A major breakthrough in the investigation to identify the gunman who killed two Brown University students and an MIT professor came from an unexpected source: a post on Reddit.
Authorities said 48-year-old Claudio Manuel Neves Valente was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Dec. 18, five days after he allegedly opened fire on students during a study session during finals season.
For days, little was known about the suspect or his whereabouts, and the only images of the suspect available were from surveillance cameras from homes and businesses near the university. “They could be anywhere” by Dec. 17, Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez said.
According to an arrest affidavit, the anonymous tipster directed investigators to online forum posts on the Providence subreddit.
“I’m serious. Police need to look at a gray Nissan with Florida plates, probably a rental car. That was the car he was driving.”
The post went on to explain that a Reddit user claimed to have encountered the person whose image was being circulated by authorities. That would lead to an investigation. Here’s how:
The Reddit poster explained that the person appeared to approach the car and unlock it with his key fob, then “something made him back away” and locked it again.
“I thought that was weird,” the post said. The poster noted the Florida plates and said the car was parked behind the Rhode Island Historical Society.
Based on that information, investigators examined additional footage to determine the location of the Nissan sedan and footage of the suspect’s interaction with a person later identified only as “John,” according to the affidavit. This seemed to match the description on Reddit.
Authorities then released images of John to the public in hopes of interviewing him further, according to the affidavit.
On December 17, John approached a police officer and agreed to be interviewed. John told investigators he first saw the suspect Dec. 13 in the bathroom of the Barth & Hawley building, where a shooting was scheduled to take place later that day. John noticed that the suspect was wearing clothing inappropriate for the weather. At one point, John said they “made eye contact,” according to the affidavit. When the suspect left, John followed him outside.
He told officers that during the encounter with the suspect near the Rhode Island Historical Society, the suspect left the vehicle and then looped back, but changed direction each time the suspect saw John.
“John described this pattern as a ‘cat and mouse game’ between him and the suspect,” the affidavit states.
At some point, the two encountered each other and the suspect “ran in the opposite direction,” police said. John followed and approached the suspect. John asked him, “Your car is back there. Why is it circling around the block?” the affidavit said.
The suspect answered, “I don’t know anyone,” and repeatedly asked, “Why are you harassing me?” John told investigators, according to the affidavit.
John said he recognized the person he was communicating with from the images released by police. Officers showed John surveillance images of the suspect’s car, and John said, “That might be it,” the affidavit said.
A Brown faculty member also reported seeing a vehicle traveling at an unusually slow speed on the morning of December 11th. Nearby cameras showed a Nissan vehicle with Florida plates driving through the area 14 times since the night of Dec. 1.
Police were able to connect the car to a rental vehicle in downtown Boston on December 1st by a driver who presented a Florida license named Claudio Manuel Neves Valente.
Once the car and Neves-Valente were identified, authorities were able to link it to the shooting death of MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro, 47, and the hotel the suspect had rented, said Leah Foley, the U.S. attorney for Massachusetts.
“(John) came clean about this case. He came clean. And that’s what happens sometimes in cases like this, it can feel like not much progress is being made…” Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said. “You’re pulling a lot of strings, and the first one doesn’t necessarily get to its destination. But when you untie the yarn, you untie the yarn.”
Contributors: Nick Penzenstadler, Dinah Voyles Pulver, Thao Nguyen
(This story has been updated to include video.)
