On December 13th, a shooting at Brown University shook the campus.
Two students were tragically killed and nine were injured when gunman Claudio Manuel Neves Valente opened fire during an economics revision class at the engineering and physics building. The students who lost their lives were Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov and Ella Cook.
Umurzokov was an 18 year old freshman and on his way to becoming a neurosurgeon. He was inspired by the doctor who operated on him as a child when he had a fluid build-up in his brain that made it difficult for him to walk in at times. He was from Uzbekistan and was known for being incredibly kind and smart. His sister, Rukhsora says her brother was always named as the smart one in the family. She says he loved learning and his lifelong goal was to help others. On the night of the shooting, she learned her younger brother had joined a friend for a review session, even though he wasn’t in the class. His family called hospitals and then the university until eventually the university’s vice president called back. At two in the morning they learned that Mukhammad had been killed.
Ella Cook was a 19 year old sophomore from Birmingham, Alabama. She studied French, math, and economics and was the vice president of the College Republicans group at Brown. She is remembered as smart, brave, confident, and faithful by her family, friends, and church. Hundreds gathered at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in downtown Birmingham to honor her memory.
The Gunman
After a long manhunt, 48 year old Claudio Manuel Neves Valente was found dead in a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire. At first, a different person of interest was taken into custody but was released without charges. Valente’s death was caused by a self-inflicted gunshot wound inflicted two days before he was found.
The five day manhunt ended after a post on Reddit came forward telling investigators to search for a gray Nissan with a Florida license plate. The anonymous post became a key breakthrough in the case, written by a witness who saw and identified Valente. This witness who officials are calling “John” said he encountered the suspect in a bathroom inside Brown’s Barus Holley building two hours before the shooting. He saw Valente approach the gray Nissan he later described in his post. When John confronted Valente he responded saying he didn’t know him and asked John why he was harassing him.
Neves Valente enrolled at Brown in 2000 as a graduate student for physics but did not finish the program. When he attended the university, records show he was assigned to room 122 at the Barus and Holley engineering building, the same building he carried out the shooting in, only in room 166.
Those who knew him were shocked to find out what he had done. Many remembered him as an intelligent and good student. In his home country, Portugal, José Morgado, a recently interviewed physics and chemistry teacher, recalled how he brought Valente to Portugal’s physics Olympics at his parents request since they were not able to take him. There he won the national event and went on to compete in the international competition in Australia at 18 years old. Morgado says he was excellent to his teachers and fellow students and says he still can’t wrap his head around what he did.
His former neighbors in Lisbon, Portugal also called Valente extremely smart, polite yet reclusive. There he studied at Instituto Superior Técnico, one of Portugal’s most prestigious engineering schools.
He however became estranged from his family. Neighbors say his parents would visit his home to never be answered. Twice his parents called the police concerned about his wellbeing and during the first a neighbor says his parents came with firefighters and police to break through the windows to check if he was dead, but he was not home. The next second time the police were called they did not force entry under pretense Valente was not a minor.
On the other hand, his former classmates at Técnico remember him as arrogant and intelligent. One classmate, Felipe Moura who now teaches at Lisbon University wrote on a post that, “Claudio’s attitude was unpleasant…” and he often argued with “colleagues he didn’t consider as brilliant as him (and who probably weren’t). …They were totally unnecessary quarrels, which did not help the class at all.” Moura says he stayed in touch with Valente when he started attending Brown and found out he was once again clashing with other students. He said he tried to convince Valente to stay to continue the PhD program, but he left the university after one year.
Scott Watson, a classmate at Brown, now a professor at Syracuse University, says Neves Valente struggled socially like him, and that he had been his only friend. Watson said Valente could be kind and gentle but was volatile. He recalls he could also be a bully, once calling a Brazilian student his “slave.” Valente also complained that classes at the ivy league weren’t challenging enough for him, which Watson says was genuinely true since he already knew most of the material impressively. Watson initially says he was shocked, but realized maybe the signs were there all along.
Connection to the Murder of MIT Professor
Neves Valente’s is also accused of shooting to death MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro. The beloved nuclear science and engineering professor was found killed at his home near Boston, 50 miles away from the Brown campus. He was an award winning fusion scientist and was named director of the Plasma Science and Fusion Center in 2024.
Both men were top students, but Valente was the best student in their year at Instituto Superior Técnico in Portugal from 1995 to 2000. But as Nuno Morais, another classmate says, even though they were both top students, they had starkly different personalities.
Call for Security and Gun Reform
The tragedy at Brown University is the 389th mass shooting of the year. Gun violence has risen to an all time high in our country and many call to the end of it.
Hundreds of students at Brown have already signed a petition to increase security at school buildings, saying officials need to do a better job keeping the campus secure against threats. Even before this, Derek Lisi, a custodian from the university came forward saying he warned on-campus security weeks ago about a suspicious man who turned out to be the shooter. He states he saw the man pacing the halls, looking into classrooms and hiding in a bathroom to avoid being seen in the weeks leading up to the shooting.
In Australia, the Bondi Beach mass shooting where 15 were tragically killed during a Hanukkah celebration. This was the country’s 2nd mass shooting of the year but new gun laws were passed right away. They were tightened stating gun owners are now restricted to owning four guns, while farmers and professional shooters will be restricted to 10 weapons. Gun owners must also be Australian citizens and firearms allowing multiple shots without reloading, similar to those used by the shooters, will also be banned. Lastly, gun licences need to be renewed every two years, allowing greater scrutiny by police.
Their quick response with new laws, that may be controversial to some, will ensure that less terrible massacres like this will occur in the future. Many are calling for the same changes in the United States.
