The suspect was identified as Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, 48, from Portugal.
FBI releases image of Brown University shooting suspect
As the FBI and police intensify their investigation in Providence, Rhode Island, authorities have released suspect images from the Brown University shooting.
- Authorities have identified the suspect in the Brown University shooting as a former doctoral student.
- A tipster who saw the rental car circling the area helped police solve the case.
- Investigators believe the suspect, who was seen on camera hours before the attack, “finished” the scene.
Authorities announced on Dec. 18 that they had tracked down the gunman responsible for the Brown University shooting that shook the Ivy League institution and the community surrounding the school.
Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, 48, of Portugal, was a doctoral student in physics at Brown University, Providence police said.
Police broke the case after a tipster noticed a rental car driving in the area, according to the affidavit. He provided police with a description of the gray Nissan Altima and the license plate. Police then tracked an image of Neves Valente renting a car at an Alamo store in Boston.
Neves Valente entered the country in 2000 on an F-1 student visa. He was recognized as a legal permanent resident in 2017.
Neves Valente was a doctoral student until he took a leave of absence in April 2001, and withdrew on July 31, 2003, Brown officials said. Police said Neves Valente’s last known address was in Miami.
Tipster John first took to social media site Reddit to share his information, posting: “I’m being serious. Police need to look at the gray Nissan with Florida plates. It’s probably a rental.” wrote John, whose last name is withheld.
The announcement came as authorities called on the public to expand the investigation and cooperate in a multi-day search for the suspects responsible for the attack. Earlier this week, authorities released enhanced images and video footage of a person investigators believe may be involved in a shooting that left two people dead and nine injured.
Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez said investigators have evidence that the suspect was near the university in the hours before the shooting. Neighborhood camera footage shared by authorities showed a person wearing black clothing and a mask walking down a street several blocks from campus on Dec. 13.
Perez said investigators believe the person was likely “covertly filming” the scene.
“We have a lot of clues here pointing to the man in this video as the one who committed this tragedy,” the police chief said.
Officials said on Dec. 16 that they were confident the person seen in the video was the suspect, but Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said there was “zero” evidence regarding a motive for the attack. Witnesses said the person was likely in his 30s, and it was unclear whether he was affiliated with the university, Perez said.
Authorities release video timeline of suspect’s movements
Perez said police have received more than 200 tips since the shooting. The police chief said investigators hope new footage will help identify the gunman and asked for the public’s help in identifying the suspected gunman.
“Pay attention to your body movements, how you move your arms, your body posture, and how you put your weight,” Perez says. “I think these are important movement patterns that will help us identify this person. This is very important.”
The footage included a timeline video consisting of surveillance video from neighborhood cameras and the car’s dashcam.
One video shows the suspected gunman leaving the scene of the shooting as a police car with its emergency lights flashing arrives. The final video shows the suspect walking down the street minutes after the attack.
“Brown University is definitely being targeted.”
The shooting incident at the Ivy League university occurred just before 4:05 p.m. local time on December 13th in an engineering building with an unlocked door where final exams were in progress. According to authorities, the suspect fired a 9mm gun inside the classroom and fled.
The campus went into lockdown after the shooting, with students barricading themselves in rooms and hiding for hours. Officers recovered a 9mm shell casing from the scene, and Perez said investigators believe the suspect was “definitely targeting Brown University.”
Two students were killed and nine others were injured in the attack. The two students killed were identified as Ella Cook, a sophomore from Mountain Brook, Alabama, and Muhammad Aziz Umurzokov, a freshman from Virginia who immigrated from Uzbekistan.
As of December 16, two of the injured students had been released from the hospital. Officials said of the seven people who remain hospitalized, one is in critical condition, five are in critical but stable condition, and one is stable.
Brown University has approximately 11,000 undergraduate and graduate students and is considered one of the most prestigious universities in the country. Brown was founded in 1764 and is located in Providence, Rhode Island.
This is a developing story.
