Eyewitnesses to the mass shooting at Brown University have reported hearing a peculiar ‘barking noise’ from the perpetrator just before he opened fire on students who were taking their final exams in a lecture hall last Saturday.

The suspect, Claudio Neves Valente, 48, a former student at Brown University and a Portuguese national, was discovered deceased on Thursday evening, having taken his own life after a six-day search by authorities.

Law enforcement officials suspect Valente of being responsible for the tragic shooting, which resulted in the deaths of two students and injuries to nine others at Brown University. Additionally, he is believed to have killed Nuno F.G. Loureiro, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), two days following the initial incident.

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha stated during a press briefing on Thursday that many questions remain unanswered regarding the shooter’s motives.

During the conference, Neronha disclosed that witnesses recounted a strange noise made by Neves Valente as he entered the lecture hall and fired over 40 rounds, killing two students and wounding nine others.

“Some witnesses reported that he said nothing, while others mentioned that he made a barking noise,” Neronha explained. He further added, “I can’t explain why. That is all we know, as no other words were spoken to our knowledge.”

Law enforcement have come under fire not identifying and locating Neves Valente quickly enough to prevent Loureiro’s murder, with critics blasting the FBI after a Reddit user ‘cracked the case’ before they did. 

‘They’re awfully self-congratulatory given the dead MIT professor,’ conservative commentator Megyn Kelly slammed online. Her tweet was met with an echo of support by outraged X users who believe investigators failed Loureiro.  

Claudio Neves Valente, 48, (pictured) a former Brown University student and Portuguese national, was found dead Thursday evening from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police believe he is responsible for the Brown shooting and murder of MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro

Claudio Neves Valente, the suspect in the Brown University shooting in Providence, Rhode Island, picks up a vehicle at an Alamo Rent a Car facility on November 17, 2025

Authorities said information from a Reddit user who had several strange encounters with Neves Valente on a sidewalk outside Brown University was key to police identifying the suspect.

Known only as ‘John’ in a Providence police affidavit, the source is being hailed by investigators as the key figure who gave law enforcement the details needed to determine who was behind the Brown shooting, as well as the killing of Loureiro.

After police posted images of a person of interest, the witness recognized him and posted his suspicions on the social media forum Reddit.

But it took days before police say they interviewed him and only after publicizing a video where Neves Valente appeared to run away from the other man.

‘It’s hilarious that a Reddit user cracked the Brown/MIT case before Kash Patel’s FBI and shows how incompetent they are,’ one X user wrote.

‘Pathetic given their initial bungling of bringing in the wrong person and after many hours then releasing him which gave this scumbag the time he needed to murder the MIT professor,’ another said. 

Others branded John as being ‘incredible,’ while also blasting officials for having ‘nothing to do with solving the case’ and ‘failing the students and the professor.’

Some even went as far as blasting Neronha’s press conference as being ‘tone deafness’ and overly ‘self congratulatory’.

Investigators believe Neves Valente killed Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro (pictured) in his Massachusetts home two days after he carried out the Brown University mass shooting

A crowd of people holding candles gather outside the home of Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro in Brookline, Massachusetts

Authorities said information from a Reddit user who had several strange encounters with Neves Valente on a sidewalk outside Brown University was key to police identifying the suspect

Brown University students Ella Cook (left) and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov (right) were killed in the mass shooting last weekend

‘They make these news conferences about themselves,’ one wrote, to which another replied: ‘I found it obnoxious.’

‘It’s like Oscar acceptance speeches,’ another user echoed. 

‘This need to publicly praise themselves for doing the job they WERE HIRED TO DO is getting old. Congratulate yourselves after you complete a successful mission. Until then all we want to hear from you are facts,’ another added.

According to police, John had several encounters with Neves Valente before Saturday’s attack. 

As police posted images of a person of interest – now identified as Neves Valente – John began posting on the social media forum Reddit that he recognized the person and theorized that police should look into ‘possibly a rental’ grey Nissan. 

Reddit users urged him to tell the FBI, and John said he did. The police affidavit said they learned about the tip on December 16, three days after the shooting and a day after the tip line was created.

Up until that point, the police affidavit says officials had not connected a vehicle to the possible shooter.

That detail led them to get more video of a Nissan Sentra sedan with Florida plates and enabled Providence police officers to tap into a network of more than 70 street cameras operated around the city by surveillance company Flock Safety.

Law enforcement have come under fire not identifying and locating Neves Valente quickly enough to prevent Loureiro’s murder, with critics blasting the FBIafter a Reddituser ‘cracked the case’ before they did

The affidavit says John gave investigators additional critical details: he encountered Neves Valente in the bathroom of the engineering building just hours before the attack, where John noted the suspect’s clothing was ‘inappropriate and inadequate for the weather.’

John also bumped into Neves Valente outside, mere blocks from the building, where John watched Neves Valente ‘suddenly’ turn around from the Nissan when he saw John. 

What ensued was then a ‘game of cat and mouse,’ according to John’s testimony – where the two would encounter each other and Neves Valente would run away.

At one point, John says he yelled out ‘Your car is back there, why are you circling the block?’

‘The Suspect responded, “I don’ know you from nobody,” then Suspect repeatedly asked, “Why are you harassing me?”‘ according to the affidavit.

John told police he eventually saw Neves Valente approach the Nissan sedan once more and decided to walk away.

‘Respectfully, I have said all I have to say on the matter to the right people,’ John wrote on Reddit Wednesday night.

Investigators look at a grey Nissan car at a storage facility where the Brown University shooter, identified by authorities as Claudio Neves Valente, took his own life in Salem, New Hampshire

FBI Evidence Response Team Agents gather at Extra Space Storage at 10 Hampshire Road in Salem, New Hampshire on Thursday

A vehicle is processed by FBI agents at Extra Space Storage and is towed away from the scene with a tarp cover at 10 Hampshire Road in Salem, New Hampshire

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 – who is also Portuguese – previously attended the same academic program at a university in Portugal between 1995 and 2000. 

Loureiro graduated from the physics program at Instituto Superior Técnico, 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 studied at Brown on a student visa. He eventually obtained legal permanent residence status in September 2017. 

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.