Brown University shooting suspect found dead in New Hampshire storage facility after 5-day manhunt

The suspect in the shooting at Brown University last weekend has been found dead in a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire after a five-day manhunt.

“I will tell you that he took his own life tonight,” Colonel Oscar Perez, the chief of the Providence Police Department said Thursday night.

Perez identified the suspect as Claudio Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national. Brown President Christina Paxson said Valente was a physics PhD student at the university from the Fall 2000 to Spring 2001.

A satchel, two firearms and evidence “that matches exactly what we see at the scene here in Providence” were found with Valente’s body, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said.

Police believe Valente acted alone in the shooting.

Authorities in Providence, Rhode Island, shared details about how they located Valente using video footage.

They said a video provided them with a description of a car that led them to a car rental place in Massachusetts. Law enforcement were then able get a copy of an agreement, which included the suspect’s name.

Neronha said a person with information about the suspect “blew this case right open.”

“That person led us to the car, which led us to the name, which led us to the photographs of that individual renting the car, which matched the clothing of our shooter here in Providence, that matched the satchel,” he said.

Police were reportedly investigating a potential link between the shooting of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor and the Brown University shooting.

Two students were killed and nine were injured Saturday in a shooting on Brown University’s campus. Two days later, 47-year-old MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro was fatally shot at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts. Brookline is about 50 miles northeast of Providence.

Authorities are still unclear about the suspected shooter’s motive.

“We’re going to be forever changed but our commitment on the state level is to continue to support Providence, Brown and the people in the state of Rhode Island in recovery,” Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee said Thursday night.

A law enforcement official close to the investigation told CNN that police are looking into a potential connection between the two shootings, based on information received in the last 24 hours. The source stressed the link is not definitive, according to the outlet.

The Independent has asked the Providence Police Department for comment. The Brookline Police Department directed questions to the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office, where a spokesperson declined to comment, citing the “active and ongoing” investigation.

Loureiro was shot “multiple times” in his home Monday night, and died Tuesday after first responders rushed him to the hospital, investigators said. Police have said they’re investigating his death as a homicide.

Police initially said they had detained a person of interest just hours after the shooting. However, he was released Sunday night after a law enforcement official said that “the evidence now points in a different direction.”

Community members have been mourning the two students killed on the Ivy League campus: Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov.

Cook, a 19-year-old from Alabama, was the vice president of the Brown University College Republicans. She was also a parishioner at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham.

Reverend Craig Smalley described Cook as an “incredible, grounded, faithful bright light,” according to AL.com. The College Republicans of America said Cook was known for her “bold, brave and kind heart as she served her chapter and fellow classmates.”

Umurzokov, an 18-year-old from Uzbekistan, was studying to become a neurosurgeon, according to a GoFundMe campaign launched by his family. He was described as “incredibly kind, funny and smart,” and his family’s “biggest role model.”

“He always lent a helping hand to anyone in need without hesitation, and was the most kind-hearted person our family knew,” the GoFundMe reads. “Our family is incredibly devastated by this loss.”

This is a developing story….