A single Reddit post about a grey Nissan with Florida plates, written by an unhoused man living near the Brown University campus, became the key break that helped law enforcement identify the suspect responsible for the deadly Brown University shooting and the killing of an MIT professor days later.
“Nissan with Florida plates”
Per NBC News, the post appeared on Reddit’s /r/Providence forum three days after the Brown shooting. “I’m being dead serious. The police need to look into a grey Nissan with Florida plates, possibly a rental,” the user wrote, urging investigators to focus on a car he said he had seen repeatedly circling near campus before the attack.
The person who shared the post, identified in police records only as “John,” described suspicious behavior tied to the vehicle that had not been publicly disclosed at the time.
“Inappropriate and inadequate” clothing
According to court filings and reporting from WBUR and other outlets, John had been staying in and around Brown University’s Barus and Holley building. On the day of the shooting, he encountered a man inside the building’s bathroom and later outside near the Rhode Island Historical Society parking area.
John noted the man’s clothing was “inappropriate and inadequate for the weather,” a detail investigators later said matched surveillance footage of the shooter. John also described seeing the man repeatedly return to the grey Nissan and appearing startled when approached.
After police released an image of a person of interest, John recognized the man he had encountered and shared his observations online. Other Reddit users urged him to contact authorities directly, which he did.
Investigators say the Reddit post prompted them to re-examine surveillance footage for vehicles near the crime scene, leading them to identify a Nissan Sentra with Florida plates moving through Providence shortly before and after the shooting.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha later said the tip “blew this case wide open,” allowing law enforcement to connect evidence that had previously seemed unrelated.
The Brown and MIT shootings
The breakthrough came amid intense pressure following the December 13, 2025, shooting at Brown University, where a masked gunman opened fire inside Barus and Holley Hall, killing two people and wounding nine others. The attack sent the campus into lockdown and triggered a multi-agency investigation involving Providence police, Rhode Island State Police, and the FBI.
Early on, officials said the shooting appeared targeted, but they struggled to identify a suspect.
Days later, the case widened when MIT physics professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro was found shot to death at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Investigators eventually determined the two shootings were connected. Using the vehicle identified through John’s tip, authorities traced the Nissan to Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national and former Brown graduate student.
Law enforcement officials said Valente had previously known Loureiro, with both men having studied in Portugal, though authorities have not publicly identified a clear motive for either attack. Surveillance footage, rental car records, and witness statements tied Valente to both scenes, according to police.
The manhunt ended when Valente was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire, authorities said. Federal officials have indicated John may be eligible for the FBI reward offered for information leading to the suspect’s identification, though his full identity has not been publicly released.
Published: Dec 19, 2025 01:47 pm