The suspect responsible for the mass shooting at Brown University that killed two people and wounded nine others was found dead from what authorities said was a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a storage facility in New Hampshire on Thursday, Dec. 18.
That individual was identified as Claudio Neves-Valente, a 48-year-old former Brown University student from Portugal, according to FBI Boston Special Agent in Charge Ted Docks.
“We got him,” Docks said at a press conference Thursday evening, adding that “even though the suspect was found dead tonight, our work is not done.”
Authorities said there is still much to be learned about the motive for the attack and Valente’s actions in the days since the shooting, noting that the investigation is still ongoing.
This comes hours after a source close to the investigation told PEOPLE that law enforcement officials had identified a person of interest in the mass shooting and were close to declaring that person a suspect.
Earlier this week, the FBI announced that it would be “offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the identification, arrest, and conviction of the individual.”
There was nothing to suggest investigators were any closer to making an arrest as the search entered its fifth day, but earlier Thursday afternoon sources with knowledge of the investigation told PEOPLE that a person of interest had been identified by authorities.
This development came after officials went door-to-door and asked residents whose homes were near the Brown campus on Providence’s East Side if they had security recordings from the morning and afternoon of Saturday, Dec. 13.
Enough videos were obtained as a result of these efforts to then allow the FBI to put together a timeline of the movements one person of interest made on and around the campus on the day of the shooting.
A different individual was initially identified as a person of interest in the case and taken in for questioning on Sunday, Dec. 14, but he was released just a few hours later after investigators determined there was “no basis” to consider him a person of interest, PEOPLE previously reported.
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Authorities allege Valente entered the Barus and Holley Building at around 4 p.m. on the afternoon of Dec. 13. He then made his way to a lecture hall at the same moment 60 students were preparing to leave their study sessions.
He opened fire and within minutes, two people were dead and nine were wounded. The lone gunman could then be seen strolling away from the crime scene.
A source told PEOPLE that as of Dec. 18, the six individuals who are still hospitalized are all in stable condition and the three others have been released
The two victims killed in the shooting were later identified as Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov.
Brown University cancelled all exams in the wake of the attack and sent students home early for winter break.
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