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CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip
Brown University Shooting Suspect Found Dead After Manhunt; Officials Say, Brown University Suspect Found Dead With Satchel, Two Firearms; Officials Say, Brown University Suspect was Portuguese National. CNN Airs Officials' Updates On Brown University Shooting; Suspect On Brown University Shootings Found Dead. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired December 18, 2025 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTINA PAXSON, PRESIDENT, BROWN UNIVERSITY: -- he's made us aware of this development and we provided this information to law enforcement as they build their case and wrap up the investigation.
[22:00:08]
So Claudio Manuel Neves Valente was enrolled at Brown from the fall of 2000 to the spring of 2001. He was admitted to Brown's graduate school to study in the masters of science PhD program in physics beginning on September 1st, 2000. And he took a leave of absence effective April, 2001, before formally withdrawing effective July 31st, 2003.
During his time in Brown, Neves Valente was enrolled only in physics classes. The majority of physics classes at Brown have always been held within the Barus and Holley classrooms and labs.
Now, detailed records indicating where specific courses were held don't extend back to 2001, but we can say that physics classes typically require access to specialized equipment, including demonstration cards that are a fixed asset in some of Barus and Holley classrooms.
So, I think it's safe to assume that this man, when he was a student, spent a great deal of time in that building for classes and other activities as a PhD student in physics. He has no current active affiliation with the university or campus presence.
So, again, we thank law enforcement and so many others for their extensive work on this case day and night. And we look forward to a sense of restored safety for Brown providence and the Rhode Island communities. Thank you.
MAYOR BRETT SMILEY (D-PROVIDENCE, RI): Thank you, President Paxson.
The last speaker, and then we will take your questions, is the chief of the Brown Police Department, Chief Chatman. Remember, his officers were the first to respond on Saturday, and we are so grateful for both their immediate and heroic response and their partnership over the last five days. Chief? RODNEY CHATMAN, BROWN UNIVERSITY POLICE CHIEF: I want to express my ongoing prayers and care concern for our entire community. I certainly also want to acknowledge and thank the men and women of the Brown University Police and Public Safety for their efforts, as you see this was a herculean task and required a lot of collaboration and work, and our officers and our public safety personnel were shoulder to shoulder with these assets.
I do want to also thank all of you who have helped citizens and law enforcement, that partnership and collaboration means the world to us, and we couldn't have gotten there without you. So thank you.
SMILEY: Thank you, chief.
We'll now open up questions. Go ahead. Go ahead.
REPORTER: What led authorities to link the incidents between Brown University and MIT?
COL. OSCAR L. PEREZ JR., PROVIDENCE POLICE CHIEF: Yes, I'll start. I'll just tell you that a lot of the information and evidence that we ended up gathering linked us to a connection up in Massachusetts, obviously at the MIT. But I feel our respect to the authorities in Mass as well as the FBI that that's for them to come in. But I'll tell you that the groundwork that started in the city of Providence by our detectives, the detective division under the command of Major Lapatin, as well as the federal partners that we had in our room upstairs, and ATF, the FBI led us to that connection. And so that was great work.
REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) FBI want to weigh in on that? And then I have a follow up.
TED DOCKS, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, BOSTON OFFICE: I think through that particular link that you're talking about, that case is being worked out of Massachusetts with the leadership of U.S. Attorney Leah Foley. I believe that they're having a press conference today as well, where they'll reveal more to the general public at that time. I'd be remiss to start and kind of talk on this to let them kind of have first dibs to kind of be the ones to tell the public about those particular links. And follow up, sir.
REPORTER: As for the second person who came forward, what did that person tell you and did that person know the shooter?
PEREZ: So, yes, obviously I had mentioned at the last press conference that was a person that we wanted to speak with. The work of the video collections that we had led us to identify that there was a person that actually encountered this individual. So, it corroborated everything that we saw. We saw our person of interest, we saw that there was a vehicle involved when this person came in, broke the case in the sense that explained to us exactly what we thought we had seen and put that individual at the crime scene.
[22:05:00]
Obviously, that was the break because we knew that we were in the right direction to ensure that we were going after this individual, but obviously took his life.
REPORTER: Colonel --
SMILEY: Go ahead, Steve.
REPORTER: Thank you, mayor. Did Mr. Valente act alone and is there an anti-Semitism component behind this, do you expect?
PEREZ: As far as we know, Steve, he acted alone.
REPORTER: Is there an anti-Semitism component?
PEREZ: Not that we know of.
John?
REPORTER: Colonel, what was the events that led to (INAUDIBLE)? So, was he pursued there? Did he know authorities were going after him? When was he last alive? Like how did that play out?
PEREZ: So, it plays out in the sense that we, obviously, I just stated, we collected all the evidence. We were able to learn that there was a rental vehicle. We learned about that vehicle. There was financial records that were verified by the FBI obviously and other agencies, I'm sorry, actually so another agency, there was multiple agencies that verified financial records that brought us to that site, to know that he had actually rented a site at the storage unit and then we ended up popping (INAUDIBLE).
REPORTER: I'd like to follow up.
PEREZ: Yes.
REPORTER: When he did that, did he know authorities were coming or did he just go and -- like how long had he been in that storage unit?
PEREZ: That we're not aware of, John, in the sense that all we knew is that we were on a manhunt, and that's what he led us to.
SMIMLEY: Amanda?
REPORTER: Oh, thanks. Chief, I have some questions for you about Claudio. So, he graduated, what -- he didn't graduate. He was at Brown more than 20 years ago. His last known address was in Miami and now he's here at Brown University, potentially also at MIT. What do you know about what brought him up here?
PEREZ: There's going to be unknown answers, that we have no answer as far as that. Obviously, he came up here and committed this horrific incident and this tragedy, and that's all we knew. Our mission was to ensure that we could find him and bring him to justice. But, yes, no --
REPORTER: No motive at this point?
PEREZ: At this point, correct. REPORTER: And my follow-up is of the evidence that you collected. Have you collected the handgun that you believe was used in the shooting? Had he collected any type of manifesto or evidence that he planned more shootings?
PEREZ: So, as far as I know, the FBI Evidence Recovery Team is up in Salem, New Hampshire, and they're collecting whatever evidence is up there. This happened just now as before we came up here,
SMILEY: Bill?
PEREZ: Any criminal history, political affiliations, any social media posts, anything of that sort that you can report to us about Mr. Valente?
PEREZ: Nothing that I know of.
SMILEY: Behind him, go ahead, white shirt.
REPORTER: Is there any indication that Mr. Valente was planning any future attacks?
PEREZ: Nothing that we know of, no.
SMILEY: And the way back.
REPORTER: Special Agent (INAUDIBLE), can you also tell if there's a connection, I know you said you can't talk too much about the MIT, but the fact that it was a physics professor out of MIT and then the physics building and he was studying in physics, have you tied all that up and does that lead to why target one person in Massachusetts and then a whole class here in Providence?
DOCKS: Yes, it is true that Mr. Valente was a physics student. Also we know that the MIT the victim there was in that discipline as well. I would tell you that there's multiple phases to an investigation. And so now in a sense that we know the subject is deceased, now that investigation continues to find out all of those answers to your question, sir.
REPORTER: Did he go to school where the professor -- did he go to school where the professor was killed in (INAUDIBLE) to that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is believed that in Lisbon that those two individuals attended the same university in Portugal.
SMILEY: You have a follow-up in the back.
REPORTER: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
PEREZ: Sorry, (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
REPORTER: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
PEREZ: The question was if I can briefly explain how we got to this individual and what occurred. (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
[22:10:00]
SMILEY: Alex?
REPORTER: Colonel, is there a (INAUDIBLE) providing any information without (INAUDIBLE)?
PEREZ: The FBI recovery team in forensics are up in Salem, New Hampshire. At this point, we don't have any of that.
REPORTER: Any indication of why (INAUDIBLE)?
PEREZ: That, we don't know.
PETER NERONHA, RHODE ISLAND ATTORNEY GENERAL: And I don't think we know the answer to that question. I think there's a lot of unknowns with respect to motive. I mean, I think that the real issue here is the key was to identify this person, as we talked about yesterday. I think there are other answers that are coming. But, you know, once we were able to identify him, you know, thanks to that individual who came forward, who led us to a plate, which led us to a rental car, which led us to that -- who rented that car in his own name, that really broke the case open.
But in terms of why Brown, I think that is a mystery. I think there may be something going on in Massachusetts that I'm not fully familiar with because we're working this angle, but I think the Massachusetts authority is going to be able to share that.
Yes, I don't think we have any idea why now or why, why Brown, why these students, why this classroom. That is really unknown to us. It may become clear. I hope that it does, but it hasn't as of right now.
SMILEY: Fox (ph), go ahead.
REPORTER: This is for the colonel or the attorney general. At 2:16, there's this surveillance video that showed a second person that apparently blew this case wide open and also Mr. Valente. You see them disappear behind the bushes. Was this second person following the shooter and recognized him and confront him? What was that interaction like? And I have a follow-up.
PEREZ: That's a great question. And that will be all explained in the affidavit that they generally stated and we released. But I'll give you a brief sort of explanation about that.
The person that wanted to speak with had an interaction with this individual earlier in the day and will serve them later at that time what you just stated and decided that he was going to encounter him and asked why he was inside Brown.
That pointed person, that subject of interest, Neves actually ran. He was caught up by our person that we wanted to speak with. There was sort of a conversation between the two of them. And Neves asked him, why are you harassing me? And at that point, the person that broke the case walked away. And that information was critical to us because he was able to corroborate what our detectives were seeing on video and was able to provide a great explanation.
REPORTER: And my follow-up question.
PEREZ: Yes.
REPORTER: Why did it take a citizen to notice a suspicious person right next to Brown University and not police? And also how long was the vehicle parked where it was? Was it days, hours (INAUDIBLE)?
PEREZ: It appeared to be days. As far as the areas (ph), why would a civilian observe that to be suspicious, it's a great point. And I like the fact that you're mentioning that and I'm bringing that out. That's what we should all be doing, right? And it's just personality. Some people are more interested in finding out what others are doing. In this particular case, this person decided that he wanted to, and I'm glad he did.
REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) the police would be interested in that --
SMILEY: In the back.
REPORTER: Now that the suspect -- Attorney General, now that the suspect won't be prosecuted, could you explain what (INAUDIBLE) into America tonight so people can feel a little more comfortable? Was it something, you know, (INAUDIBLE) being terrorist-related or was it something specific (INAUDIBLE)?
NERONHA: Yes. Well, back to that question, just to clarify that, they had an interaction in the bathroom in Barus and Holley. So, you know, I don't know. Probably we obviously are not going to patrol Barus and Holley. That's a question, frankly, for Brown and their police department. So, they had an interaction there. And then our citizen, you know, followed him out, because, to him, as he explained to us, this guy did not belong there. And so that's why he followed him out.
In terms of what was said, I don't know any more today than what I told you yesterday, so -- or the day before. There are some -- some with this, just as Eddie said, nothing. There are some that say he made a barking noise. Don't ask me. I don't know why. And that's it. There is no other spoken word beyond that that we are aware of as we stand before you tonight.
[22:15:04]
And we have spoken to everybody that we have been able to locate who's been inside that building.
REPORTER: And just to the special agent in charge. My follow up question is, can you just be clear to the people in Massachusetts, and I know you said the people in Norfolk County and investigators and asked, but you did say a few days ago when you talked to the colonel, the state police, and said, there's no connection between Brookline and what happened here in Rhode Island. But now you're saying there was a connection. So, are you saying that he shot up Brown University, then two years later, he was at his house in Brookline to shoot this MIT professor, and then he just drove up to Salem, New Hampshire, for no reason? How did he get into a storage facility?
DOCKS: No, I think that's a great question. My actual statement was that we didn't see a connection at that time. But, absolutely, I spoke to the colonel. right now, that case is being presided over by U.S. Attorney Leah Foley. They're having a press conference at 10:00 tonight, I believe. I think at that time they will speak to that particular case. I would be getting a little bit ahead of my skis if I spoke to that case without consultation with Leah Foley and her team, as we've been in the trenches working this up to the minute today, sir.
REPORTER: And just two days ago, you didn't know they were connected. Now, you're saying they appear to be?
DOCKS: Yes, and that's how cases often go. I would say at that time when that question was asked of me, there was no indication of a link at that time. As we've talked throughout this week, these breadcrumbs develop and we'll see what she has to say today at 10:00 P.M.
NERONHA: If I could just -- I just want to jump in here on that, please. I just want to jump in here on that because it's a good question. It's an important one. So, just to put everyone's mind at ease, who's listening now, it was -- he just drive to some random storage area. We found records with the help of the FBI and others that that was his storage area.
So, he rented a car in Boston. He drove it. We were able to find that car in New Hampshire. We were able to find evidence in the car, from looking at it from the outside, that connected this individual to our crime scene here in Rhode Island. We were able to find visual evidence of him inside that storage facility, which, in my judgment, matches him to the Massachusetts scene.
So, you'll hear more, as the special agent said, but there is no question that that was his storage unit, that he had a particular car, that we found that car because of this citizen coming forward and giving us a description of the car. And then our individual who came forward, we knew he was telling the truth because we could see it on the videotape.
And so that was a series of things that broke this case and that led us to Salem where the suspect was found dead.
SMILEY: Steph.
REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) believed to be living in Miami. Did he fly here at some point? How long was he in Providence for and when did he obtain the guns?
NERONHA: Go ahead, Oscar.
PEREZ: Yes, he did -- like I said, it'll be in the affidavit, but he did fly into Providence, I believe, on early October, I believe. That's the right date. And what was the other question? I'm sorry, Steph.
REPORTER: Did he buy the guns here? Where did he get the guns?
PEREZ: So, I'm sorry, I can't answer that.
NERONHA: We don't know the answer to that, Steph, as we stand here right now.
REPORTER: Okay. You can't fly with him. So, assuming he caught him sometime after he arrived?
NERONHA: Well, that's possible. What we do know is that he was moving around New England in that October, November and December area. Remember, we just have -- we know that there's a body in New Hampshire. We know that there are guns at the scene. It still remains to be examined comparing those guns to the ballistics evidence we have in Rhode Island, and I imagine they'll do that in Massachusetts, but, again, that's somebody else's investigation. And then, of course, we want to make sure that we match the DNA. But we are 100 percent confident that this is our target and that this case is closed from a perspective of pursuing people involved.
PEREZ: And, Steph, just to add, I think Special Agent Dockx stated, obviously, we didn't know who he was. And so it's very difficult to know what a person did prior without any knowledge of who that person is.
SMILEY: Dan?
REPORTER: Can I just ask the special agent this question? It sounds like from everybody's saying that the person who came forward to speak to you as kind of a hero in this story in a lot of ways.
DOCKS: Absolutely.
REPORTER: We know that there's a $50,000 reward. Will he get the reward?
DOCKS: You know, I will say that in this particular situation, that individual will likely get absolutely some aspect of that award. We've had a lot of other tips, I will tell you as well, that have come in from the public.
[22:20:00]
And so I don't deal typically with the distribution of those rewards. But, I mean, it would be logical to think that, absolutely, that that individual entitled to some of that reward. Yes, sir.
SMILEY: Second in the second row, red shirt. Go ahead.
REPORTER: Me?
SMILEY: Yes, you.
REPORTER: Thank you. (INAUDIBLE), do we know when or how the suspect left Providence after Brown?
PEREZ: Well, we know he left Providence and committed a homicide and another in another state on that, but we don't know -- I'm sorry. How did he leave?
REPORTER: No, I'm sorry. Do we know when he left Providence?
PEREZ: Yes, when he left. That's what -- as far as we know, he left within -- I believe his last activity was obviously when we found out he was in another state committing another crime.
SMILEY: Pat?
REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE). I'll (INAUDIBLE) this out to all of you, in particular regards to the Brown University president. A recurring theme for the last few days has been an outreach ultimately successful to the people of Rhode Island and the people of New England to track this individual down, while at the same time we've got this sort of passive/aggressive criticism of individuals who are being actively asked to engage via social media who are wildly spreading rumors, some of which couldn't have possibly emanating anywhere than law enforcement. And I do have a follow up. So would anyone like to respond to that? I mean, it's kind of condescending to a lot of people. I know you're confused that's not uncovered, but the --
SMILEY: All right, that's uncalled for. We're moving on, current.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) over here then please.
SMILEY: No, current.
REPORTER: The person who came forward with the case breaking tips, was that information originally posted online or was that person encouraged to come forward based on what people online?
PEREZ: Correct. There was a tip that was placed online and obviously we were doing our due diligence to find out who the tipster was. And then we were able to identify this person who wanted to speak with. And then we learned that that person was actually the same person that put the tip on that you're speaking about.
SMILEY: Brian?
REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE)?
PEREZ: I'm sorry.
REPORTER: Does that person live in the area?
PEREZ: That was the same person that we brought into the police station to speak with.
SMILEY: Brian?
REPORTER: The images that you showed at the beginning where you can see Mr. Valente's face, where were those images taken from? PEREZ: They were taken from the car rental business place that we learned about then.
REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) at Brown?
PEREZ: No.
REPORTER: President Paxson, if you could, so the situation is described that you had the suspected gunman and this other person had an encounter in the engineering building hours before the shooting. I had been told by an employee that there have been concerns raised at Brown previously about people getting in the building. Have you heard those? And was anything done to address those concerns about people getting into the building?
PAXSON: Yes. I mean, that's a really good question. I think we're going to have to look back and say, you know, we don't know how this person got in. We don't know when they came in. We do know that the building was unlocked that day for exams, and that's something we're going to have to look into.
REPORTER: Have you heard concerns from staff members in the past.
PAXSON: I have not personally heard concerns, but, yes.
SMILEY: Dan?
REPORTER: President Paxson, Dan Jaehnig from NBC 10. I want to go back to the question I asked you Saturday night when I first arrived on the scene. There were no cameras in this building and law enforcement, some that are standing up behind you, have said if Brown had cameras in that part of the building, we would've gotten this guy and it may have stopped this swirling action. Can you answer that question for me?
PAXSON: Well, I don't think we have said the locations of cameras at Brown. We have --
REPORTER: But there's no cameras in that building because why would they take it from a rental car agency?
PAXSON: We have 1,200 cameras at Brown.
REPORTER: But not in that building?
PAXSON: We have some in that building. It's a large complex. And I think what you would see is the video evidence in this case, from my perspective, I'm not a law enforcement agent, has been incredibly helpful. The moving of the person around the neighborhood, those video images, they helped crack this case. So, I think video was important. And as the attorney general explained at a recent press conference, this individual was not spending his time on the Brown campus. He came into a building on the edge of the campus. He left. He was in the neighborhoods. The investigation focused on the neighborhoods. The video was there, and that was really, really instrumental in cracking the case. But you could ask them. REPORTER: And this is my follow-up Madam President, if you stay at the podium. Yes, video played a big role in this case. The neighbor's video, the rental car video, but not the video from the building that he walked in freely both before when he got in the confrontation and when he came back in, decided to kill people. You didn't have cameras in that building. Just say it so we can get this over with.
And my next question is, will you put cameras -- will you put the cameras in that building?
[22:25:02]
PAXSON: Yes.
REPORTER: Will there be more cameras in that building?
PAXSON: Yes. You know, I think we need to look back. We'll look at everything that has done, but I do not think a lack of cameras in that building had anything to do with what happened there. And we will go forward. Thank you.
SMILEY: Tom?
REPORTER: Tom (INAUDIBLE), WPRO. Colonel Perez. I'm hearing from sources that the person that identified the shooter happened to be a homeless person that either lived around or inside that Barus and Holley building. Can you confirm more about this person for us? And then a follow-up for President Paxson.
PEREZ: I'll tell you, he was a person that was pretty attentive about his surroundings. I'll tell you, he was a person that was very cooperative and helpful to this investigation. And I'll tell you that he was a great individual that actually assisted us in getting us to this point where we're at. I'll tell you this.
REPORTER: Was he a Brown graduate?
PEREZ: He was, yes.
NERONHA: Yes. I'd have to say it was incredibly articulate and his testimony, had we needed it, would not only have been credible, it would have been persuasive. He was as outstanding a witness as I've seen, and he deserves a lot of credit. You know, recognizing there's a gunman on the loose that the gunman knows he had this interaction with him and he didn't -- once he knew that we were looking for his help, I mean, he came forward within an hour and that person deserves a tremendous amount of credit. I don't know whether he's going to get the reward or not, but if I had a vote, he would.
SMILEY: I mean, Tom, you got to follow-up? Are we done?
REPORTER: Go ahead.
SMILEY: Go ahead.
REPORTER: My question is for Chief Chatman, if you wouldn't mind. In October, the Brown Daily reported that you had a vote of no confidence in your leadership, and students were concerned for their safety and the fact that you had prioritized the desk jobs over having -- over field jobs and having more patrol -- people patrolling the campus.
Now, in light of this, do you accept any kind of responsibility for this? And now that we have given these prior warnings, are you going to reevaluate how the ground police operate in the future now so this doesn't happen again and these students can feel more safe on campus when they return?
CHATMAN: Right. So, as I stated earlier, I'm profoundly proud of our -- the men and women of public safety and profoundly proud of our police department. We will continue with the work that they've done and continue to work side by side with our partners. And everything else that comes with that is a continual effort to do what is best for the safety and security of our campus.
REPORTER: But will you reassess how the people are allocated within your department?
CHATMAN: Every single day, we work and endeavor to keep our campus safe, whatever that entails and all that entails.
SMILEY: In the back.
REPORTER: Yes, thank you. I was wondering, maybe this a question about the colonel. Can you talk about -- you said the two weapons were found in Valente's car. Was that one of those weapons, the gun that was used to shoot here at Brown? Is that weapon (INAUDIBLE) found?
PEREZ: That's all part of this continuing investigation. Just before we came downstairs, actually, as you are watching, that was developing up in Salem, New Hampshire.
REPORTER: Can you say the (INAUDIBLE) that the weapons were purchased --
NERONHA: Hold on a second. Yes, those firearms were found at the deceased body, not in a car. So, he was -- he killed himself inside the storage unit and the firearms were found at his -- in the area of his thigh and in the area of his feet. It was not in a car. There was evidence that was observed from outside the car that matched our crime scenes, meaning mask, clothing, satchel, which you can see on that video. And there was a main plate over a Florida plate. This guy was changing plates. One of the reasons it was so hard to find was he knew what he was doing. He was changing plates.
And so, you know, that's why the collective work of following and finding this car was made more difficult because this guy was changing plates, so we got a main plate and we got a Florida plate on the same car in New Hampshire.
SMILEY: Patrick?
REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE).
SMILEY: Oh, I'm sorry. Special Agent --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was just going to add --
SMILEY: Please, Tom Greco, again, from ATF. It's okay.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As far as the ballistics evidence, I know that the last question concerned matching the guns found to the crime scene. As several people up here have said, this investigation is ongoing, and in many ways, in some ways, just beginning. So, that -- those weapons that were found at the scene, we will be using our tools, such as NIBIN, to compare the ballistic evidence to see if we have any matches.
[22:30:00]
So, we can -- we use those tools to rule things in and to rule them out as well. So we'll be -- we'll be following up on that throughout the remainder of the investigation after.
UNKNOWN: Patrick.
UNKNOWN: So, Neves Velente was a Portuguese national. Under what status was he in the country and how did he get into the country? Do we know that at this point? I have a follow-up.
(CROSSTALK)
OSCAR L. PEREZ JR., COLONEL, PROVIDENCE POLICE CHIEF: Yes, I do. So, as far as we know he had a student visa. He had came in here with a student visa and we also had learned that he had applied to get a green card.
PETER NERONHA, RHODE ISLAND ATTORNEY GENERAL: And Patrick, if I could just be clear on that, he got that lawful permanent residence status in September of 2017.
UNKNOWN: Thank you. I was going to ask. But then, for President Paxson, has Brown had any communication from Nevis-Valente in the period after he left until now?
CHRISTINA PAXSON, BROWN UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT: As far as I know, no, he has really gone off our radar. We will continue to cooperate with the police as they continue with the investigation to find anything we can find about him. But his last class that he took at Brown was in 2001.
(inaudible)
PEREZ: From the beginning, I've told you that this investigation is extremely, extremely complex and intense. And so we used every resource as soon as we responded to the call. I stated earlier, I'm proud of the men and women of this Department. Yes, we did find somebody that we thought obviously was the person, but we continued on. We continued on investigating. We continued on canvassing the areas. We continued on with video. And that's why we ended up where we're at now. NERONHA: And if I could just jump in here. I just want to continue to
answer that question. important one. And the answer to that is this, and I try to convey it a couple of days ago. We broke ourselves out into teams.
So, while the Providence team and the state police team and the ATF team were working here in Providence to follow up leads, develop whatever video evidence we can, which eventually led to all the steps that you've seen and are laid out in the affidavit, which is on our website, and it is multiple pages. You'll see the progression.
So, while the FBI were working Coventry, we were working here. Now you may ask, well, what was it about Coventry that made us, for those of us who've been in law enforcement for a long time, why did we have to run that lead to ground? Here's why. When the FBI confronted him, initially he was not cooperative. When they entered the room to secure it, there were guns in the room. One of them had a laser sight.
The witnesses had told us there was a laser sight used in the course of the attack, okay? We had to run that to ground. We couldn't just like not run that to ground. That was a very promising lead. But that's why you don't get over your skis about -- and word choice is important. So while we had to test those ballistics and test the DNA off those guns and that DNA ruled this guy out, okay? But we had to run that lead to ground.
But while we're running that lead to ground over the course of Sunday, for the most part, my memory is correct, we were working other leads, which eventually led us to a recreation by the great work of the team, including the marshals, the way, that are up here, movements, image of our cooperating witness, witness comes in and you've heard the rest.
So, you know, this is the way these investigations work. You don't chase one and stop. We have chased more than one lead over the course of the last four to five days. There was one lead that we followed, didn't work out. There was another lead that we followed, didn't work out. There was another lead that we followed, didn't work out.
So that's at least in my mind, five different leads that didn't -- that one worked out, four didn't. But you're running them all down at the same time. So, I can't -- I can't offer any comfort in that regard. But I don't believe that we would have found this person any sooner, given the evidence that was available to us.
UNKNOWN: The way back (inaudible).
PEREZ: We received a tip about that post and immediately acted on it. And so, that's exactly what occurred. As soon as the tip came in, we had a tip center upstairs that was staffed, as I mentioned earlier, by detectives and agents. They were going through hundreds of tips that were coming in, hundreds. We were vetting them through, ruling them out, just like the general stated.
We were making sure that whatever came in, we checked it to his entire to ensure that we weren't missing anything. And so when we got to that tip, obviously, it led us to that person that we wanted to speak with, and I told you the rest earlier, so --
(CROSSTALK)
[22:35:00]
NERONHA: I just want to -- I want to complete that, too, because this is important. This person had to come forward. That's why we put the picture out. Once we put the picture out, he came forward. But we didn't know who that person was.
We knew about what was on Reddit, but we didn't know who that person was. That's why when we identified another person, we didn't know when that person came forward that he was the Reddit poster. He then told us he was, okay? So all of these things kind of happened in that sequence.
UNKNOWN: Go ahead, Chris.
UNKNOWN: (inaudible) Do we know why he left school early in 2001? Did he have a history of mental illness that looked like expressed during that time or before?
PAXSON: No, we learned his name very, very recently. We haven't had a chance to really dig into the records. But we will if it helps with the investigation.
UNKNOWN: We have a follow-up question.
UNKNOWN: Another question about a student visa -- said he doesn't have a visa now. What school is he affiliated with?
UNKNOWN: General, you need to go to that.
NERONHA: Yes, so he's not here on a student visa now. He was initially. And then he applied for and received lawful permanent resident status in September of 2017, okay?
UNKNOWN: Go right here (inaudible).
PEREZ: Again, as I stated earlier, we just identified with obviously that person and this developed pretty quickly. So that's all part of the investigation that's coming.
UNKNOWN: And can you talk about was there any interaction with the law enforcement before he died?
PEREZ: No, not that we know.
(CROSSTALK)
UNKNOWN: You wouldn't know any associates of his family members, friends, roommates on, and if there are any in the United States, did any of them come forward --
PEREZ: No, not at this time. This evolved extremely quickly. We've been at this for six days. And so here we are, and we now identify who the person is. We're about to make an apprehension. As I stated earlier, he took his own life. But that's all part of the investigation that we'll continue about him.
UNKNOWN: Go ahead (inaudible)
UNKNOWN: -- were asked about possible mental illness following the shooting. When he was at Brown, did he have any grievances, disputes with anyone, any problems, any disciplinary issues, any problems at all that were documented?
PAXSON: Not that we know of at this point. I mean, again, this is -- these are very, very old records, you have to understand. We learned about this very recently. And I think going forward, as we learn more, we will cooperate with the investigation to give them the information they need.
UNKNOWN: Go ahead -- in the white shirt (inaudible)
UNKNOWN: If that's the case, can you elaborate more on why there was someone else detained initially in the lead that led you to that person (inaudible).
PEREZ: Yes, so --
UNKNOWN: And I have a follow-up.
PEREZ: Brittany, great question. So we have received a tip about that first person. We have received a about him wanting to get a permit to carry a firearm. And that led us to also learn that he was a person who potentially could be -- it was just where he was denied and then he went to another Department and the descriptions led us there. So we ended up, we had it vetted through.
Obviously, the FBI responded, followed through that whole tip, ended up finding the person, taking him to custody, finding him with two firearms with a laser. And so, it took a while for us to able to rule him out. But it was a tip that came in. And as I stated earlier, as soon as the call came in, it was all hands on deck. And there was nothing that we were just going to say that is not anything that had to do with this case. Obviously, we wanted to make an apprehension. And we went after that. So --
NERONHA: If I could just jump in here, Mayor, I'm sorry to do that. But I think I heard you say that Mr. Valente was the suspect from the start.
UNKNOWN: Primary focus.
NERONHA: No, no. He became the primary focus yesterday at around this time. This name was not known to us until yesterday. So, when our cooperator came in last night, we were able to track the car, get the name, and then we were in the position of today to do we push that name out so that you can help us find this guy? Or do we think we know where he is?
And so that was the balance that was that back and forth analysis in our minds, collective investigative team minds, was going on today. But his name did not come to us until yesterday. As I said yesterday, until you have the name, which we did not have until yesterday, after our press conference together. That's when this thing heated up. As soon as you have a name, I believe you can find anybody in this country.
[22:40:00]
And the fact that this team was able to do it in around 24 hours, I think, is a tribute to them, their hard work around the clock to do exactly what we have been talking about doing which is how long is it going to take? And it took, you know, roughly five days. And that's a tribute to them.
PEREZ: Brittany, if I could just clarify further on that. So what I meant, obviously, it was that the image that we release within hours of that person of interest that was walking on Waterman Avenue and corner that was sent out within minutes, that became a primary focus of the investigation that person of interest.
UNKNOWN: (inaudible) and if I may, my follow-up. I believe it's said that the last address for Valente was in Miami.
PEREZ: Correct.
UNKNOWN: Have law enforcement in Miami been notified? Are they searching this last address -- (inaudible)
TED DOCKS, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, BOSTON OFFICE: No, Brittany, absolutely. Yes, that address, I believe, one that predicated in 2001. And so absolutely, the law enforcement agencies, both federal and local, were notified of that. They also went to that residence as well, also talked to the individuals that was at that particular residence to see if they had any type of connections or associations with Valente.
UNKNOWN: Thank you.
DOCKS: Absolutely.
UNKNOWN: On way back.
UNKNOWN: Question for Colonel Perez. I'm sorry (inaudible) What's next ? Do you have any leads on the motives (inaudible).
PEREZ: So, the question was what's next? What are we going to do next? And so (SPOKEN IN SPANISH).
UNKNOWN: (SPOKEN IN SPANISH)
PEREZ: (SPOKEN IN SPANISH)
UNKNOWN: Colonel. Go ahead. Right there.
UNKNOWN: (inaudible) PEREZ: So it was the financial records that the federal agency followed through the investigation that led us to learn that this person had rented there, so -- a storage unit. And so we responded immediately and we found that the vehicle that we were looking for of interest was parked there.
UNKNOWN: Okay, go ahead.
UNKNOWN: Chief, can you speak a little bit more to that identification of the vehicle of interest and the person who did that? And as you said, there was video captured. Could you us through that aspect of this? Was this the witness who provided to you the vehicle? Can you walk us through how that vehicle of interest entered the investigation?
PEREZ: Correct, yes, it's part of the tip that was posted actually and then also the tipster had called and had stated that this individual had a fob and was trying to enter a vehicle that was parked on Benevolent. And so because of that, we obviously knew there was a vehicle and there was a description of a vehicle. When we brought him in, he collaborated further on that vehicle.
We put it out through FLOC, the description of it, and we learned that within that time period, there was only a certain amount of vehicles that came up with those description fit in there. So our detectives obviously stayed on that and ended up finding this vehicle with Florida plates. And that's how we ended up with that specific vehicle.
Then we had learned that the vehicle also potentially could have changed their plates. And as I stated earlier, we were able to find the vehicle on FLOC, actually get the actual play. We learned that it was a car rental, which brought us up to learn that, you know, we needed to learn more at the rental place about the individual, which we did.
And then further later, we find out again, doing all the work that they did upstairs, I think was tremendous too. If you had a chance and an opportunity to see how much work was put in, because it was bits and pieces of information. It's almost like putting a puzzle together. You only have just a few pieces and you're building it. And that later on, let us with the financial records to learn that he rent a storage unit in New Hampshire and that's why we ended up --
UNKNOWN: (inaudible) -- the attorney general. You mentioned again weighing that public interest versus the information that was available to law enforcement at the time as this person again considered armed and potentially dangerous --
UNKNOWN: Yes.
UNKNOWN: -- was out there -- just spoke to license plates changing on a variety of moments if you will. But was it too fast moving? Talk to us about weighing again that -- provide information to the public --
NERONHA: Yes.
UNKNOWN: -- with an armed and dangerous individual and vehicle used that involved multiple license plates.
[22:45:04]
And your decision not to sort of real time inform the public --
NERONHA: Yes. So, we knew yesterday, last night who this guy was and that he had rented a car in Boston. So the question becomes, is he going to return the car to Boston? We got information he might return it to Connecticut. He didn't return it at all. But when we thought he might be returning it to the information, you know, to the locations, we wanted to try to take him without him knowing we were coming.
As soon as his name gets out there, he is going to be even more in the wind. And so, the question becomes, if you think you might know where he is, right, eventually you find a storage unit, right, so you're following that up. But initially you think he might return the car to Boston on Atlantic Avenue, I believe, or in Connecticut, perhaps to board a flight somewhere, you're weighing, can I take this guy because we know where he's going to be. But -- and not alert him that we're coming.
And so that -- and so I would say this afternoon, we were going back and forth on that. But as the FBI and the ATF and our other partners, Providence Police, state police developed evidence as to where he was, ultimately in New Hampshire, we decided to pursue to that location. And there we found the car with those multiple plates that we were looking for -- a Florida plate and a main -- and a main plate on top of it.
UNKNOWN: Right there. Go ahead.
UNKNOWN: General, on that DNA evidence, you know, where was that tested and also the firearm (inaudible).
PEREZ: Yes, I just wanted to touch real quick and I know ATF is going to be able to answer you that but that's a great question, Mark. And the reason for that is because when the incident first happened, it was our BCI unit that responded and collected that DNA and protected the integrity of that DNA and sent it out.
UNKNOWN: Thank you. The evidence collected, the DNA and the firearms were sent to the Connecticut State Police Lab. They had the best local capabilities to handle that type of evidence and do those type of examinations.
UNKNOWN: Thank you.
UNKNOWN: Wheeler (ph), go ahead.
UNKNOWN: So, is there an understanding of how he got to get the rental car in Boston or what his movements were in the days and weeks before the shooting?
PEREZ: So, if there's an understanding how he got to Boston to rent a car, is that?
UNKNOWN: Yes, where was he in the days --
(END LIVE COVERAGE)
SIDNER: All right, you have been listening to breaking news tonight out of Rhode Island. There is another press conference that is currently going on in Boston. We're going to head there.
(LIVE COVERAGE BEGINS)
LEAH B. FOLEY, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS: -- in Portugal between 1995 and 2000. Although Neves Valente appeared to reside in Florida, between November 26 and November 30 of this year, he rented a hotel room in Boston. On December 1st, he rented a gray Nissan Sentra with Florida plates from a car rental agency in Boston. That same day, he drove to the vicinity of Brown University, where his car was observed intermittently between December 1st and December 12th.
On December 13th, Neves Valente entered an auditorium on Brown University's campus during a study session and began shooting at students, killing Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov and injuring nine others. Between December 13 and December 14, NevesValente returned to Massachusetts. On December 15th, he murdered MIT professor Nuno Luriero at Luriero's home in Brookline, Massachusetts.
At some point while he was in Massachusetts, he switched the plates on the Nissan Sentra to an unregistered plate out of Maine. Immediately following Professor Luriero's murder, Neves-Valente drove to a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, where he had rented a storage unit in November of this year.
Since the December 13 shootings at Brown and the December 15 shooting in Brookline, state, local, and federal law enforcement officials have been working hand in hand around the clock to identify the shooter and prevent him from inflicting further harm. I have said this before and will continue to believe when law enforcement agencies work together, crimes are solved and the public is protected.
The information we provided to you tonight would not be possible without the dedicated men and women of law enforcement in multiple districts throughout New England, including the FBI, ATF, HSI, the U.S. Marshals Service, Massachusetts State Police, Rhode Island State Police, Providence Police, Brookline Police, and the Brown University Police.
[22:50:02]
In addition, prosecutors for the Rhode Island Attorney General's Office and the Norfolk County District Attorney's Office, and federal prosecutors from Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Massachusetts all contributed to this result. I also want to thank Attorney General Pam Bondi for her support in coordinating the federal response.
UNKNOWN: Can you tell us what could be his motives and the two sets of victims and how they might be related -- how he might be related to them? FOLEY: That is not information that we can share right now, but as soon as that information becomes available, we will share that with the public.
UNKNOWN: Are you able to say anything of what led you to link the two crimes, perhaps (inaudible).
FOLEY: Yes, so the question was, how were we able to link him to the two crimes? So investigators identified the vehicle that he had rented in Boston and then drove to Rhode Island. And he was seen -- and the vehicle was seen outside of Brown and there was security footage that see -- that showed a person who resembled him.
There was online -- there was financial investigations that were going on in the background that linked him not only to that car, but also to the hotels that he had rented and the car that he had used to not only drive to Rhode Island, but then back to Boston. And then there was the security footage that captured him within a half mile of the professor's residence in Brookline.
And there is a video footage of him entering an apartment building in the location of the professor's apartment. And then later that evening, he is seen about an hour later entering the storage unit wearing the same clothes that he had been seen wearing right after the murder.
UNKNOWN: You know that an extensive video canvas as part of this investigation -- that leaves you no doubt.
FOLEY: This is the evidence we have right now. We're coming to you tonight because the federal complaint was unsealed and we wanted to provide you with the information and to assure the public that law enforcement collectively believe that we have the person -- that we identified the person and that person is dead. And that he was the person responsible not only for the Brown shootings but for the Brookline shooting.
UNKNOWN: (inaudible)
FOLEY: No, when investigators went into the storage facility tonight to execute the federal search warrant, he was dead.
UNKNOWN: Do you think he entered there this evening?
FOLEY: No.
UNKNOWN: He entered an hour after what happened at Brookline?
FOLEY: Yes.
UNKNOWN: (inaudible)
FOLEY: Our understanding from the financial investigation is that he had rented a storage facility at the location in Salem, New Hampshire in November.
UNKNOWN: Can you confirm whether or not he used the same weapon in the Brown shooting as he did at the MIT shooting?
FOLEY: Ballistics investigation was ongoing and has not been completed at this time, so we're not going to comment on that.
UNKNOWN: Can you give us any sense on when you started to recognize perhaps that, you know, he was the same person in the (inaudible) video? But (inaudible).
FOLEY: It was in the last 24 to 48 hours that my understanding, or like, according to my understanding, is when the link began to be established. And that was mainly -- he was using a phone that was obfuscating ability to track it. And he was using financial, like not credit cards that were tied to his name. And so, he was sophisticated in hiding his tracks.
UNKNOWN: According to the (inaudible).
(LIVE COVERAGE ENDS)
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. You've been listening to the breaking news tonight. Two separate press conferences, huge revelations in that mass shooting at Brown University. One, police identified the suspect after days on the run.
And two, that suspect was found dead. According police, he killed himself. We also now know this all went down in Salem, New Hampshire, where police swarmed an area with a storage facility and found a car linked to the subject. There is also a stunning twist revealed today.
[22:55:00]
The Brown killings are linked to the murder of an MIT professor on Monday. Live for us tonight, CNN's Danny Freeman, who's at the scene in Salem, New Hampshire, and CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst, John Miller is here with me now.
John, so much information came out of both of these press conferences, one in Rhode Island, one in Massachusetts. What stood out to you?
JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well that, first of all, that this individual is believed to be responsible for both of these crimes because crimes are so different. One is a mass shooting at a college where he used to attend, but 20 years ago. The other is a very personal up close shooting of a specific individual who he attended the same school with, not Brown University, but a school in Portugal in the 1990s.
So what the grievance was, how those are connected, if they're connected to very different crimes. But what we also learn is that police using a myriad of techniques, including reaching out to the public for help, doing an extensive video canvas, following social media, and then a mystery witness who turns out to be a janitor at Brown University who first encountered this person at the end of November, in the beginning of December, realizing that he was suspicious and didn't belong there and registered that and gave that to police in an interview. Then he later posts in Reddit after seeing the person again in the
street after the shooting and basically chasing him down and saying, you know, what are you doing? And then a third time when police showed us that second person where they said, this guy is not a suspect, but we see on the video he has an encounter.
All of those people, the guy from the encounter, the guy from the Reddit post, the janitor at the school who first found him suspicious in the bathroom, turn out to be the same guy, John, who approaches police and says, I think he's connected to this silver car.
The police then used the flock system, which is the camera system that contracts with the city of Providence to find images of that car and realize it's got a Florida plate. It's a rental. It comes back to Boston. And the rest unfurls as prosecutors and investigators have been telling us. But that's an incredible journey in a relatively short time with a lot of twists and turns.
SIDNER: A lot of twists and turns. One of the big things we heard from police is that he had two different license plate, one from Florida, one from Maine, I think. So he was clearly trying to evade police and figure out how to get out of there.
We do know his name. It's Claudio Valente, a 48-year-old who is a former Brown student. When I say former, we're talking 2001. And that he was initially in the country on a student visa. What more did we learn about the suspect?
MILLER: So, really interesting. We learned he's a former Brown student from 2000 to 2001, but he comes in September of 2000 and he takes a leave of absence by April. So he's basically there six months. As you know, taking a leave of absence can be because a family issue came up or it can be because you're struggling in school. And then he doesn't officially, he never comes back, but he doesn't officially withdraw to -- until 2003.
So we don't have motive. They don't have motive. They'll try to develop that based on profile of the suspect and getting deeper into his history by interviewing people around him. But you could look at it and say, in the Brown University case, it appears that he may have felt that he failed there or that he was rejected there and carried that over these years, returning back.
As for the professor from MIT in Boston, that's where we have less visibility. They attended the same school. They studied the same thing in Portugal back in the '90s. Does he have some idea that one went on to great meteoric success in his field and he did not? Is there some resentment there? All of these, and these are questions, not answers, all of these are the layers that they're going to have to peel back in order -- they don't need motive. The suspect is dead.
SIDNER: Right.
MILLER: But in order to answer the questions that so many will have about why did this happen? SIDNER: Exactly, let us go. Thank you so much, John, for all your great reporting on this throughout. Let's go now to Danny Freeman. He is on the scene where the suspect was discovered dead. What are you learning there?
DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Sara, it's amazing that this nightmare that's really plagued New England for several days came to an end of all places here in Salem, New Hampshire. We're going to have a lot more to talk about this in the next hour, but I just want to share with you.
This is the storage area right behind me. We've seen a tremendous amount of law enforcement activity and just in the past minute and a half or so, a tow truck just entered through this police line behind the storage facility, presumably to go gather the car, the vehicle that led folks to this particular storage unit where a lot of law enforcement officials say they were able to see inside and see that mask, see that satchel, see other things that indicated that their suspect, their then person of interest was likely here.
The suspect, Sara, had a storage unit inside here. That was one of the main ways that led them to this specific facility. And then of course, as we now know, the suspect found dead with an inflicted gunshot wound inside there. So again, a lot more to tell you about this particular space in the coming hour, but that's a very active scene behind me right here as the investigation concludes in Salem, New Hampshire. Sara.
SIDNER: Thank you to you, Danny Freeman. They're on the scene. The big breaking news, the suspect and the Brown mass shooting has been found. He has been found dead by police. Special coverage continues with Laura Coates right now.
