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem posted on X late Thursday.
Noem mentioned she would “instantly” implement a directive by President Donald Trump to pause the green-card lottery “to make sure no extra Individuals are harmed by this disastrous program.”
Foley mentioned Valente and Loureiro had attended the identical educational programme at a college in Portugal from 1995 to 2000.
Valente used a telephone that was more durable to trace and didn’t use bank cards linked to his identify, in accordance with Foley.
“He was subtle in hiding his tracks,” she mentioned.
Valente additionally switched the licence plates on his rental automobile in an effort to keep away from seize, officers mentioned.
Foley declined to supply many particulars in regards to the proof linking Valente to Loureiro’s homicide, however mentioned video photos confirmed a rental automobile Valente was driving close to Loureiro’s dwelling. The IP deal with related to Valente’s telephone was identified to have accessed the web within the neighborhood of the slain professor’s dwelling on the day he was killed, Foley added.
Windfall police chief Oscar Perez mentioned at a press convention that investigators believed Valente had acted alone.
RENTAL CAR BREAKTHROUGH
The large break within the case got here through data from a person who had seen Valente inside a toilet within the Brown College constructing the place he carried out the taking pictures just a few hours later, Perez mentioned.
The witness advised police that he discovered Valente to be extraordinarily suspicious and adopted him out of the constructing and down a road.
The witness noticed Valente unlock his rental automobile and later gave police an outline of that automobile and its licence plate, Perez mentioned. Police reviewed video, discovered the photographs of Valente’s automobile, and from there might hint it again to the rental company, in accordance with officers and the police affidavit.
The rental company’s safety video included Valente’s face and confirmed him carrying the identical clothes worn by the suspect in footage from the Brown College taking pictures, officers mentioned. Investigators obtained his identify from the automobile rental settlement, and so they famous that licence plate readers confirmed Valente had been within the neighborhood of the college from December 1 till practically two weeks later when he carried out the taking pictures.
Investigators in Windfall had mentioned that Valente, whose face was lined by a masks in video from the day of the Brown College taking pictures, escaped on foot into close by streets after finishing up the campus killings. That prompted a search that relied closely on residential safety footage due to a scarcity of surveillance cameras within the classroom constructing and surrounding space.
Police launched photos and video of a person believed to be the shooter, based mostly on survivor accounts, and repeatedly sought the general public’s assist in figuring out him. The footage confirmed the suspect strolling in a close-by neighbourhood each earlier than and instantly after the assault.
