In a major development, law-enforcement officials have publicly identified the suspect in the killings at Brown University and MIT’s Professor Nuno F. Gomes Loureiro, as Cláudio Neves Valente, 48, a Portuguese national from Torres Novas, Portugal.
Authorities said Valente was later found dead in Salem, New Hampshire, on Thursday, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Professor Loureiro, 47, a distinguished professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Director of its Plasma Science and Fusion Center, was fatally shot at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, late on the evening of Monday, December 15.
A native of Viseu, Portugal, Professor Loureiro was found with multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead in the early hours of Tuesday, December 16.
Authorities have further confirmed that the killing of Professor Loureiro is linked to a separate earlier mass-shooting incident at Brown University. That attack occurred on December 13, inside an academic building, leaving two students dead and multiple others injured.
The dead have been identified as Ella Cook, 19, a second-year student from Alabama, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, 18, an Uzbek-American who had just started at the university.
In a statement to Lusa, Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel said, “It is with great dismay that we know that the main suspect, who was found dead, is a Portuguese citizen. This is also something that obviously causes us great sadness and dismay.”
With deep regret, he remarked, “There is a Portuguese citizen involved in the practice of crimes of this nature, which are highly reprehensible, censurable crimes, truly terrible for the victims and their families.”
Valente, who lived in Miami, Florida, and had no current affiliation with Brown University, fled the scene, prompting a multi-state manhunt before being located in New Hampshire.
Investigators also confirmed that both Loureiro and Valente were former students at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Lisbon, and that Valente was once a doctoral student at Brown University.
While officials have acknowledged a connection between the two cases, they stressed that the investigation remains active and highly sensitive, and no further details regarding motive or the nature of the connection have been released.
The investigation is being led by authorities in Providence, Rhode Island, in coordination with the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office and the Massachusetts State Police, with assistance from additional state and federal agencies due to the multi-state and multi-institutional scope of the case.
The killings have sent shockwaves through academic and scientific communities worldwide, as well as throughout the Portuguese-American community, where Loureiro was widely regarded as one of the most prominent Portuguese scientists working in the United States.
In a public statement, Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), where Loureiro earned his degree and later led the Theory and Modelling Group at the Institute for Plasmas and Nuclear Fusion, expressed profound sorrow.
IST highlighted his academic brilliance, dedication to research and teaching, and lasting impact on generations of students in Portugal and abroad, describing his death as a devastating loss for Portuguese science and the global fusion-research community.
MIT reiterated that it “extends its deepest sympathies to all those mourning his loss” and confirmed that counseling and support services remain available to students, faculty, and staff.
Before joining MIT’s faculty in 2016, Professor Loureiro built an internationally respected academic career, becoming a global leader in plasma physics and nuclear fusion research. At MIT, where he was widely admired as a mentor, he led one of the largest laboratories dedicated to advancing clean-energy science.
Following the two occurrences, President Donald Trump has suspended the U.S. diversity visa (green card lottery) program. Cláudio Neves Valente had entered the United States through the DV1 lottery in 2017 and later obtained a green card. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the program was paused at Trump’s direction to prevent further harm incidents linked to DV1 lottery visa holders. The program allocates up to 50,000 visas annually to applicants from countries with low immigration rates to the U.S.
For Portuguese-Americans, the tragedy has become a moment of collective mourning and reflection. Community leaders have called for restraint and compassion as authorities continue their work, while honoring Loureiro’s legacy as a bridge between Portugal and the United States and as a scientist whose contributions will endure far beyond his untimely death.
Professor Nuno F. Gomes Loureiro earned his degree in physics from Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon, Portugal, in 2000 and a doctorate from Imperial College London in 2005. He completed postdoctoral research at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy. From 2009 to 2015, he worked as a researcher at IST Lisbon’s Institute for Plasmas and Nuclear Fusion, leading the Theory and Modelling Group. He joined MIT in 2016, became a full professor in 2021, and was appointed Director of the Plasma Science and Fusion Center in May 2024.
A community fundraising to support Professor Loureiro’s family was created @ gofundme.com
PAJ/Staff/ This is a developing story and will be updated as additional confirmed information becomes available.
