A Portuguese physics student killed two Brown University students and an MIT professor before taking his own life, with police still seeking a motive.
NEW YORK: Authorities are seeking a motive after a Portuguese physics student killed two fellow students and a professor before taking his own life.
Claudio Neves Valente, 48, shot dead Brown University students Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov on December 13.
He wounded several others before travelling to the home of Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno Loureiro, killing him two days later.
No public motive has been established for the attacks, which shocked two elite New England institutions.
Portuguese media reported Valente and Professor Loureiro were classmates at Lisbon’s IST, with Valente being the top student that year.
IST president Rogerio Colaco told Expresso that most classmates only remembered Valente for being the best in their class.
He added that Loureiro maintained links with IST professors, unlike Valente.
The investigation faced early complications from a flood of online misinformation during the manhunt.
Rhode Island State Police Colonel Darnell Weaver said the barrage of false information was not helpful.
A crucial tip from a Reddit user named “John” eventually directed police to a grey Nissan SUV.
The tipster described a suspicious encounter with a man at Brown before the shootings, linking the campus attack to the professor’s murder.
Officials revealed Valente used false license plates and an untraceable cell phone to conceal his identity.
Police found his body in a Salem, Massachusetts, self-storage facility on the sixth day of the hunt.
He died from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said the reason for targeting Brown remains a mystery. – AFP
