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Suspect in Brown University Shooting and a MIT Professor found dead
Associated Press: Officials say a man who is suspected in last weekend’s mass shooting at Brown University and in the fatal shooting of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor has been found dead in a New Hampshire storage facility. Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez says 48-year-old Claudio Neves Valente was found dead Thursday from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Neves Valente is a former Brown student and Portuguese national. Perez says they believe the suspect acted alone. U.S. attorney for Massachusetts Leah B. Foley says Neves Valente and MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro attended the same academic program in Portugal between 1995 and 2000.
A frantic search for the suspect in last weekend’s mass shooting at Brown University ended at a New Hampshire storage facility where authorities discovered the man dead inside and then revealed he also was suspected of killing a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor.
Claudio Neves Valente, 48, a former Brown student and Portuguese national, was found dead Thursday night from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, said Col. Oscar Perez, the Providence police chief.
Investigators believe he is responsible for fatally shooting two students and wounding nine other people in a Brown lecture hall last Saturday, then killing MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro two days later at his home in the Boston suburbs, nearly 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Providence. Perez said as far as investigators know, Neves Valente acted alone.
Brown University President Christina Paxson said Neves Valente was enrolled there as a graduate student studying physics from the fall of 2000 to the spring of 2001.
“He has no current affiliation with the university,” she said.
Neves Valente and Loureiro previously attended the same academic program at a university in Portugal between 1995 and 2000, U.S. attorney for Massachusetts Leah B. Foley said. Loureiro graduated from the physics program at Instituto Superior T袮ico, Portugal’s premier engineering school, in 2000, according to his MIT faculty page. The same year, Neves Valente was let go from a position at the Lisbon university, according to an archive of a termination notice from the school’s then-president in February 2000.
Neves Valente had come to Brown on a student visa. He eventually obtained legal permanent residence status in September 2017, Foley said. It was not immediately clear where he was between taking a leave of absence from the school in 2001 and getting the visa in 2017. His last known residence was in Miami.
After officials revealed the suspect’s identity, President Donald Trump suspended the green card lottery program that allowed Neves Valente to stay in the United States.
There are still “a lot of unknowns” in regard to motive, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said. “We don’t know why now, why Brown, why these students and why this classroom,” he said.
Tip helps investigators connect the dots
The FBI previously said it knew of no links between the Rhode Island and Massachusetts shootings.
Police credited a person who had several encounters with Neves Valente for providing a crucial tip that led authorities to him.
After police shared security video of a person of interest, the witness — known only as “John” in a Providence police affidavit — recognized him and posted his suspicions on the social media forum Reddit. Reddit users urged him to tell the FBI, and John said he did.
John said he had encountered Neves Valente hours earlier in the bathroom of the engineering building where the shooting occurred and noticed he was wearing inappropriate clothing for the weather, according to the affidavit. He again bumped into Neves Valente a couple blocks away and saw him suddenly turn away from a Nissan sedan when he saw John.
“When you do crack it, you crack it. And that person led us to the car, which led us to the name,” Neronha said.
His tip pointed investigators to a Nissan Sentra with Florida plates. That enabled Providence police to tap into a network of more than 70 street cameras operated around the city by surveillance company Flock Safety. Those cameras track license plates and other vehicle details.
After leaving Rhode Island, Providence officials said Neves Valente stuck a Maine license plate over his rental car’s plate to help conceal his identity.
Investigators found footage of Neves Valente entering an apartment building near Loureiro’s in a Boston suburb. About an hour later, Neves Valente was seen entering the Salem, New Hampshire, storage facility where he was found dead, Foley said. He had with him a satchel and two firearms, Neronha said.
Victims include renowned physicist, political organizer and aspiring doctor
Loureiro, a 47-year-old physicist and fusion scientist, had joined MIT in 2016 and was named last year to lead the school’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, one of its largest laboratories. The scientist from Viseu, Portugal, had been working to explain the physics behind astronomical phenomena such as solar flares.
The two Brown students killed during a study session for final exams were 19-year-old sophomore Ella Cook and 18-year-old freshman Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov. Cook was active in her Alabama church and served as vice president of the Brown College Republicans. Umurzokov’s family immigrated to the U.S. from Uzbekistan when he was a child, and he aspired to be a doctor.
As for the wounded, three had been discharged and six were in stable condition Thursday, officials said.
Although Brown officials say there are 1,200 cameras on campus, the attack happened in an older part of the engineering building that has few, if any, cameras. And investigators believe the shooter entered and left through a door that faces a residential street bordering campus, which might explain why the cameras Brown does have didn’t capture footage of the person.
(Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Retired Nascar Driver Greg Biffle and Family Among 7 Killed in North Carolina Plane Crash
STATESVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Retired NASCAR driver Greg Biffle, his wife, and their two children are among the seven people killed in a plane crash in North Carolina. The Cessna C550 crashed at Statesville Regional Airport, north of Charlotte. Records show the plane was registered to a company run by Biffle. AccuWeather reports some drizzle and clouds at the time of the crash. The Statesville airport serves NASCAR teams and Fortune 500 companies. NASCAR says the news is devastating. The 55-year-old Biffle won more than 50 races across NASCAR’s three circuits.
(Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Trump Administration Moves to Cut Off Transgender Care for Children
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials are proposing new restrictions that are designed to block access to gender-affirming care for minors. The announcement from Department of Health and Human Services is the latest step by the Trump administration cracking down on care for transgender Americans. The sweeping proposals include cutting off federal Medicaid and Medicare funding from hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to children. The proposals are not final or legally binding. They must go through a lengthy rulemaking process and are likely to face legal challenges. They also contradict the recommendations of major medical groups including the American Medical Association.
(Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Half of $18Billion in Federal Funds for Minnesota-Run Programs May Have Been Defrauded, Official Says
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal prosecutors say about half of the roughly $18 billion in federal funds that supported 14 Minnesota-run programs since 2018 may have been stolen. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson said Thursday that the scale of fraud in Minnesota puts services at risk for people who really need them. While prosecutors typically see fraud manifest as providers overbilling, Thompson says companies have been created to provide zero services while pocketing federal funds for international travel, luxury vehicles and lavish lifestyles. He says the “magnitude cannot be overstated,” and that the fraud is ”staggering.”
(Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Romanian Court Sentences US Rapper Wiz Khalifa to 9 Months for Drug Possession
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A court in Romania has sentenced American rapper Wiz Khalifa to nine months in jail on drug possession charges. The ruling on Thursday came more than a year after he took part in a music festival in the Eastern European country. Khalifa was stopped by Romanian police in July 2024 after allegedly smoking cannabis on stage at the festival in Costinesti. Prosecutors said the rapper was found in possession of more than 18 grams of cannabis and that he consumed some on stage. The Constanta Court of Appeal handed down the sentence. The decision is final. It isn’t clear whether Romanian authorities will seek to file an extradition request since Khalifa is a U.S. citizen and doesn’t reside in Romania.
(Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
US Says Price Increases Eased Last Month but Data May Be Distorted and Americans Aren’t Feeling It
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. inflation slowed unexpectedly last month according to data that was delayed and likely distorted by the government shutdown. The Labor Department reported Thursday that its consumer price index rose 2.7% in November from a year earlier. Yet, year-over-year inflation remains well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, and Americans are complaining loudly about the high cost of living.The report was delayed eight days by the federal government’s 43-day shutdown, which also prevented the Labor Department from compiling overall numbers for consumer prices and core inflation in October. Thursday’s report gave investors, businesses and policymakers their first look at CPI since the September numbers were released on Oct. 24.
(Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Trump Signs Executive Order That Could Reclassify Marijuana as a Less Dangerous Drug
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that could reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug. This move could ease regulations and expand medical research by shifting marijuana from a Schedule I drug, like heroin, to a Schedule III substance, similar to ketamine. This change won’t legalize recreational use nationwide but may alter regulation and taxation. Former President Joe Biden’s Justice Department had also proposed reclassifying marijuana, but Trump’s order on Thursday could speed up the process,. Some Republicans oppose the change, arguing marijuana remains dangerous. Trump has focused on combating other drugs, like fentanyl, during his second term.
(Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
TikTok Signs Deal to Sell US Unit to American Investors, Including Oracle, Silver Lake
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — TikTok has signed a deal to sell its U.S. business to three American investors — Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX — ensuring the popular social video platform can continue operating in the United States. The deal is expected to close on Jan. 22, according to an internal memo seen by The Associated Press. CEO Shou Zi Chew said in the memo that ByteDance and TikTok have signed binding agreements with the three investors.
(Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Wall Street Rises After an Encouraging Inflation Update, as Micron Helps AI Stocks Stop Their Slide
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose following an encouraging report on inflation that could help the Federal Reserve keep cutting interest rates next year. A strong profit report from Micron Technology also helped AI stocks halt their sharp slides on Thursday, at least for now. The S&P 500 gained 0.8% to break a four-day losing streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1%, and the strength for tech stocks sent the Nasdaq composite up 1.4%. Treasury yields eased in the bond market after the report showed U.S. inflation was less bad last month than economists expected.
(Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
European Central Bank Leaves Rates Unchanged With Economy Showing Signs of Modest Growth
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank is leaving interest rates unchanged for the fourth meeting in a row as the economy in the 20 countries that use the euro increasingly looks strong enough to get by without the stimulus of lower borrowing costs for businesses and consumers. The bank’s rate-setting council on Thursday left the benchmark deposit rate unchanged at 2%, where it has been since a rate cut in June. Economists now think the rate could stay right there for months – and possibly into 2027. While the ECB is standing pat, Britain’s central bank cut rates by a quarter point as inflation there eases.
(Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)