Federal authorities on Tuesday released transcripts of videos recorded by the man responsible for the deadly shootings at Brown University and the killing of an Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor, saying he planned the attacks for more than six semesters and expressed no remorse.
The US Department of Justice said the recordings were recovered after investigators formally confirmed the shooter’s death last week.
Attacks and suspect
Law enforcement identified the shooter as Claudio Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national and former Brown student. On December 13, he opened fire inside an engineering building at Brown University, killing students Ella Cook and MukhammadAziz Umurzokov and injuring nine others.
Two days later, on December 15, Valente fatally shot Nuno F. G. Loureiro, an MIT professor, at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts. Authorities said Valente and Loureiro had attended school together in Portugal decades earlier.
On December 18, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives announced that Valente had been found dead inside a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire. During a court-authorised search of the unit, agents recovered an electronic device containing several short videos recorded after the shootings.
Planning and lack of remorse
According to the DOJ, the videos—recorded in Portuguese and later translated—show Valente admitting that he had planned the Brown attack for more than six semesters. He did not specify a motive for targeting either the Brown students or the MIT professor.
Across more than 11 minutes of footage, Valente discussed the shootings, criticised media coverage, complained about a self-inflicted eye injury and repeatedly rejected the idea that he owed anyone an apology. He described the attacks as deliberate and final, saying he felt no regret for the killings themselves.
Views on responsibility and mental state
In the recordings, Valente dismissed claims that ideology or hatred of the United States motivated him, framing the shootings as acts of opportunity. He also rejected suggestions that mental illness played a role, insisting he was “sane,” and said his only regret was the eye injury he sustained.
Near the end of one video, he offered a bleak assessment of the world, saying he believed it could not be redeemed.
Federal assessment
The DOJ said Valente “showed no remorse” in the recordings, instead blaming others while focusing on his injuries. Officials said the investigation into motive is continuing but, based on evidence so far, authorities do not believe there is any ongoing public safety threat connected to the case. Further updates will follow after appropriate notifications to victims’ families.
