Authorities confirmed the discovery of the body of 48-year-old Claudio Neves Valente, the suspect in the Brown University mass shooting, inside a rented storage building in Salem, New Hampshire, ending nearly a week-long manhunt.
The incident began on 13 December when the gunman entered the Barus & Holley engineering building at Brown University during final exams and opened fire on the crowd, killing two students: 19-year-old sophomore Ella Cook and 18-year-old freshman Muhammad Aziz Umursoqov. Nine others were injured, with six still hospitalized.
Investigations revealed that Valente, a Portuguese national, had been a physics doctoral student at Brown University from 2000 to 2001 but currently had no affiliation with the university.
Authorities believe he was involved in the killing of 47-year-old MIT professor Nuno F. Gomez Lurero at his home in Brookline last Monday. The two had attended the same university in Portugal in the late 1990s, possibly fueling a longstanding grudge.
Police traced Valente through surveillance footage and rental car records, finding a suspicious vehicle near both Brown University and the MIT professor’s home. The FBI noted that the suspect was skilled at covering his tracks and used hard-to-trace phones.
Officials ultimately found Valente dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, with his bag and two firearms nearby, along with key evidence in his car linking him to all crime scenes.
Although the suspect is deceased, the state prosecutor and FBI stated the investigation will continue to clarify the suspect’s true motive. The FBI has deployed over 500 agents to examine connections and causes of this tragedy.
.sourceBBC