<\/p>\n
A man suspected in the shooting at Brown University this weekend that killed two people and injured nine committed suicide Thursday night, authorities said.<\/p>\n
The man was discovered dead at a storage facility on Thursday evening. He is also believed to have killed a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor at his Boston-area home, the AP said, citing a law enforcement official.<\/p>\n
The US Attorney\u2019s Office for the District of New Hampshire put forth a press release indicating that the Brown shooter and MIT professor\u2019s killer were the same person. \u201cThe shooter is deceased and there is no longer a threat to the public,\u201d the brief press release said<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHe took his own life tonight,\u201d Oscar Perez, chief of the Providence, Rhode Island<\/a>, police department, said at a press conference.<\/p>\n Perez identified the man as Claudio Neves Valente, 48.<\/strong> Authorities believe that he acted alone. Peter Neronha, the attorney general of Rhode Island, said the suspect obtained lawful permanent resident status in September 2017.<\/p>\n Neronha said Neves Valente was found dead with a bag, and two firearms, as well as evidence in the car \u201cthat matches exactly what we see at the scene here in Providence\u201d.<\/p>\n Neronha told reporters that a person with information about the suspected shooter played a key role in finding him. After officials publicized a photo of the suspect some 24 hours ago, an individual \u201ccame forward to two Providence police officers over on the east side and said he had information that he was that person and that he had information that could help this case\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cHe blew this case right open,\u201d Neronha said at a press conference. \u201cHe blew it open.\u201d<\/p>\n The person\u2019s information led authorities to a vehicle that helped them find a name, \u201cwhich led us to the photographs of that individual renting the car, which matched the clothing of our shooter here in Providence, that matched the satchel\u201d, Neronha explained.<\/p>\n Neronha said that the suspect tried to evade law enforcement by changing license plates.<\/p>\n \u201cThis guy was changing plates was one of the reason,\u201d he said. \u201cHe knew what he was doing \u2026 we got a main plate and we\u2019ve got a Florida plate on the same car.\u201d<\/p>\n Brown University president Christina Paxson said that Valente had been enrolled at Brown from fall 2000 to spring 2001 as a graduate student in physics. He took a leave of absence in April 2001 and formally withdrew in 2003 and \u201chas no current affiliation with the university\u201d, Paxson said.<\/p>\n Physics classes typically require access to special equipment, Paxson said, which was located in the building where the shooting took place.<\/p>\n Ted Docks, FBI special agent in charge of Boston, told reporters that authorities thought the suspect attended the same university in Lisbon as the MIT professor.<\/p>\n Confirmation of the suspected shooter\u2019s death comes hours after dozens of law enforcement agents convened on a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire. Shortly before 8pm, journalist Eli Sherman reported<\/a>: \u201cMultiple law enforcement officials carrying weapons and wearing full tactical gear\u201d entered the storage facility.<\/p>\n The manhunt for the shooter had started afresh on Monday morning after the state\u2019s attorney general announced that a person of interest detained on Sunday had been released<\/a>, a development that Providence mayor Brett Smiley conceded was \u201clikely to cause fresh anxiety for our community\u201d.<\/p>\n Smiley told CNN that while the release of the original person of interest had been a setback, \u201cthat didn\u2019t mean that the other pieces of the investigation were stopped or in any way paused\u201d.<\/p>\n The FBI director, Kash Patel, faced criticism<\/a> on Monday for rushing to social media to celebrate the bureau\u2019s work, only for the person arrested to be freed hours later.<\/p>\n