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

[musicaljoke]

It's astonishing that they're telling people it's safe when they have no idea who did this or why.

What they should be saying is something like "We have no information that a threat is imminent, but please make sure to be aware of your surroundings at all times, as you should be doing all the time."

I expect they knew who did it and where he was, and for that reason they were able to tell people it was safe. The police are always ahead of what we hear about the case via the media. Instead of questioning what they were telling the people, it should have been a strong hint that this case was coming to an end.

 

[JudyBolton]

What led to the first suspect (who was determined not to be suspect) and has anyone seen an explanation for who scrubbed his online presence? I did see the Brown president, Paxton, deny any knowledge of this.

 

[wibbleflea]

What led to the first suspect (who was determined not to be suspect) and has anyone seen an explanation for who scrubbed his online presence? I did see the Brown president, Paxton, deny any knowledge of this.

The first two people apprehended were held by LE. Not sure of the reasoning. The person scrubbed by Brown wasn’t ever (publicly) listed as a suspect by LE, just by a Twitter mob, who were convinced of his guilt and responded to every post by FBI Boston, saying the case has been solved already. Their reasoning (if you can call it that) was based on the appearance and background of the person.

 

[Megnut]

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?

I think he entered the building around 4 (when the class was breaking up) only because he wasn't able to at 2. Between 2 and 4, he had to contend with John.

At 2, had he entered that room, most everyone would have been seated, presumably faced away from the door. He would have had the element of surprise on his side. Instead, it sounds like students were preparing to leave the room when he got to it, surprising him. And that's maybe why it was so chaotic, esoecially for someone who may have been imagining that day for a long time.

JMO

 

[Lebowski]

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?

...

sbm, bbm

i've wondered this too. the fact that he didn't shoot him is part of what originally led me to think they were family.


three guesses. 1) he didn't have his gun with him at any of the times they interacted. 2) he was thrown off by john's confidence and perceptiveness -- despite having a gun, he was intimidated. 3) john wasn't the target, and shooting him on the sidewalk would have jeopardized the "mission".

 

[Telltale]

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.

John may be able to write coherently and articulately. We know at one point he was on a successful conventional track. Maybe he's a recent grad trying to survive a rough patch on familiar ground, or perhaps his problems run deeper than that. He may straight up be a little crazy. Mental health and/or addiction are common factors in homelessness.

If John spends his time blending into campus crowd to quietly use the facilities etc. He needs to avoid being challenged, which means being very aware of whose around. Someone unfamiliar not acting like they belong would immediately catch his attention.

A shifty guy in the dishevelled clothes, using 'his' accessible bathroom might have looked like a new homeless guy turning up on his patch. John would want to run him off sharpish, especially if he was suspicious looking or might cause trouble. Drawing admin attention to homeless people on campus, would (f)uck up John's access.

Aggressively challenging him, and harassing him to the point of literally chasing him a few streets all crazy-like sounds like standard territorial homeless dude tactics.

2) After the cad 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.

I really hope that stepping up doesn't ultimately leave John in a situation where he's still on the street but looses his access to the facilities he relies on. He survives by being invisible on campus. Coming to media/police/admin attention strips him of that and might cost him what little safety and security he has.

He probably hoped someone on Reddit would pass on his tip for him so he could keep low. Even so, when the feds reached out he stepped up and was key to finding the guy.

It just would suck if he ended up in an even more precarious situation for doing the right thing.

 

[Lebowski]

the least brown can do is give him a dorm room for life

maybe also throw in cafeteria credits unless some brown alumni here tell us that would be punishment actually

 

[m00c0w]

sbm, bbm

i've wondered this too. the fact that he didn't shoot him is part of what originally led me to think they were family.


three guesses. 1) he didn't have his gun with him at any of the times they interacted. 2) he was thrown off by john's confidence and perceptiveness -- despite having a gun, he was intimidated. 3) john wasn't the target, and shooting him on the sidewalk would have jeopardized the "mission".

I don’t think he had his gun at that time. That’s what he was trying to get out of the car that John kept interrupting - the sling bag with the firearms in it.

JMO

 

[Yellowbelly]

<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.

Obviously, I hope John can get his life back on track, as it was his keen observation skills that solved this case. Without his information, LE would probably have been stumbling around in the dark until somebody noticed the smell coming from the storage unit.

That said, it doesn't say much for the security at Brown University that they had a homeless man living in the basement, and apparently wandering around the building, using the toilets, etc.

 

[Zinn]

I think he entered the building around 4 (when the class was breaking up) only because he wasn't able to at 2. Between 2 and 4, he had to contend with John.

At 2, had he entered that room, most everyone would have been seated, presumably faced away from the door. He would have had the element of surprise on his side. Instead, it sounds like students were preparing to leave the room when he got to it, surprising him. And that's maybe why it was so chaotic, esoecially for someone who may have been imagining that day for a long time.

JMO

If he wanted an element of surprise in the auditorium, I don’t know why he would have started shooting outside in the hallway before entering the auditorium. Even if the TA had not been in the midst of his closing remarks, students inside the auditorium could have been expected to move around after hearing gunfire and screaming outside of the auditorium in the hallway.

 

[nao]

Moo...once you hit homeless. (I have been there) It is incredibly hard to find a rental. The questions rentals ask are...last address.. references...how long did you live there? As soon as you say no fixed abode.. chances of people renting to you...are not good.. Many seniors and single parents are homeless...it is just lack of money..
Moo

 

[nao]

Obviously, I hope John can get his life back on track, as it was his keen observation skills that solved this case. Without his information, LE would probably have been stumbling around in the dark until somebody noticed the smell coming from the storage unit.

That said, it doesn't say much for the security at Brown University that they had a homeless man living in the basement, and apparently wandering around the building, using the toilets, etc.

Moo...yea I guess he is more homeless than he was before

 

[JennieM]

24 min ago

Brown and MIT shooting suspect "was very strategic" in his plans, Providence police chief says​

From CNN's Alisha Ebrahimji and Brian Todd

Nearly a day after the suspect in the Brown University shooting was found dead after he took his own life, Providence Police Chief Oscar L. Perez Jr. tells CNN the shooter’s motive is still unknown.

Authorities are still processing the scene in Salem, New Hampshire, where the suspect, Claudio Neves Valente, a 48-year-old former Brown University student and Portuguese national, was found, Perez said.

Authorities had the suspect’s name on Wednesday evening, but still have not been able to find any of his relatives, Perez said.

And while so much remains a mystery, Perez said Neves Valente had both Providence, Rhode Island, and Miami addresses and traveled domestically to Boston and Florida, adding he was “extremely familiar with Brown University,” living in close proximity to the Barus and Holley Engineering Department, where the shooting occurred.

Neves Valente took a number of evasive measures to dodge detection, like avoiding certain license plate readers throughout the city.

“This individual was, in my opinion, was very strategic in this plan,” Perez said. “He was communicating with apps. He was utilizing certain ways to drive and picking certain neighborhoods to drive around. He wasn’t picking main streets.”

https://edition.cnn.com/us/live-news/brown-university-shooting-suspect-12-18-25?t=1766165891206

 

[JennieM]

Moo...yea I guess he is more homeless than he was before

I thought it was very touching in his last Reddit comment, in his last sentence he says compassionately: “Hopefully you all are able to enjoy the holidays with your family and loved ones but if you are not may the following days treat you kindly.” That was before we knew he was homeless, so it reads differently now. I hope he can now have a better Christmas than he thought he would, and his life changes for the better.

 

[JennieM]

1 min ago

Support center established for Brown University shooting victims, FBI says​

From CNN's Taylor Romine

A support center for the victims of the Brown University shooting has been established on campus, the FBI said in a news release.

The Student Access and Support Center will provide “crisis intervention, financial aid, spiritual care, and counseling services,” among other things, the release said. The center was created through the collaboration of the university, the FBI, the Providence Police Department and other agencies.

“The FBI had almost 30 victim specialists, special agents, and analysts from all over the country who deployed to Providence, Rhode Island, to support our partners in meeting the provision of services to the victims, survivors, and their loved ones,” the agency said in the news release.

https://edition.cnn.com/us/live-news/brown-university-shooting-suspect-12-18-25?t=1766177271496

 

[Megnut]

If he wanted an element of surprise in the auditorium, I don’t know why he would have started shooting outside in the hallway before entering the auditorium. Even if the TA had not been in the midst of his closing remarks, students inside the auditorium could have been expected to move around after hearing gunfire and screaming outside of the auditorium in the hallway.

I think the students opened the door, on their way out. He wasn't expecting that.

JMO

 

[nao]

I thought it was very touching in his last Reddit comment, in his last sentence he says compassionately: “Hopefully you all are able to enjoy the holidays with your family and loved ones but if you are not may the following days treat you kindly.” That was before we knew he was homeless, so it reads differently now. I hope he can now have a better Christmas than he thought he would, and his life changes for the better.

Moo...I am looking forward to see how authorities treat ..John doe reddit...does he get reward? Does he get kicked outta Brown..( I think legally.. can't be having homeless folks living there) . Will Trump mention him? How this is talked about and how he is treated... will say a lot about society

 

[JennieM]

I thought the professor died first tbh. If Nuno Loureiro was his primary target, it doesn't make sense to me that he would shoot up Brown first. In almost all cases, especially high profile ones. They're killed/caught/commit suicide on scene or pretty soon after, often it's over in minutes. It's pretty rare for a school shooter to get clean away (though it's happened a few times this year). He would have to be fully delusional to plan this expecting to escape and evade capture for days.

I would have thought, if the most important thing to him was to kill Nuno Loureiro. He'd have made sure to do that first, then gone to Brown for his (it seems) far more indiscriminate attack.

I have been thinking this too. His most personal grudge was with Professor Loureiro, so that’s his primary target like you say. Why risk arrest and not getting to your primary target by committing a major crime and drawing attention to yourself beforehand?

So to me it makes more sense that he would try to kill Professor Loureiro first and then go to Brown University, not the other way round like he’s done it.

 

[Lebowski]

Obviously, I hope John can get his life back on track, as it was his keen observation skills that solved this case. Without his information, LE would probably have been stumbling around in the dark until somebody noticed the smell coming from the storage unit.

That said, it doesn't say much for the security at Brown University that they had a homeless man living in the basement, and apparently wandering around the building, using the toilets, etc.

at my university, something like that would have been surprising, but not totally crazy. the security in the department buildings and lecture halls was relatively lax. not unheard of for grad students or even the odd post-doc to sleep in their offices or labs, especially at crunch time.

though the fact that he was no longer affiliated with the school, and apparently had nowhere else to go do make it weirder.

 

[ilgirl]

So the belly was real then?

They did say he had a bullet-proof vest though.