Quiet, Brilliant, Reclusive: Lisbon Neighbors Recall Suspect in Brown and MIT Shootings

Neighbors and former teachers in Lisbon have painted a complex portrait of Claudio Neves Valente — described as highly intelligent but socially withdrawn — after U.S. authorities identified him as the suspect in the December attacks that left multiple people wounded and two Brown University students dead. Two days after the campus shootings, authorities say he also fatally wounded an MIT professor who had been a former classmate from Portugal; Neves Valente was later found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot in a New Hampshire storage unit.

Local Remembrances: A Careful, Distant Tenant

CNN visited the Olivais high-rise in eastern Lisbon where Neves Valente lived while a student more than 20 years ago. Neighbors recalled a polite, meticulous young man who handled the building's rotating administrative duties with precision and who greeted people by name. "He was always very diligent," said Maria Margarida Baptista, who worked with him on building administration tasks. "Everything in the administration was always very well done."

At the same time, residents described him as reclusive and often estranged from his immediate family. Several neighbors recalled occasions when his parents came to the apartment and rang the bell but he refused to answer. One neighbor said his parents sometimes waited nearby, hoping to see him; another recalled that the mother once confided, "My son needs help, but he doesn't want to get it."

Family Strain and an Empty Flat

Neighbors described instances when the parents involved police and firefighters to check on their son, fearing something was wrong. Although officers and emergency responders eventually gained entry on one occasion, Neves Valente was not at home. Later, neighbors said, he sold the apartment and the parents lost regular contact — a development they found devastating.

Claudio Valente, the suspect in Brown University shooting at a car rental in Boston, Massachusetts. - Providence Police Department

Academic Background and Reactions

Portuguese sources confirmed that Neves Valente studied Technological Physics Engineering at Instituto Superior Técnico and that he and MIT professor Nuno Loureiro were both students there between 1995 and 2000. José Morgado, a former physics and chemistry teacher who coached Neves Valente for national physics competitions, described him as brilliant and disciplined, saying the young man won the national physics olympiad and competed internationally.

“It was the complete opposite of the image I had of him,” Morgado told CNN. “Something happened to him that led him to take those actions.”

Those who knew him in Portugal said they were bewildered by the shootings and struggled to reconcile the alleged violence with their long-standing impressions of Neves Valente as a diligent, gifted student.

What Authorities Say

U.S. investigators allege that on December 13 the gunman opened fire at Brown University, wounding 11 people and killing two students. Two days later, investigators say, the same suspect shot and later mortally wounded MIT professor Nuno Loureiro in Brookline, Massachusetts. On Thursday night, police located Neves Valente dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot inside a storage unit he rented in New Hampshire. Motive remains under investigation.

The events have left family, neighbors and former teachers in Portugal searching for answers and wrestling with how a student they remembered as brilliant and reserved could be accused of such violence.