A homeless man has been credited with breaking open the investigation into the deadly shootings at Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), leading authorities to identify the suspected gunman and triggering a $50,000 reward payout.
The tipster, identified only as John, played a pivotal role after confronting the suspected shooter and later alerting police to critical details about his vehicle.
“He blew this case right open,” Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said, praising the tipster’s actions.
Key tip leads police to suspect
According to officials, John’s information helped investigators identify Claudio Neves Valente, 48, as the suspect in the shootings that left two Brown University students dead and an MIT professor killed two days later.
Until John came forward, investigators had few leads and no information about a vehicle possibly connected to the gunman.
John first contacted authorities after recognizing images released by police and posting details on Reddit, court documents show.
“I’m being dead serious,” John wrote in the post cited by investigators.
“The police need to look into a grey Nissan with Florida plates, possibly a rental.”
‘Cat-and-mouse’ encounter before shooting
John later told investigators he had a strange encounter with Neves Valente hours before the shooting inside a bathroom at Brown University’s engineering building.
He described the suspect’s clothing as “inappropriate and inadequate for the weather,” a detail that caught his attention.
Sources told Fox News that John had been living in the basement of the engineering building at the time.
Suspicious behavior outside campus building
After the bathroom encounter, John said he saw Neves Valente outside the building and followed him after noticing odd behavior near a parked car.
“I know because he used his key fob to open the car, approached it, and then something prompted him to back away,” John wrote.
“When he backed away, he relocked the car. I found that odd.”
John later observed the vehicle again when the suspect circled the block.
“At one point, I yelled, ‘Your car is back there, why are you circling the block?’” John told investigators, according to court records.
Suspect responds, police connect dots
Court documents state the suspect responded, “I don’t know you from nobody,” and repeatedly asked, “Why are you harassing me?”
Using John’s tip about the vehicle — a grey Nissan with Florida plates — authorities were able to review additional surveillance footage, which ultimately led them to identify Neves Valente as the shooter.
Case ends with suspect’s death
Nearly 24 hours after the breakthrough, investigators located Neves Valente dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, officials said.
Federal authorities have since confirmed that John is entitled to the $50,000 reward offered in the case, citing his critical role in solving the shootings.
