Investigators struggled to ID Brown suspect while gunman went on to kill again

By the clip it yet ended, 5 afloat days aft the shooting, the manhunt for the Brown University gunman surpassed the four-day hunt for the Boston Marathon bombers and was connected par with the five-day pursuit of Luigi Mangione successful the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting case.

In the days the gunman was connected the run, investigators accidental helium went connected to sprout and termination salient MIT professor Nuno Loureiro at his location successful the Boston area. 

The suspect, identified arsenic erstwhile Brown grad pupil Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, was recovered dormant by termination successful a New Hampshire retention portion Thursday night, constabulary said.  

The manhunt was analyzable by the aboriginal misidentification of a idiosyncratic of involvement and limited, low-quality video footage. 

A timeline of the events shows a fewer cardinal points wherever the probe struggled — until a Reddit tipster provided important accusation that constabulary accidental led them to the shooter. 

Early misidentification of a idiosyncratic of involvement  

The greeting aft the shooting, FBI Director Kash Patel announced connected X that authorities had detained a idiosyncratic of involvement overnight. Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said successful a quality briefing that the metropolis could "breathe a small easier." 

But aboriginal successful the day, officials released the idiosyncratic aft determining that he had nary involvement in the shooting.

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said that immoderate grounds had "pointed to" the archetypal idiosyncratic of interest, but that the probe present "points successful a antithetic direction." Providence Police Chief Colonel Oscar L. Perez Jr. said the detention was "not a mistake" but "just however investigations work." 

Multiple instrumentality enforcement sources told CBS News connected Monday that the probe had afloat moved distant from that person, and that investigators "had to efficaciously restart aft aboriginal missteps" acceptable the process "back by respective hours." Officials acknowledged that the lawsuit was behind, particularly arsenic leads typically constrictive aft an aboriginal window. 

Patel and the FBI person faced scrutiny before for their usage of societal media successful high-profile cases, notably aft Charlie Kirk's assassination, erstwhile Patel posted connected X that a fishy was successful custody, past backtracked 2 hours later.

Poor images slowed identification 

Authorities aboriginal shared footage of a 2nd idiosyncratic of involvement who they believed was the shooter. But the images released to the nationalist — even an "enhanced" video — were blurry and did not intelligibly amusement the person's face. The antheral was dressed successful acheronian covering and wearing a chapeau and look covering. 

Image from video showing the idiosyncratic of involvement successful the Brown University shooting.

Officials person said portion of the Brown University gathering wherever the shooting occurred lacked cameras, citing its age. 

"There are fewer, if any, cameras successful that location, I ideate due to the fact that it's an older building," Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee said successful a quality briefing.

Brown University said successful a connection that the field has "an expansive web of information cameras," much than 1,200 successful all, but acknowledged that cameras "do not widen to each hallway, classroom, laboratory and bureau crossed the 250+ buildings connected campus." 

Video obtained from the vicinity shows the 2nd idiosyncratic of involvement walking on a fewer streets adjacent field astir 2 hours earlier the shooting, but his way was mislaid aft leaving the transgression scene. 

Investigators re-canvassed the country astir the field connected Monday, according to aggregate instrumentality enforcement sources, and collected CCTV footage from homes and section businesses to effort to reconstruct the suspect's movements and place vehicles oregon flight routes that whitethorn person been used. 

However, it wasn't until a Reddit idiosyncratic posted comments astir his encounters with the man, and shared accusation astir the car helium was driving, that instrumentality enforcement was capable to prime up the way and place who they were looking for. They said they received the accusation from the Reddit tipster, known arsenic "John," connected Tuesday, Dec. 16.

By that time, different sidesplitting had already taken place.

Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez acknowledged the section was nether a batch of unit to lick the case.

"There was a batch of criticism, too, arsenic acold as, like, however agelong has the probe taken," Perez told CBS News successful an interrogation Friday. "And sometimes, you know, it's conscionable that erstwhile you're not a constabulary officer, you don't recognize however this works," helium said, explaining that investigators person to measure each the leads and carnal evidence, which tin beryllium a painstaking process. 

"And truthful it takes enactment and … you can't bash that wrong minutes. Sometimes it takes days," Perez said.  

Connecting the dots with a fishy connected the run

An FBI peculiar cause said in charging documents that determination is probable origin to judge the aforesaid gunman who committed the wide shooting astatine Brown connected Saturday, Dec. 13, past traveled from Rhode Island to Massachusetts to execution Lourerio, who was changeable astatine his location connected Monday, Dec. 15. 

Following the Reddit user's tip, investigators determined that a grey Nissan Sentra rental car was captured connected license-plate readers adjacent Brown University from Dec. 1 to Dec. 12. 

When constabulary showed the tipster, "John," 2 of those conveyance photos, known arsenic Flock images, helium said, "Holy s---. That mightiness beryllium it."

This photograph from the charging papers successful the Brown University shooting lawsuit shows the suspect's rental car captured by a Flock license-plate scholar camera successful Providence, Rhode Island, connected Dec. 12, 2025. Image from Providence Police affidavit

CCTV images from the time earlier the shooting besides captured an idiosyncratic successful the country of Brown University "consistent with images" of the fishy that were taken from surveillance video astatine the bureau successful Boston wherever helium rented the car. Rental car records confirmed the suspect's identity, constabulary said.

At immoderate constituent aft the shooting, the fishy near Providence and drove backmost to Boston. The charging documents accidental Google email and dependable accounts associated with the shooter were logged onto from IP addresses adjacent Boston University connected Sunday, Dec. 14. 

At that point, constabulary inactive didn't cognize who they were looking for successful the shooting that killed 2 students, sophomore Ella Cook and freshman Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, and wounded 9 others.

Then connected the evening of Monday, Dec. 15, Lourerio was changeable astatine his location successful Brookline, Massachusetts. He died the adjacent day. 

The professor's location is astir a fractional mile from the country wherever the fishy logged into his Google accounts the time before. Police accidental surveillance footage besides captured images of a conveyance matching the statement of the suspect's rental car leaving the country aft Lourerio was shot, and Foley said, "there's video of him entering that flat building" that night.

While the motive is inactive shrouded successful mystery, investigators judge the fishy and the MIT prof had crossed paths before. Both studied physics astatine the aforesaid assemblage programme successful their autochthonal Portugal successful the precocious 1990s.

"My knowing is that they did cognize each other," said Leah Foley, U.S. lawyer for the District of Massachusetts.

The extremity from "John" astir the suspicious antheral and his car successful Providence came successful to constabulary the time aft Loureiro's shooting, and the probe accelerated.

"He blew this lawsuit close open," Neronha said.

Sources told CBS News that erstwhile they had the sanction of the suspect, they recovered the retention portion he'd rented successful New Hampshire and knew to hunt there. That's wherever they recovered his assemblage Thursday nighttime — 2 days aft helium had died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, an autopsy revealed.

Tom Hanson and Anna Schecter contributed to this report.