Suspected Brown University gunman found dead in New Hampshire after 5-day manhunt

​​​​​​​By Merve Berker and Ahmet Salih Alacaci

WASHINGTON (AA) - The body of a 48-year-old man suspected of being behind the killing of two students at Brown University in the US state of Rhode Island was found in a nearby state after a days-long investigation, authorities said Thursday.

The Portuguese national, Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente, a former graduate student of the school who withdrew in 2001, was found dead in a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, said Oscar Perez, police chief of the city of Providence, where the rampage took place Saturday.

“He was found dead, with a satchel, with two firearms and evidence in the car that matches exactly what we see at the scene here in Providence,” said Rhode Island’s Attorney General Peter Neronha, at a news conference with other officials.

While Neronha said officials were “100% sure that this is our target” and the case was “closed from a perspective of pursuing people involved,” authorities said investigative work would continue to determine the motive, which remains unknown.

Upon questioning about whether the suspect was a visa-holder, Neronha noted that he had initially entered the US on a student visa but was later granted lawful permanent resident status.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Ted Docks told reporters that Neves-Valente and MIT professor Nuno Loureiro, who was found shot dead in his home Monday, had attended the same academic program in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1995-2000.

In a separate news conference, US Attorney in Boston Leah Foley said authorities believed Neves-Valente was also responsible for Loureiro’s killing.

“On Dec. 15, he murdered Nuno Loureiro at Loureiro’s home in Brookline, Massachusetts,” she said.

The shooting at Brown had occurred at around 4 pm local time (2100GMT) inside a classroom at the Barus and Holley engineering building.

Officials said two students were killed and nine others were wounded.

Authorities initially detained a person of interest early Sunday but later released the individual, saying the investigation was ongoing.

Police said surveillance video showing a man dressed entirely in black remains “the most useful” lead in tracking the gunman’s movements before the attack.

One of the victims was identified by her church as Ella Cook, 19, a sophomore from the state of Alabama who served as vice president of the Brown University College Republicans.

The second victim was identified as Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, a freshman and naturalized US citizen from Uzbekistan who was living in Virginia.

“Tonight, our Providence neighbors can finally breathe a little easier,” Mayor Brett Smiley said at Thursday’s news conference.

“I want to thank the people of Providence for stepping up and coming together during an extraordinarily difficult time,” said Smiley, “I know this has been hard on all of us. Over the past five days, minutes have felt like hours.”