RI - Mass Shooting at Brown University - Providence 13 Dec 2025

[justtrish]

Makes no sense.

He spends two weeks lurking around Brown, that was his big showpiece. He couldn't have reasonably expected to escape after the attack, but by pure luck he gets away clean and unidentified. But he didn't kill himself at that point. He waits two whole days, pops out to kill NL, almost like it's an afterthought... or a bonus. He gets away clean and unidentified that time as well. No significant connection made between the killings yet. But (it seems) he went back to his unit and killed himself shortly after. As if his work was done.

It makes NL seem both an afterthought and the final task.

Maybe I'm the crazy one expecting rational thought from this guy.

I really wonder what his plan was for Brown University. Not only was he wandering around the day of the actual shooting, but many days before that and enough so that he drew the suspicion of 2 other people. There is nothing either of them could have done to prevent this because a person being in the bathroom wearing a mask and then leaving the building, isn't a crime and neither is driving so slowly it makes someone take note that is behind you. But, if he was trying to blend in, he sure didn't do a good job of that. What would hanging around this building over and over again in the days before a shooting do except draw attention to yourself? Did he have some other plan for Brown that fell through? Even the day of he had that VERY strange encounter with a witness and yet he still chose to carry out what he did. If he had an issue with Brown itself and maybe the building since it seems that is where his Physics classes would have been held when he attended there, then why not do something to the building itself? Plant a bomb or set a fire or I don't know deface the building in some way.

He didn't need to wander around the campus for 2 weeks in order to do what he did. Also, shooting a person you know who you have a personal grudge or something against is one thing (not okay, but at least in his mind he could have built up this anger toward that specific person and list things they feel they did to them to justify it in his mind), but shooting strangers indiscriminately is a very different crime.

IMO

 

[Telltale]

I agree. And the reward specifically said $50K for information that leads to the identification, arrest, and conviction of the suspect. It’s incredibly frustrating and BS if you ask me.

I agree. And the reward specifically said $50K for information that leads to the identification, arrest, and conviction of the suspect. It’s incredibly frustrating and BS if you ask me.

I still can't believe they didn't pay out on a technicality for Luigi when was so unbelievably high profile.

The kind of people who tend to have information on criminals are often not exactly the sort who have high trust in authorities to begin with.

Who is going to risk turning in (often dangerous/ related/ connected) suspects or coming forward with information when some buIIshiit fine-print lets them stiff you out the payout?

Even if they didn't have to, paying that McDonald's worked a 100k or whatever it was is peanuts. When compared to how much damage they did to the public trust, (and therefore effectiveness) of cash rewards when they bilked her on such a petty technicality.

 

[LAborn]

I really wonder what his plan was for Brown University. Not only was he wandering around the day of the actual shooting, but many days before that and enough so that he drew the suspicion of 2 other people. There is nothing either of them could have done to prevent this because a person being in the bathroom wearing a mask and then leaving the building, isn't a crime and neither is driving so slowly it makes someone take note that is behind you. But, if he was trying to blend in, he sure didn't do a good job of that. What would hanging around this building over and over again in the days before a shooting do exact draw attention to yourself? Did he have some other plan for Brown that fell through? Even the day of he had that VERY strange encounter with a witness and yet he still chose to carry out what he did. If he had an issue with Brown itself and maybe the building since it seems that is where his Physics classes would have been held when he attended there, then why not do something to the building itself? Plant a bomb or set a fire or I don't know deface the building in some way.

He didn't need to wander around the campus for 2 weeks in order to do what he did. Also, shooting a person you know who you have a personal grudge or something against is one thing (not okay, but at least in his mind he could have built up this anger toward that specific person and list things they feel they did to them to justify it in his mind), but shooting strangers indiscriminately is a very different crime.

IMO

He was casing the building and surrounding area before committing the crime. Since he was at Brown for a year as a Ph.D. candidate (took a leave of absence and didn't return), he probably held on to whatever disappointments and grudges from long ago. By 48 you know if you met your goals or not. He blamed others for his failures. Same with the MIT professor--he had accomplished what maybe the shooter had dreamed about and his ego couldn't stand it. On a Ph.D. track research and teaching is usually the path. JMO.

 

[JDG]

I'm behind but i always thought police said this because nearly all Teslas have dash cams? Or Tesla has the most vehicles with dash cams? MOO

Teslas have 8 or 9 built in cameras per vehicle.

 

[JDG]

Surmising based on working in academic/student services in the university world for many years, my suspicion is that he was put on probation at Brown or perhaps asked to leave (if there was problematic behavior or something) -- that was the genesis of long-harbored animosity towards Brown, specifically the department he was in. Shooting up a classroom, to him, became a way to extract revenge. And then the other piece with the MIT professor -- I wonder if he and the shooter had conflict of some kind when in school together, which resulted in CV being terminated from his position.... which contributed to that long held hatred. Maybe CV only realized recently that both of the targets who he blamed failure to achieve in his career on were in the same area. Maybe he had a marriage that had failed also in this interim period. Severe untreated mental health issues plus inadequate availability of treatment plus unchecked access to guns = bad outcome. We've done this experiment so many times...

(ETA: my son was in the shooting at MSU in 2023, so these always bring back that night. He was in an adjacent building and was safe. The shooter was mentally ill and walked in off the street. In this case at Brown, the building should not have been unlocked to the public.)

Do you have a link for all of this supposition?

Is there a link to his being on probation while at Brown cause it’s not been mentioned at all in the media. Tx

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

I have many pages to catch up on and apologize if this has already been posted.

How a Reddit tipster cracked the Brown University and MIT shooting cases

“I’m being dead serious,” wrote the Reddit user. “The police need to look into a grey Nissan with Florida plates, possibly a rental.”

www.nbcnews.com

Having unleashed a multiagency manhunt — involving the Providence police, the FBI and a $50,000 reward — the clue investigators needed in the Brown University shooting was ultimately found not on a street corner but in a Reddit thread.

Online tipsters have had a mixed record when it comes to providing information about mass casualty incidents. But Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said this Reddit user “blew the case wide open” after posting about their encounter on Saturday with the suspect.

“I’m being dead serious,” wrote the Reddit user, identified in an affidavit as “John,” three days after the shootings at Brown. “The police need to look into a grey Nissan with Florida plates, possibly a rental.”...

 

[Lebowski]

I’d love to know what that grudge may have been. The two people who knew best are both dead. Perhaps friends or family were told about it over the years. It’s even possible that the grudge was only known by the killer.

There’s likely more to it than just Loureiro’s stellar academic and professional results.

yeah. might be related to CV's dismissal from the job at the portuguese university. i don't know if portuguese schools have something like academic judiciary and if they had it in 2000, but if so, and if CV's dismissal was about a misconduct issue, loureiro might have been on the panel.

also, as peers in the same graduate program, they would have been in competition to some extent. trying to beat each other out for research appointments, killing the grading curve in classes, vying for awards. ... i don't know the size of the portuguese university's physics graduate program, but if it's anying like physics programs at most american schools, it was small enough for them to know each other. especially since they were the same age. probably in a lot of the same classes at the same times.

all speculation. but i agree, it seems like it's probably more than just generic envy.

 

[LAborn]

Surmising based on working in academic/student services in the university world for many years, my suspicion is that he was put on probation at Brown or perhaps asked to leave (if there was problematic behavior or something) -- that was the genesis of long-harbored animosity towards Brown, specifically the department he was in. Shooting up a classroom, to him, became a way to extract revenge. And then the other piece with the MIT professor -- I wonder if he and the shooter had conflict of some kind when in school together, which resulted in CV being terminated from his position.... which contributed to that long held hatred. Maybe CV only realized recently that both of the targets who he blamed failure to achieve in his career on were in the same area. Maybe he had a marriage that had failed also in this interim period. Severe untreated mental health issues plus inadequate availability of treatment plus unchecked access to guns = bad outcome. We've done this experiment so many times...

(ETA: my son was in the shooting at MSU in 2023, so these always bring back that night. He was in an adjacent building and was safe. The shooter was mentally ill and walked in off the street; he died by suicide just before the police apprehended him a couple of hours later. In this case at Brown, the building should not have been unlocked to the public.)

Brown president at presser said he took a leave of absence and never returned. Seems he couldn't hack it for whatever reason. Knowing how hard it is to get into Brown, let alone the Ph.D. program, it's really odd he left. Who was Claudio Neves Valente? Here's what we know so far.

 

[justtrish]

Reading the AA again for the Brown shooting.

file:///C:/Users/runne/AppData/Local/Temp/e145486d-aca8-4c4c-bac6-d5ad0bd35b12_affidavit.zip.b12/affidavit.pdf

Page 4
A full DNA/STR profile was obtained from the fired cartridge casings was obtained and submitted to CODIS.

THEN it says additionally there is a DIFFERENT full DNA/STR profile observed in all the samples collected from the 2 magazines and all cartridges received within those magazines.

So am I reading this right that they have 2 DIFFEERNT DNA profiles?

 

[CrimeDawg123]

Brown president at presser said he took a leave of absence and never returned. Seems he couldn't hack it for whatever reason. Knowing how hard it is to get into Brown, let alone the Ph.D. program, it's really odd he left. Who was Claudio Neves Valente? Here's what we know so far.

That period in one's life can be pretty tumultuous with early adulthood, family, relationship, health etc etc issues. I was accepted in a science graduate program at an elite school, also very difficult to get into, and I voluntarily left. It's pretty common. I regrouped, shifted gears, and moved on. For whatever reason, CV could not do that.

 

[m00c0w]

I believe distributing reward money, and who gets what amount of reward money, is a formal process and isn't something that can be decided by one person. And it has to meet specific requirements in order to be doled out.

For example, during the Luigi Mangione case, the Mcdonalds Worker who called him in didn't get any of the $10,000 reward money offered by the NYPD because he called 911, NOT the tipline, to report the tip.

I still can't believe they didn't pay out on a technicality for Luigi when was so unbelievably high profile.

The kind of people who tend to have information on criminals are often not exactly the sort who have high trust in authorities to begin with.

Who is going to risk turning in (often dangerous/ related/ connected) suspects or coming forward with information when some buIIshiit fine-print lets them stiff you out the payout?

Even if they didn't have to, paying that McDonald's worked a 100k or whatever it was is peanuts. When compared to how much damage they did to the public trust, (and therefore effectiveness) of cash rewards when they bilked her on such a petty technicality.

Do either of you have a citation for the McDonalds worker definitively not getting paid out, whether it’s from using the wrong number to report or anything else?

 

[apeXperience]

Preface

• The notion of “men of action” exists and is widely accepted by mainstream society (e.g. Men of Action is a 1935 American drama film directed by Alan James) and minorities (e.g. Men of Action mentoring by MOA Men of Action | Michael Sartain)
• In contrast to the “men of action” are “the other men.”

Now the point

• IMHO, we don’t know the ratio of “men of action” vs. “the other men”, but if someone were creepy weird enough, they will be scrutinized and/or confronted by “men of action” sooner than later.
• In the case of this Brown shooting suspect, the layers of bundles and their unusual behavior notwithstanding weather conditions, such as 1) the masks shown in the pictures seemingly with multiple straps and 2) the surveilling of the environment as indicated by the body language in the videos, should trigger alarm.

IMHO, thanks god some “men of action” are still everywhere.

 

[Lebowski]

The question is, how many students the physics program had and whether they were good acquaintances or barely knew one another. Some programs are huge. ...

i got my physics bachelor's around the same time, from a 2nd-tier public university in the US, with about 30k students. there were a little over 100 of us in the undergraduate program. everyone knew everyone else, especially the ones who were the same age. there were a bunch of required courses, and (especially for the upper level classes) there would only be one section offered per year or semester. so unless you were getting off track, you would be in class with the same people again and again.

as to the graduate program, i don't know directly, but my impression was the same statements all applied.

if all of that is any indication, CV and NL very likely knew each other at IST

...
Theoretically, it might hurt more if someone that you knew well (and perhaps, even viewed as inferior to yourself) achieves, and you do not. However, I can imagine a different situation: you and another student barely know one another. However, what school or university doesn't have "classmates" site? And if suddenly you start noticing your ex-classmate being praised and called "the brightest star", and you fail, some people can be triggered by this, too.

I strongly suspect that Claudio had initial potential but life failed him due to mental or physical illness, there are many things that happen in cycles. Perhaps he tried a few times when he felt better and then failed and ultimately felt suicidal.

...

SBM

yeah, i see "former gifted kid" syndrome here. CV was probably capable-- you don't get into a physics phd program at brown university by being dumb. was probably told all his life that he could do anything and he was going to change the world, etc. his whole identity would have been tied up in that. it was the future he was "supposed to have". and then .... it didn't happen. could have been MH issues. could have been medical. could have gotten legitimately screwed by someone. could have been bad luck. academia can be insanely competitive, and graduate programs can really test people psychologically. absurd workload. a lot of abuse and exploitation of grad students. huge power imbalances with advisers -- and often nothing you can do about it. plenty of smart and hard-working people get chewed up.

it will be interesting to see what he's been doing in the intervening years, but obviously it didn't satisfy him.

 

[LAborn]

That period in one's life can be pretty tumultuous with early adulthood, family, relationship, health etc etc issues. I was accepted in a science graduate program at an elite school, also very difficult to get into, and I voluntarily left. It's pretty common. I regrouped, shifted gears, and moved on. For whatever reason, CV could not do that.

Considering he committed mass murder, it appears he had unaddressed psychological problems also. Perhaps a narcissist? Egomaniac? What did he do from 2001 to present workwise? I can't find a digital job trial.
"Neves Valente was let go from a position at the Lisbon university, according to an archive of a termination notice from the school’s then-president in February 2000." Brown, Brookline suspect: What to know about Claudio Neves Valente

 

[Lebowski]

The Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) is Portugal had about 11,000 students in 2023, and back in the late 1990s and early 2000s there were most likely fewer students. Today there are 19 different domains of study at IST, I don't know how many in 2000. It's mentioned that Neves Valente and Nuno F.G. Loureiro had studied in the same academic program, but whether that means in the same domain or not I don't know. If it was the same domain, they would most likely have known eachother, the university isn't that huge.

Instituto Superior Técnico - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

if we can guesstimate based on my own college experience with physics (public US university, 30k students; ~100 students in the physics grad program), if it's strictly proportional, that's only thirty or forty physics grad students at IST. but IST sounds like a technical university (similar to MIT), whereas my university was very general, so maybe bump that number back up to around 100 grad students.

physics programs are small compared to engineering, etc. at least in the US. whatever the exact numbers, i'm pretty sure the IST program was small enough that the grad students all knew each other. especially ones who were the same age, and in the same classes, etc.

 

[LAborn]

if we can guesstimate based on my own college experience with physics (public US university, 30k students; ~100 students in the physics grad program), if it's strictly proportional, that's only thirty or forty physics grad students at IST. but IST sounds like a technical university (similar to MIT), whereas my university was very general, so maybe bump that number back up to around 100 grad students.

physics programs are small compared to engineering, etc. at least in the US. whatever the exact numbers, i'm pretty sure the IST program was small enough that the grad students all knew each other. especially ones who were the same age, and in the same classes, etc.

Professor Loureiro graduated from IST with an undergrad and master's, so very likely they were in the same classes, at least that's how my grad program was, everyone knew everyone. From there he did post doc research at Princeton, went back to Portugal at another institution before landing at MIT as professor/researcher.

All successes at the top universities. My guess is Claudio couldn't do much having only gained a master's degree, and had squandered his opportunities. Was probably seething with jealousy. JMO

 

[I am not Sherlock H.]

With all due respect, and not speaking up for the apparent shooter……

But it is not IMO proper or appropriate to disparage a Master’s degree individual or their accomplishments. I personally have a Master’s degree.

Yes, some academic institutions offer a Master’s degree in addition to a full Ph.D. But not all.

And sincere respect and condolences to those slain and their families. MOO

 

[flowershop]

The talented professor in Boston who was killed was from Portugal too. This change in policy seems like throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

jmopinion

Preface

• The notion of “men of action” exists and is widely accepted by mainstream society (e.g. Men of Action is a 1935 American drama film directed by Alan James) and minorities (e.g. Men of Action mentoring by MOA Men of Action | Michael Sartain)
• In contrast to the “men of action” are “the other men.”

Now the point

• IMHO, we don’t know the ratio of “men of action” vs. “the other men”, but if someone were creepy weird enough, they will be scrutinized and/or confronted by “men of action” sooner than later.
• In the case of this Brown shooting suspect, the layers of bundles and their unusual behavior notwithstanding weather conditions, such as 1) the masks shown in the pictures seemingly with multiple straps and 2) the surveilling of the environment as indicated by the body language in the videos, should trigger alarm.

IMHO, thanks god some “men of action” are still everywhere.

Thanks for introducing me to the term because I have never heard it.

Reminds me of a movie called The 'Burbs with Tom Hanks and the plot of that movie fits your description to a T. I highly recommend this movie if anyone needs some comic relief after this horrible tragedy.

 

[Lebowski]

Professor Loureiro graduated from IST with an undergrad and master's, so very likely they were in the same classes, at least that's how my grad program was, everyone knew everyone. From there he did post doc research at Princeton, went back to Portugal at another institution before landing at MIT as professor/researcher.

All successes at the top universities. My guess is Claudio couldn't do much having only gained a master's degree, and had squandered his opportunities. Was probably seething with jealousy. JMO

see now, i think he could have done plenty with that master's degree and had a successful, fulfilling life.

though as i'm sure you know, people in certain programs (including physics) attach a lot of significance to whether you continue on the academic track: phd -> post-doc -> tenure. and breaking off that track is seen as the "loser" route. people still on it tell themselves and each other that the people who leave "couldn't hack it".

if that mentality was really embedded for CV, he might not have been able to pivot and find meaning and success outside of academia. his degree was probably quite marketable.

 

[LAborn]

How does a 48 year old in America not have a digital trail?