Suspected Brown University gunman found dead

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) -- Police said the man responsible for Saturday’s shooting at Brown University and Monday’s killing of an MIT professor has been found dead in New Hampshire.

Two people familiar with the investigation confirmed the news around 9 p.m., and authorities confirmed the death later in the hour.

“Tonight, our Providence neighbors can finally breathe a little easier,” said Providence Mayor Brett Smiley.

The suspect has been identified as Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, 48, a Portuguese national from Miami who attended graduate school for physics at Brown in the early 2000s. He took a leave of absence in 2001 and officially withdrew from Brown in 2003, according to an affidavit.

Police said Valente shot and killed himself. He was found after police swarmed a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, according to police.

Valente was found with two firearms, according to R.I. Attorney General Peter Neronha.

“Evidence in the car matches exactly what we see at the scene here in Providence,” Neronha said.

“We got him,” FBI Boston special agent in charge Ted Docks during a news conference at the Providence Police Department.

Providence Police Col. Oscar Perez said law enforcement tracked him down thanks to tips from the community, video surveillance and diligent work by officials across multiple agencies.

The high-profile suicide caps an intense six-day interstate manhunt that’s put multiple communities on edge.

The unidentified man is suspected of killing two students and injuring nine more people after opening fire inside a Brown classroom on Saturday.

As Nexstar's WPRI first reported, police are also investigating a potential link to the Monday slaying of Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno Loureiro.

Local, state and federal law officials have spent days poring over video evidence, license plate data and hundreds of investigative tips in pursuit of the suspect.

Perez said that video provided police with a description of a vehicle and that was corroborate to a tip that was received to the tip center. It led officers to a car rental spot in Mass. They got a copy of the rental agreement and video there.

Neronha said the person seen “in proximity” to the suspect, who was located and interviewed after being publicized on Wednesday, “blew this case wide open.” Police interviewed that person Thursday and gave crucial information which led investigators to the car, the name, the photos, and more, he said. The gunman had been changing license plates, he said.

Around 5 p.m. Thursday, police located an abandoned car in Salem they suspected was used by the gunman to evade police across New England.

Police eventually zeroed in on a storage facility at 10 Hampshire Rd. in Salem. For hours, police carrying weapons and wearing tactical gear were seen entering and exiting the facility.

Brown University president Christine Paxson said Valente was enrolled in a graduate program for physics before taking a leave of absence in 2001.

Paxon said he likely attended most of his classes inside the Barus & Holly building where he opened fire on Saturday.

R.I. State Police Col. Darnell Weaver thanked the public for providing authorities with large quantities of video footage, and also said “the endless barrage” of rumors, clickbait and other false information spread online did not help the investigation.