FBI: Shooter in Brown University and MIT Attacks Targeted Victims Linked to Personal Grievances

Federal authorities have identified Claudio Neves Valente, 48, as the individual responsible for a mass shooting at Brown University and the killing of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor in December. According to a behavioral assessment released Wednesday by the FBI, Neves Valente, a Portuguese national and former Brown doctoral student, targeted locations and individuals he associated with personal setbacks and perceived injustices.

Investigators said Neves Valente killed two students and wounded nine others inside an engineering building at Brown University on December 13. Two days later, he fatally shot MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro at Loureiro's home in Brookline, Massachusetts. Neves Valente was later found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, ending a multistate search.

The FBI reported that Neves Valente spent years planning the attacks in isolation and lacked traditional support systems. Authorities stated that the violence was symbolic, with Brown University and Loureiro representing personal failures and perceived injustices in Neves Valente's life. Investigators said he acted alone and found no evidence linking the attacks to terrorism.

After the incidents, Neves Valente reportedly recorded videos and audio messages confessing to the shootings and expressing grievances, but did not provide a clear motive. The firearms used were legally purchased in Florida years prior, officials said. The FBI noted that only Neves Valente knew the full reasons behind the attacks and that mental health factors alone do not fully explain his actions.

The FBI's findings were released as several students injured in the Brown University shooting filed a lawsuit earlier this week, alleging the university failed to address prior warnings about Neves Valente and did not provide sufficient security.