Derek Lisi, a custodian at Brown University's Engineering Research Center, says he repeatedly reported a man he found "off" before the Dec. 13 lecture-hall shooting that killed two students. Lisi reported the individual to Event Staff Services (ESS) three times and later matched the suspect to police surveillance footage. ESS says monitoring buildings is not part of its event-staff contract; Brown has launched a post-shooting security review. Authorities believe the suspect, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, was also linked to a separate fatal shooting and was found dead after a five-day manhunt.
Brown Custodian Says He Repeatedly Reported Suspicious Man Before Deadly Campus Shooting
Boston Globe / Boston Globe via Getty Images
A Brown University custodian says he repeatedly flagged a man he found suspicious on campus days before the Dec. 13 shooting that killed two students. Derek Lisi, who works in the Engineering Research Center near the lecture hall where the attack occurred, told the Boston Globe and WPRI that he encountered the man several times, including the day before Thanksgiving and the evening of Dec. 1.
Custodian Recognized Suspect In Police Footage
When police later released surveillance images and video of the suspect, Lisi said he immediately recognized the man. He told investigators he had reported the individual to campus event staff multiple times and followed up by calling the university tip line, which led to a meeting with detectives.
The victims in the shooting were identified as as Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov and Ella Cook. / BING GUAN / AFP via Getty Images
"Something kept telling me, 'Don't ignore it. Don't ignore it,'" Lisi said. "I knew there was something off with him."
Lisi described the behavior that made him uneasy: the way the man appeared to browse classrooms and act unusually with his eyes. He says he reported the person to Event Staff Services LLC (ESS), a third-party vendor that provides event staff at Brown, on three separate occasions.
Vendor Response And University Review
ESS president David Madonna told the Boston Globe that responding to reports about suspicious people or "watching buildings" is not part of the company's event-staff responsibilities. "Whenever there's an event at Brown, they hire us to do ID check and capacity counts in their rooms," Madonna said.
A custodian at Brown said he reported the gunman days before the shooting took place. / Spencer Platt / Getty Images
Brown University told reporters it has conducted a post-shooting assessment of its security measures. Officials have declined to suggest the responses before the attack would have changed the outcome while investigators continue to review timelines and protocols.
Attack, Manhunt And Aftermath
Authorities say Claudio Manuel Neves Valente opened fire during a study review in a lecture hall at about 4:00 p.m. on Dec. 13, killing two students and wounding several others. Investigators also believe Neves Valente was responsible for the fatal shooting of MIT professor Nuno Loureiro at his Brookline, Massachusetts, home two days later.
After a five-day manhunt, Neves Valente was found dead in a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire, on Dec. 18. Police have released surveillance footage as part of the investigation, and detectives continue to interview witnesses and review the sequence of events leading up to the attacks.
Go With Your Gut: Lisi urged others to report behavior that seems out of place. "It was like I could see him and nobody else could — it is an eerie feeling," he told detectives.
