As we reported, the suspect in the shooting at Brown University on Dec. 13, in which two people were killed, and nine were injured, Claudio Neves Valente, was finally found dead on Thursday. He was also believed to have been the person behind the killing of MIT Professor Nuno Loureiro two days after the Brown shooting, on Dec. 15.
But some people were surprised by how the Providence authorities appeared to be patting themselves on the back on Thursday. Then on Friday, the Providence mayor and the police chief were at a basketball game where they stood up and were applauded. That struck many as clueless, and the response to the officials was brutal.
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley and Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez are among the first responders being honored tonight. pic.twitter.com/t1Co5BQs2r
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) December 19, 2025
People were not happy that the officials appeared to be taking a victory lap.
This is so tone deaf.
— Little Red (@hblethh__) December 20, 2025
These guys DO NOT deserve a victory tour. https://t.co/qN3lCJ1qux
Where's John the Homeless Guy? You know, the one who actually solved the case. https://t.co/FAW1ackkNU
— Teri (@TeriChristoph) December 20, 2025
If it hadn't been for John, the homeless man, the authorities might well still be clueless on the case.
UPDATE: The Brown University Shooter
— MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) December 20, 2025
Something really stinks about this entire story…
Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national and former Brown University graduate student in physics (who attended briefly around 2000–2001 before withdrawing), was… pic.twitter.com/CVjMz95Utp
John broke the case.
READ MORE: A Homeless Man, a Reddit Post, and the Stunning Break That Blew Open the Brown/MIT Shootings
There were a lot of questions as to how this case was handled. How was the suspect able to shoot people and then escape from the campus and not be found for days? What kind of security is there if a shooter can just walk into the building, and a homeless man can live in the basement? With all the money people are paying for the school, why weren't there cameras that picked the shooter up? Why did they need to go to the surrounding people and businesses to get video? As we noted, reporters raised a lot of questions, including whether the lack of cameras had anything to do with trying to stop ICE from getting information.
READ MORE: Brown University's Massive Security Failures Point Straight to the Security Chief
Watch: Brown Presser Gets Intense Over Lack of Cameras, ICE, and Who Was in the Room During Shooting
Their failure to find the shooter sooner may have led to the death of the professor; that's nothing to feel good about.
They were lucky that John was so involved and cared so much to get the information to them. He's the guy who should be getting the honors here; he went far above the call to help get the shooter.
According to a report, John is being "taken care of on the federal level" and is being put up in a hotel. He certainly deserves it. I think they should consider him for a security job, since they certainly could use some help. Authorities have indicated he may be deserving of the $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest/capture of the shooter.
But indeed, Brown needs a complete overhaul of how they have been handling security.
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