After an exhaustive manhunt, the suspect who killed two and wounded nine after opening fire during a study session for finals week at Brown University has been found dead in Salem, New Hampshire.
The two students killed in the shooting were identified on Monday, Dec. 15 as sophomore Ella Cook, from Alabama, and freshman Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, from Uzbekistan. A memorial for the two students has been placed outside the Barus and Holley building on campus
Brown University shared a post on social media providing information about the two students killed during the shooting. In that same post, Brown University President Christina H. Paxon said, “While it is impossible for words to fully convey Ella’s and Mukhammad’s impact and potential, I want to share a little bit about them as we grieve their loss and seek to honor their memories. Both were brilliant and beloved – as members of our campus community, but even more by their friends and families. Our hearts continue to be with them in their profound sorrow.”
Brown University shared that it would not be identifying those wounded in the situation. Of the nine injured, five remain in critical but stable condition, the sixth is in critical condition, the seventh is in stable condition, and two others have been discharged from the hospital.
Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez identified the suspected shooter as Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, 48, who was a former graduate student at Brown University, enrolling at the school in the fall of 2000 and taking a leave of absence in April 2001. He then formally withdrew from the school in 2003.
Authorities also connected Neves Valente with fatally shooting MIT professor, Nuno F.G. Loureiro, on Dec, 15, with the suspect having attended the same university as Loureiro in Portugal, where they both studied physics.
Investigators traced Neves Valente through surveillance footage and a tip provided via a Reddit post that helped police link him to a rented car. He was then found in a storage facility, with officials concluding that the suspect had taken his own life.
The Rhode Island Attorney General described the investigation as one of the hardest he’s been involved with and that there would be no prosecution in the case. Investigators still are working to find Neves Valente’s motive.
