A minute-by-minute look at the search for the Brown University killer
Authorities worked for days to find a suspect after the shooting at Brown University. A timeline shows how the case unfolded.
The shooter fled the Barus and Holley building into broad daylight, leaving behind a trail of death and chaos — and clues that would take days to unravel.
Brown University students hid and barricaded themselves in rooms on Saturday, Dec. 13. Their phones buzzed with conflicting text alerts - first saying a suspect was arrested, then another soon after saying the opposite – “Police do not have a suspect in custody.”
"Lock doors, silence phones and stay stay hidden until further notice," the university warned students.
That lockdown would last for more than 12 hours. Meanwhile, authorities announced what they found at the scene.
Two students dead. Nine injured. No suspect.
Grainy photos and disappointing leads piled up amid uncertainty, fear, and frustration as the search for the killer stretched on.
And then on Thursday, Dec. 18, just a day after local authorities said they didn't know where the killer was, the case suddenly fell into place.
“We got him,” FBI special agent in charge Ted Docks said triumphantly at a news conference.
One tragedy had intersected with another. A social media tip pointed to key evidence. The tipster led authorities to a suspect, who authorities found dead.
Here's how the search for the Brown University gunman unfolded:
December 1
The suspect rented a hotel room in Boston on Dec. 1, according to Leah Foley, U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts. He also rented a gray Nissan Sentra with a Florida license plate from a car rental agency in the city.
"That same day, he drove to the vicinity of Brown University, where his car was observed intermittently between Dec. 1 and Dec. 12," she said.
December 13
10:30 a.m.: The suspect was in the area where the shooting occurred, according to evidence later uncovered by Providence Police. Police chief Col. Oscar Perez said police believe the perpetrator was casing out the area before committing the crime at this time.
4:05 p.m.: First report of shooting at the Barus and Holley building on the Brown University campus.
4:06 p.m.: A security camera at 144 Waterman St. captures video of a person walking down the street, about .2 miles from the Barus and Holley building. Person in video named a person of interest on Dec. 15.
4:22 p.m.: Brown posts an update on its home page warning of an active shooter near Barus & Holley Engineering.
5:11 p.m.: Brown posts that police do not have a suspect in custody and continue to search for suspect(s).
5:44 p.m.: President Donald Trump posts on Truth Social that he has been briefed on the shooting that took place at Brown University and the “suspect is in custody.” Clarifies shortly after that the information wasn’t accurate.
6:33 p.m.: Brown announces two people were killed in the shooting, says shooter or shooters “still are not in custody at this time.”
December 14
Around 3:45 a.m.: Federal agents and local law enforcement detain a man at a hotel in Coventry, Rhode Island.
7:08 a.m.: The Providence Police Department shares on X: “We have detained a person of interest in connection with yesterdays shooting at Brown. The shelter in place has been lifted.”
8:10 a.m.: FBI posts on X that in partnership with local law enforcement "a person of interest has been detained."
11:38 a.m.: FBI Director Kash Patel states on X, that FBI and local officials detained a person of interest in a hotel room in Coventry, Rhode Island, based off a lead by Providence Police.
11 p.m.: City of Providence holds a news conference to say they will release the detained person. Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha states there’s “no basis” to consider the released individual a person of interest. The evidence justified detaining the person, but as the investigation continued throughout the day, it did not prove a link with the detained person, Neronha says.
December 15
12:01 a.m.: Providence Police say on X the person of interest is being released. “The investigation has been ongoing and remains fully active between all agencies. Since the first call to 911, we have not received any specific threats to our community.”
12:30 a.m.: Person of interest is released.
8:30 p.m.: A Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor is fatally shot in his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, according to a federal affidavit. Nuno F.G. Loureiro, a 47-year-old theoretical physicist and fusion scientist from Portugal, was transported to an area hospital and was pronounced dead on Tuesday, Dec. 16, according to the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office.
December 16
11:30 a.m.: Brown University officially IDs the victims killed in the mass shooting. They are Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov.
12 p.m.: A spokesperson for the Rhode Island Hospital says that they have discharged a second victim of the Dec. 13 shooting.
2 p.m.: The Providence Police Department releases a new photo of the suspect in Saturday's shooting. The photo shows the suspect wearing a two-tone jacket, black face mask, black hat and what appears to be a crossbody bag.
4:30 p.m.: The Providence Police Department releases a new video containing enhanced clips of what they say is the suspect in the Brown University mass shooting.
5 p.m.:During a news conference Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez says shooter targeted the university and used a 9 mm firearm. He also says law enforcement officials are investigating claims the shooter yelled something during the shooting. FBI Special Agent in Charge Ted Docks says at the press conference that there appears to be no connection between the Brown University mass shooting and the killing of Nuno F.G. Loureiro, the MIT professor.
December 17
12:40 a.m.: President Trump criticizes Brown in an early morning Truth Social post, saying, "Why did Brown University have so few Security Cameras? There can be no excuse for that. In the modern age, it just doesn’t get worse!!!"
12 p.m.: Brown Men's Volleyball confirms in a post on social media that Spencer Yang, a Brown University freshman and setter on the volleyball team, has been released from the hospital after he was shot in the leg at the Barus and Holley building on campus Saturday night.
12:41 p.m.: Providence Police release photos of an individual who "was in proximity of the person of interest" that they want to speak with. Investigators asked for the public's help to identify the individual. The person approached police shortly after and identified himself as John, a Reddit user who posted a tip about a suspicious vehicle that helped authorities crack the case.
3:30 p.m.: Providence Police release a map showing where the person of interest in the Brown shooting "is confirmed to have been present on the day of the incident." It shows where the individual was before and after the shooting.
4 p.m.: Providence Mayor Brett Smiley says that a third victim was discharged from the hospital, five are in stable condition and one is in critical but stable condition. Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez confirms that witnesses and surviving students have given descriptions of the shooter that match the person of interest, and that law enforcement have DNA of the suspected shooter that could be used to confirm his presence at the scene once they have someone to compare it to.
6 p.m.: Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez confirms that the last known images of the person of interest come from Ives Street and its intersection with Pitman Street.
December 18
2:30 p.m.: Investigators say they are looking at whether the mass shooting at Brown University was linked to the killing of Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro, according to law enforcement sources.
3 p.m.: Rhode Island Hospital confirmed that of the nine patients who suffered gunshot wounds at the shooting, six are in stable condition and three have been discharged.
4:30 p.m.: Multiple media outlets report that law enforcement is pursuing a person of interest in the Brown University mass shooting. CBS News, The Washington Post, and the Associated Press, citing unnamed sources, report that a person of interest has been identified by New England law enforcement and is being sought.
5:50 p.m.: Police confirm to The Providence Journal that they have spoken to the person seen "in proximity" to the person of interest in the Brown University mass shooting. It was not publicly known what was discussed.
6 p.m.: Helicopters are seen circling near the Mall at Rockingham Park and Tuscan Village in Salem, New Hampshire, 83 miles away from Brown University. Police officers – including several from the Providence Police Department – and federal agents surround a building on Hampshire Road, near the Massachusetts border.
7:30 p.m.: Live video feeds from news helicopters above Salem, New Hampshire, show a large police presence in the vicinity of 10 Hampshire Road, which is an ExtraSpace Storage facility. The area is cordoned off, and police are seen on video with guns drawn.
9:01 p.m.: The first media reports indicate the suspect has been found in the New Hampshire storage facility and is dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
9:15 p.m.: Providence, state and federal authorities begin a new conference to provide update the search. Providence Police Col. Oscar Perez announces that Claudio Manuel Neves Valente has been identified as the Brown University mass shooter. Authorities also confirm Neves Valente is the suspect in the shooting of MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro.
10:30 p.m.: U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Leah B. Foley holds a press conference in Boston, where they lay out the case against Claudio Manuel Neves Valente.
Contributing: Staff of USA TODAY and the Providence Journal