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

[nhmemorymaker]

When I was in graduate school, upon graduation many students I knew applied to the green card lottery as they had no other way to get permanent residency in the U.S. The students who applied that I knew personally were from Canada, the UK, Ghana, and several other African countries. It was a very popular option for people who would not likely ever be eligible for permanent residency through family or employer, but it was a long shot for all of them.

When I was hiring many many international professionals (80s 90s 00s) the H-1 visa was relatively easy for all the countries with quotas. All my hiring was in advanced high tech and research, so that was probably a major point of relative ease. There were always ups and downs with the quota numbers, and slowed processes, and freezes.... but

I am certain that the process for Dr. Loureiro was a breeze.

But for CV.. even the Lottery Visa has restrictions.... so not sure we will get the specifics of his entry into the US in 2017

 

[Warwick1991]

We also know he was in NH at some point. NH has lax gun laws. It’s very easy to go online to a number of forums and purchase a gun through a private sale. You can make contact anonymously online, meet them in a parking lot and pay cash for a gun without exchanging any information.

Private sales are only legal for people who are residents of the same state. If the shooter was from Florida, it was illegal for him to buy a gun in NH. To protect themselves, sellers in private sales usually ask for ID. Otherwise the seller is subject to arrest.

The shooter probably bought his guns where he lived, legally, and traveled with them.

 

[brib809]

Private sales are only legal for people who are residents of the same state. If the shooter was from Florida, it was illegal for him to buy a gun in NH. To protect themselves, sellers in private sales usually ask for ID. Otherwise the seller is subject to arrest.

The shooter probably bought his guns where he lived, legally, and traveled with them.

I’m not saying you are wrong, but I don’t think a guy who murdered three people and severely injured more than that is too concerned with legality

 

[Zinn]

Does anyone know if he exited the auditorium via the upper door or the lower door? There were 15 shell casings in the hallway and 29 shell casings found in the auditorium (classroom). Witnesses said he descended the auditorium stairs as he was shooting. Is it possible he diverted to the auditorium as an escape route due to the multiple exit doors? Or maybe the auditorium appealed to him as a place to commit a portion of the crime due to the multiple exit routes?

 

[Telltale]

Plus the obvious issue that you don’t want the McDonald’s employee in that situation to have instead called the tip line, so authorities could learn well after the fact that he was maybe spotted at a McDonald’s! 911 was the right thing to do when you have a dangerous murderer on the run in your establishment. Seems foolish to deter that.

Edit: I don’t know if it has been officially determined yet whether they will get the reward money, because public speculation started immediately that they wouldn’t be eligible, and I haven’t followed enough to see if that speculation has been proven correct.

Yeah exactly, but also, it doesn't really matter if they ultimately get some of the reward money a year+ from now. When the situation had all eyes on it, the prevailing story about the reward was that the McDonald's worker wasn't getting the money because she did the reasonable thing and called 911 not the tipline. That's what most people will remember. Even though Crimestoppers was only offering 10k of the 60k.

Once they were sure it was him. They should have cut her one of those big novelty checks for 60k and handed it over, preferably within the week. Big smile and handshake for the cameras. Show themselves paying up like she won the lottery. Terms and conditions be damned.

I'd bet for that measly 60k, they'd be cashing in for a decade in the increased volumes of tips all cash rewards generated, nationwide.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

He left Brown's Ph.D. program and never returned. Taking a LOA--he could have returned, but didn't.

And as I indicated upthread, we don't know why he took a LoA or why he did not return to continue his studies. To me, "squandering" an opportunity would be for reasons such as drinking heavily or taking a lot of drugs and being kicked off the programme. Taking a LoA from which he could have returned strongly suggests that there was nothing disreputable about his reasons for taking a break.

Do you have info that he left the US to go back to Portugal after leaving Brown?

Another poster upthread reported that he returned to the US from Portugal in 2017 on the back of winning a Green Card, so that strongly suggests that he left the US for an extended period of time.

 

[LAborn]

And as I indicated upthread, we don't know why he took a LoA or why he did not return to continue his studies. To me, "squandering" an opportunity would be for reasons such as drinking heavily or taking a lot of drugs and being kicked off the programme. Taking a LoA from which he could have returned strongly suggests that there was nothing disreputable about his reasons for taking a break.

Another poster upthread reported that he returned to the US from Portugal in 2017 on the back of winning a Green Card, so that strongly suggests that he left the US for an extended period of time.

What I meant by "squandering" is not working through the issues he had to finish the program at some point, or even another Ph.D. program. Getting into that program at that university is like a "brass ring" in academic terms. Drinking or drug use isn't what I was thinking at all. A LOA can be taken for all manner of reasons.

You mentioned scenarios of sick family member, etc. and thought you had evidence of this.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

sbm

there's an obligatory masochism bred by the competitiveness of the environment, pride, romantic dreams of being the next einstein, and a lot of the sunk cost fallacy. it comes from fellow students, advisors, and within people themselves. "what's the matter, aren't you tough enough to keep punching yourself in the crotch?"

truth. Often creating a state of codependence WITH the particular institution.

 

[Synergizer Bunny]

One is amazed at the strength of human curiosity. Knowing myself, I’d probably say, “OK, whatever”. But John had the guts to ask, hey, what are you doing? And the soon to be mass murderer is complaining of being “harassed”!

What surprises me is that "John" confronted CV and even followed him to see what he was up to. When CV saw him, he ran away and even asked him why he was harassing him. Why didn't CV shoot John?? I mean, if his goal was to shoot someone at Brown, why not shoot John who was by himself or shoot John and head to the school afterwards and shoot others?

I actually think that the professor was his target all along. Something happened between these two, Maybe, the professor got him fired from a job way back when (sort of like Kohberger getting fired from his TA job). If something like this occurred, would it be noted in some kind of school records? Perhaps, whatever it was, CV felt that the professor ruined his chances at success by whatever he did.

Just curiosity and speculation on my part.

 

[Telltale]

What surprises me is that "John" confronted CV and even followed him to see what he was up to. When CV saw him, he ran away and even asked him why he was harassing him. Why didn't CV shoot John?? I mean, if his goal was to shoot someone at Brown, why not shoot John who was by himself or shoot John and head to the school afterwards and shoot others?

Because he is a coward.

 

[Rikissa]

I hope that the media in Portugal are digging into this to see what CV was doing during the years he left the U.S. and returned in 2017. And I am sure our federal agents are looking into it as well, likely a joint effort with Portuguese authorities.

If he came back to Portugal in 2003 that doesn't necessarily mean that he stayed there the whole time, as an EU citizen he had the right to free movement and residence in all the EU countries, and could try to find work, or study, in another EU country. An EU citizens can live in another EU country for up to three months without any requirements other than holding a valid identity card or passport. (I took the opportunity to spend three months in France in the beginning of 2025.) As for studying in another country, there is the Erasmus programme, and could also apply to a university in another EU country. When studying abroad in Europe as an EU citizen there is often no cost, or very low cost for tuition, as the same rules about tuition cost applies for the EU students as for the domestic students.

Free movement and residence

Information on EU citizens' right to move and reside freely within the EU.

commission.europa.eu

Erasmus Programme - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[BlaiseFinlay]

My assumption would be he was in Portugal (or at least Europe) until 2017. I would assume that if you had been out of status for a significant period of time, you would be ineligible for the green card lottery.

I’ll note that the excerpt of the professor’s bio stated that he returned to Portugal to conduct research in 2009. It is possible they could have had a more recent interaction as well (though obviously he had a longstanding grudge against Brown, so no reason to think his grudge against the professor wasn’t equally longstanding).

I remain very curious about his life post-2017, but I know that generally speaking it can be difficult to get hired with foreign credentials, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he did struggle professionally in the US when he tried to make a go of it.

These facts (as we currently know them) remain odd to me:

1) Doing the mass shooting before the targeted shooting. For so many reasons.

2) It was a Saturday at 4 pm, and there is no reason to think that the scheduling of a study session was made public (and if it was, would he have intentionally chosen an economics class?). Even if you used to be a student there, and knowing that scheduling goes out the window during exams, still seems very odd to me to expect there to be people in that building at that time. Even if there were people there at 2 p.m., it’s still odd to assume there would be people there still at 4 p.m.

3) This last point is more speculation than fact, and probably just a matter of me trying to find reason in the irrational — but if you’re seeking to avenge a grudge, killing and injuring innocent students hardly seems like the way. If he felt he had been wronged or things were unjust, imagine how those injured students will feel for the rest of their lives? (And of course recognizing the lives that were lost). As someone else already noted, there are far more logical ways for the criminally-minded to symbolically destroy Brown.

The Reddit user’s involvement is fascinating to me. I’m a Redditor, and I have no negative opinions of Reddit or his decision to post the tip on Reddit. But there are two things that are almost amusing to me:

1) Except for the fact John was completely right, he comes off as the crazy one in that story. John determines that someone doesn’t belong in a Brown bathroom when John himself doesn’t belong there either? He starts following this guy around for blocks because of his clothes being inappropriate for the weather? I’ll do things like changing my mind about getting in my car if someone is nearby and concerning me. Maybe the story doesn’t translate well, or maybe John is just that perceptive, but in all events, I wish good things for him.

2) After the bad PR for a school that any school shooting is going to be, imagine being Brown and now on top of that, learning that a homeless Brown alum is getting so much press attention.

 

[Arkay]

Progressive cop exposed by Ivy League bloodbath security lapses

Rodney Chatman's record of alleged failures, a 'toxic' workplace and disdain for traditional policing have been spotlighted by security lapsus that allowed a deadly campus shooting under his watch.

www.dailymail.co.uk

So sorry if this has been posted already; I’m way too behind and will catch up now.

This is from the DM so I don’t know how accurate it may be, but it puts the blame on Brown University, lack of cameras and other apparent security lapses, if true.

 

[CrimeDawg123]

What surprises me is that "John" confronted CV and even followed him to see what he was up to. When CV saw him, he ran away and even asked him why he was harassing him. Why didn't CV shoot John?? I mean, if his goal was to shoot someone at Brown, why not shoot John who was by himself or shoot John and head to the school afterwards and shoot others?

I actually think that the professor was his target all along. Something happened between these two, Maybe, the professor got him fired from a job way back when (sort of like Kohberger getting fired from his TA job). If something like this occurred, would it be noted in some kind of school records? Perhaps, whatever it was, CV felt that the professor ruined his chances at success by whatever he did.

Just curiosity and speculation on my part.

Or why, after being confronted by John, didn't he just leave and lay low for a couple of days, get a different car, different clothes, try again with a cooler head ...? It seems for all his careful planning he just decided f* it.

 

[LAborn]

My assumption would be he was in Portugal (or at least Europe) until 2017. I would assume that if you had been out of status for a significant period of time, you would be ineligible for the green card lottery.

I’ll note that the excerpt of the professor’s bio stated that he returned to Portugal to conduct research in 2009. It is possible they could have had a more recent interaction as well (though obviously he had a longstanding grudge against Brown, so no reason to think his grudge against the professor wasn’t equally longstanding).

I remain very curious about his life post-2017, but I know that generally speaking it can be difficult to get hired with foreign credentials, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he did struggle professionally in the US when he tried to make a go of it.

These facts (as we currently know them) remain odd to me:

1) Doing the mass shooting before the targeted shooting. For so many reasons.

2) It was a Saturday at 4 pm, and there is no reason to think that the scheduling of a study session was made public (and if it was, would he have intentionally chosen an economics class?). Even if you used to be a student there, and knowing that scheduling goes out the window during exams, still seems very odd to me to expect there to be people in that building at that time. Even if there were people there at 2 p.m., it’s still odd to assume there would be people there still at 4 p.m.

3) This last point is more speculation than fact, and probably just a matter of me trying to find reason in the irrational — but if you’re seeking to avenge a grudge, killing and injuring innocent students hardly seems like the way. If he felt he had been wronged or things were unjust, imagine how those injured students will feel for the rest of their lives? (And of course recognizing the lives that were lost). As someone else already noted, there are far more logical ways for the criminally-minded to symbolically destroy Brown.

The Reddit user’s involvement is fascinating to me. I’m a Redditor, and I have no negative opinions of Reddit or his decision to post the tip on Reddit. But there are two things that are almost amusing to me:

1) Except for the fact John was completely right, he comes off as the crazy one in that story. John determines that someone doesn’t belong in a Brown bathroom when John himself doesn’t belong there either? He starts following this guy around for blocks because of his clothes being inappropriate for the weather? I’ll do things like changing my mind about getting in my car if someone is nearby and concerning me. Maybe the story doesn’t translate well, or maybe John is just that perceptive, but in all events, I wish good things for him.

2) After the bad PR for a school that any school shooting is going to be, imagine being Brown and now on top of that, learning that a homeless Brown alum is getting so much press attention.

John is a Brown alum? I hadn't read that. That explains his smarts. The homeless people in our neighborhood are the most keyed in because they have to be. They are outside when most of us are inside. If John was living in the basement, he viewed Brown as his home, he was taking care of it. CV stood out because John knows Brown. Thank goodness he was there, otherwise who knows if this case would have been solved.

 

[seenabp]

DBM.

 

[wibbleflea]

It was a Saturday at 4 pm, and there is no reason to think that the scheduling of a study session was made public (and if it was, would he have intentionally chosen an economics class?). Even if you used to be a student there, and knowing that scheduling goes out the window during exams, still seems very odd to me to expect there to be people in that building at that time. Even if there were people there at 2 p.m., it’s still odd to assume there would be people there still at 4 p.m.

It was public. Someone posted the links to the Brown website previously in this thread showing the scheduled session. And I think it was fairly clear from the schedule as a whole that there would be students around. It could be, though, that the specific choice of class wasn’t as important as the location. There’s speculation about his possible familiarity with the professor (Friedberg), who started working at Brown when Valente was briefly a student there, and who was not teaching that study class. That may come to something – currently, there’s nothing showing that they knew each other – but he was familiar with this specific building and location (per the press conference).

 

[justtrish]

So, I am curious if the suspect was staying in the storage unit? It sounds like he went there after the shooting on the 15th, but they don't think he was dead till some time on the 18th so was he coming and going from the unit? Maybe leaving his guns and other identifying items in there while he was out so if he was stopped, he wouldn't be in possession of the guns. I wonder if he was going to leave that stuff in the storage unit and just board a flight out that day on the 18th, but the case broke and he knew they were on to him.

 

[indicolite22]

What surprises me is that "John" confronted CV and even followed him to see what he was up to. When CV saw him, he ran away and even asked him why he was harassing him. Why didn't CV shoot John?? I mean, if his goal was to shoot someone at Brown, why not shoot John who was by himself or shoot John and head to the school afterwards and shoot others?

I actually think that the professor was his target all along. Something happened between these two, Maybe, the professor got him fired from a job way back when (sort of like Kohberger getting fired from his TA job). If something like this occurred, would it be noted in some kind of school records? Perhaps, whatever it was, CV felt that the professor ruined his chances at success by whatever he did.

Just curiosity and speculation on my part.

Did NL have anything to do with CV's lack of success at Brown? To get to study there was an upgrade.

 

[Sundog]

2) After the bad PR for a school that any school shooting is going to be, imagine being Brown and now on top of that, learning that a homeless Brown alum is getting so much press attention.

<snipped for focus>

And the fact that it has been reported that the homeless Brown alumnus was actually living in the basement of the engineering building where the shooting took place.