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

[indicolite22]

Claudio Neves Valente... was a top student but a disruptive personality in his native Portugal, recalled classmates on Friday.

Quotes from a former classmate in Portugal (more at the link):

“Claudio was obviously one of the best, but in class he had a great need to stand out and show that he was better than the rest,”

“Claudio’s attitude was unpleasant,” often arguing with “colleagues he didn’t consider as brilliant as him (and who probably weren’t),” “They were totally unnecessary quarrels, which did not help the class at all.”

His Brown classmate on why he left:

“Claudio thought none of it was worth it, which was a waste of time and the others were all incapable,”

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/12/19/us/neves-valente-brown-shooting-classmates-invs

 

[Lebowski]

On Tuesday, I think Neves Valente hadn't yet been identified, especially for both crimes. He must have intended to commit suicide from the start. He did what he planned to do, and then just ended his life. He wasn't surrounded or being pursued. His evasive actions, license plate swapping and mask were apparently just measures to carry out his plans.

but he reportedly had a return airline ticket to florida. imo he didn't plan the suicide, he changed his mind.

can't decide if he thought he was busted. the investigation wasn't looking promising on tuesday. LE had wasted a day on the wrong guy, while CV was on his way to kill NL. by tuesday, there was only a few blurry clips of a masked guy walking around, and an initially obscure reddit post. though maybe he remembered john was all over him and saw his car, and figured it was only a matter of time before LE found the car and it led back to him?

but i more suspect that after the murders, he didn't feel the way he thought he would. i assume the actual experience of committing murder is quite jarring and disturbing. and in this case, you also have a fantasy about revenge that gets replaced with some cold, hard realities. ..... also, it sounds like maybe the brown shooting didn't go according to plan. john messed him up and may have pushed it back to a different class 1-2 hours later. the students exited before he entered, possibly surprising him, hence the shooting starting in the hall. 2 deaths is probably a lot less than the number he fantasized about, with as many rounds as he brought. ........ also also, he might have been affected by a reaction from NL's daughter, who he apparently chose to spare.

 

[wibbleflea]

That said, I stand by my statement about it being curious to both offer information on Reddit about the crime AND wanting to remain anonymous. I think he knew at some point his having been photographed on and around campus more than other folks (if he was living around the building) and not being a currently enrolled student, that would have raised suspicion that would have to have been ironed out. The police were, in fact, looking for a POI who was seen around the shooter.

Agreed. Tricky situation for him. He played it well. He’d probably have preferred less information to have been released about his involvement but in the circumstances, I hope he understands. And I hope he is rewarded in some way and celebrated.

 

[indicolite22]

Automatic translation from Portuguese:

In recent hours, Nuno Morais has been talking to other former classmates, and the strongest theory among them is that Cláudio Valente saw in Nuno Loureiro "a symbol" of the academic and professional success that he was unable to achieve.
...
“Cláudio was one of the students with the best grades in the course. He was much more theoretical. Nuno was also a good student, he stood out less in grades, but he was a more relaxed person – and seemed to have a vocation for slightly more applied subjects.”

Filipe Moura, who taught CV during his undergraduate studies:

“Until this morning [Friday], the last thing I knew about Cláudio was that he returned to Portugal and worked for a few years at Portugal Telecom, at Sapo, as an IT specialist,”

Cláudio Valente suspeito de matar Nuno Loureiro e de tiroteio na Universidade Brown

Valente foi aluno em Brown e colega de Loureiro no Instituto Superior Técnico. Foi identificado pela polícia e suicidou-se. Antigo professor diz que tinha “uma personalidade conflituosa”.

www.publico.pt

 

[wibbleflea]

Claudio Neves Valente... was a top student but a disruptive personality in his native Portugal, recalled classmates on Friday.

Quotes from a former classmate in Portugal (more at the link):

“Claudio was obviously one of the best, but in class he had a great need to stand out and show that he was better than the rest,”

“Claudio’s attitude was unpleasant,” often arguing with “colleagues he didn’t consider as brilliant as him (and who probably weren’t),” “They were totally unnecessary quarrels, which did not help the class at all.”

His Brown classmate on why he left:

“Claudio thought none of it was worth it, which was a waste of time and the others were all incapable,”

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/12/19/us/neves-valente-brown-shooting-classmates-invs

The few things that have been published so far (all in this thread) from people who knew him at Brown mention the attitude but also the ability and knowledge. People are not saying that he thought he knew it all and clearly didn’t. He was the real deal.

It’s significant that we’re hearing nothing so far from people who knew him in the last two decades: family, friends, colleagues. I’d have expected a lot of people to have come forward to say they knew this person, who was once a top-tier talent. Where did he disappear for over two decades? Where’s his online presence?

Was he programming somewhere quietly? Raising chickens on a hilltop? In jail or a medical facility? It’s mysterious. Whatever he was doing, you’d expect him to have been memorable.

 

[JennieM]

Claudio Neves Valente... was a top student but a disruptive personality in his native Portugal, recalled classmates on Friday.

Quotes from a former classmate in Portugal (more at the link):

“Claudio was obviously one of the best, but in class he had a great need to stand out and show that he was better than the rest,”

“Claudio’s attitude was unpleasant,” often arguing with “colleagues he didn’t consider as brilliant as him (and who probably weren’t),” “They were totally unnecessary quarrels, which did not help the class at all.”

His Brown classmate on why he left:

“Claudio thought none of it was worth it, which was a waste of time and the others were all incapable,”

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/12/19/us/neves-valente-brown-shooting-classmates-invs

Jealousy is all it was?

Being angry that someone (the victim) who was not as good academically as him ended up doing better in life (in his mind). Professor Loureiro was highly esteemed with a great career.

Nuno Loureiro - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[indicolite22]

Was he programming somewhere quietly? Raising chickens on a hilltop? In jail or a medical facility? It’s mysterious. Whatever he was doing, you’d expect him to have been memorable.

SBM. According to his former TA, he worked in IT in Portugal. I bet nobody was smart enough for him there either. It must be a huge burden to feel superior.

 

[wibbleflea]

SBM. According to his former TA, he worked in IT in Portugal. I bet nobody was smart enough for him there either. It must be a huge burden to feel superior.

IT makes sense.

 

[m00c0w]

but he reportedly had a return airline ticket to florida. imo he didn't plan the suicide, he changed his mind.

can't decide if he thought he was busted. the investigation wasn't looking promising on tuesday. LE had wasted a day on the wrong guy, while CV was on his way to kill NL. by tuesday, there was only a few blurry clips of a masked guy walking around, and an initially obscure reddit post. though maybe he remembered john was all over him and saw his car, and figured it was only a matter of time before LE found the car and it led back to him?

but i more suspect that after the murders, he didn't feel the way he thought he would. i assume the actual experience of committing murder is quite jarring and disturbing. and in this case, you also have a fantasy about revenge that gets replaced with some cold, hard realities. ..... also, it sounds like maybe the brown shooting didn't go according to plan. john messed him up and may have pushed it back to a different class 1-2 hours later. the students exited before he entered, possibly surprising him, hence the shooting starting in the hall. 2 deaths is probably a lot less than the number he fantasized about, with as many rounds as he brought. ........ also also, he might have been affected by a reaction from NL's daughter, who he apparently chose to spare.

All of the enhanced video showing him all over the place was released on Tuesday. I think he knew he had been far sloppier than he realized and that his cunning plan was actually falling apart. There was no escape.

 

[Muddy K]

Suspect in Brown and M.I.T. Killings Was a Brilliant Student. Then He Vanished.​

The link above is from the New York Times, so paywalled, of course, but this brief excerpt from the article stood out:

..."in the post, Mr. Neves Valente wrote in Portuguese: 'The greatest liar is the one who is able to lie to themselves. These exist everywhere, but they sometimes proliferate in the most unexpected places.'"

Self-fulfilling prophecy, it seems. JMO.

 

[Lebowski]

SBM. According to his former TA, he worked in IT in Portugal. I bet nobody was smart enough for him there either. It must be a huge burden to feel superior.

lol, 90% of IT work is "is your computer plugged in? ..... did you press the 'on' button? ..... ". i bet he LOVED that.

 

[knla]

LE found 2 guns with CV. One was used to shoot the MIT professor and the other was used to shoot the students at Brown.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2002164940749095023

 

[Lebowski]

probably did it on purpose to keep LE from linking the cases. put one in the "well planned" column.

 

[getthefax]

Agreed. Tricky situation for him. He played it well. He’d probably have preferred less information to have been released about his involvement but in the circumstances, I hope he understands. And I hope he is rewarded in some way and celebrated.

Absolutely! He played it really really well, and with a great deal of humility.
I really and truly hope the powers that be offer up that reward money to him generously. Even though it seems this fellow didn't provide tips to law enforcement with the money in mind, rewards are offered because they supposedly encourage people to come forward when doing so can put a witness in great peril, and shouldn't be bait and switched.

I hope John has access to care if he needs it. Vicarious trauma is real, and having a brush with a killer had to have been quite scary, especially while the perpetrator was still at large.

 

[Lebowski]

it's being reported that he returned to portugal to work at the IT utility, but that his parents (who are still alive) had not heard from him since he left brown. curious that he came back to portugal but didn't go to see his parents. i guess felt ashamed of his "failure" and couldn't face them, but that's some serious shame.

 

[Lebowski]

probably did it on purpose to keep LE from linking the cases. put one in the "well planned" column.

...and if this is true, the number of guns tells us the number of shootings he planned.

 

[LAborn]

He didn’t mention his homelessness or that he was living at Brown. He even denied being the person photographed. He just posted the info about the car and the Florida plates, saying the police should look at it. He was encouraged by others to speak to police, which he did. It was someone else at Brown who released information about John’s circumstances. And it was police who revealed that John was, in fact, the second of the people whose pictures they released.

Edited to add that he didn’t mention chasing or questioning the suspect. He really underplayed his role.

I sincerely hope there's a windfall for John out of all this--above and beyond the reward money. That would make this whole situation a bit more bearable if good can come to him.

 

[Yellowbelly]

Jealousy is all it was?

Being angry that someone (the victim) who was not as good academically as him ended up doing better in life (in his mind). Professor Loureiro was highly esteemed with a great career.

Nuno Loureiro - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

"If it wasn't for you useless Americans and your overated university, it could have been me at the cutting edge of plasma physics at MIT....."

In reality, he could have had it all, but he destroyed his own life with his arrogance.

 

[Yellowbelly]

SBM. According to his former TA, he worked in IT in Portugal. I bet nobody was smart enough for him there either. It must be a huge burden to feel superior.

Brilliant theoretical physicist to IT bod at a telecoms company is a massive comedown. Did he ever really come to terms with this fall from grace, which was entirely of his own making by his attitude.

 

[123spain]

Per what they say in this portuguese article it sounds he didnt have a good relationship with his parents even before moving to the US, he sold the house without telling them, it also says he was an only child: "Pais vinham vê-lo, porque ele estava sozinho, e ele não abria a porta": vizinhos recordam passado de Cláudio Valente