Brown Shooting Suspect Found Dead in N.H. After Manhunt

The suspect believed to be behind last week's mass shooting at Brown University, which killed two people and injured nine others, was found dead Thursday night from what police described as a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

"Tonight our Providence [Rhode Island] neighbors can finally breathe a little easier," Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said during a news conference that aired live on Newsmax and the Newsmax2 free online streaming platform.

"I want to thank the people of Providence for stepping up and coming together during an extraordinarily difficult time. I know this has been hard on all of us."

Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez Jr. identified the suspect at the news conference as Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national who was a physics student at Brown University.

Perez said the suspect's last known address was in Miami and that investigators believe Valente acted alone.

A law enforcement source told WFXT-TV in Boston that the suspect was not a U.S. citizen but a legal permanent resident.

FBI agents, Providence police, and state police surrounded a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, shortly before 7 p.m. local time. Federal prosecutors obtained a warrant to search the facility, The New York Times reported, citing an official with knowledge of the situation who requested anonymity.

At about 7:47 p.m., multiple law enforcement officials carrying weapons and wearing full tactical gear entered the facility, according to reports. Investigators said they had not ruled out at the time the possibility that the suspect was either hiding inside the unit or had killed himself there.

The suspect is believed to be linked to the fatal shooting Monday of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor in Brookline, Massachusetts.

The professor, Nuno Loureiro, a nuclear scientist from Portugal, was pronounced dead Tuesday morning. Loureiro was a member of MIT's departments of nuclear science and engineering and physics and served as director of the school's Plasma Science and Fusion Center.

Ted Docks, special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston field office, said at the news conference that it is believed the suspect and Loureiro attended the same university in Lisbon.

"Yes, it is true that Mr. Valente was a physics student," Docks said. "Also, we know that the victim at MIT was in that discipline as well.

"I will tell you there are multiple phases to an investigation, and so now, in a sense, that we know the subject is deceased, now that investigation continues to find out all of those answers to your question."

The search in Salem centered on a vehicle of the same make and model that investigators believe was seen in the area where Loureiro was killed.

Investigators learned of the suspect's identity late Wednesday night, with some reports describing him as a man in his 40s. Authorities had been searching for him since.

The attack at Brown on Dec. 13 left two people dead and nine others injured. It triggered hours of chaos across the campus and surrounding neighborhoods as hundreds of officers searched for the shooter and urged students and staff to shelter in place.

Police also said Thursday that a man captured on camera "in proximity" to the suspect was interviewed by law enforcement, WPRI-TV in Providence reported. Authorities do not believe the man was involved in the attack. He told investigators he confronted the suspected gunman outside Brown before the shooting, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the investigation said.

Officials said Wednesday that of the nine people injured, one remains in critical condition. Five people previously listed in critical but stable condition remain hospitalized and are making progress in their recovery. Three others who were hospitalized have returned home to be with their families, officials said.

The shooter killed Ella Cook, a 19-year-old sophomore from Alabama who was active in her church and served as vice president of the Brown College Republicans, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, an 18-year-old freshman from Virginia whose family immigrated to the U.S. from Uzbekistan and who hoped to attend medical school.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.