Police surround New Hampshire storage facility after Brown University shooting suspect is identified

This story has been updated to reflect information on the manhunt and suspect's identity.

Update 2: “He took his own life tonight,” Oscar Perez, chief of the Providence, Rhode Island police department, said at a press conference.

Perez identified the man as Claudio Nevis Valenti, a 48-year-old Brown student.

Update 1: Multiple media reports that the suspected Brown University shooter was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after the manhunt at the Salem, New Hampshire storage facility.

As of now, police or state officials have not verified this information. 

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND: Police have identified a suspect in the deadly Brown University shooting that killed two students and injured nine others, intensifying the search after a six-day manhunt failed to result in an arrest.

Authorities have issued a warrant but are withholding the suspect’s name because he remains at large. 

Video recorded by local and national media showed Providence Police joined by dozens of local, state and federal law-enforcement personnel surrounding and entering a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, on the night of Thursday, Dec 18.

They did so after discovering an abandoned vehicle bearing a license plate believed to be linked to the suspect in the Brown University shooting.

Authorities have not confirmed whether the search is connected to the mass shooting that occurred on Brown University’s campus in Providence, more than 85 miles to the south. 

A press conference originally scheduled for 4 pm in Providence has been delayed by over five hours, though city officials say an update will be provided to the public later this evening.

The suspect has used several tactics to avoid being tracked, beyond switching license plates in different cities, an official said. He appears to have planned ahead to evade surveillance cameras and facial recognition technology by hiding his identity. 

Police identify suspect in Brown University shooting

Fox News correspondent Brooke Taylor reported on X that "Providence Police have identified the suspected Brown University shooter and have a warrant", citing her sources.

In subsequent posts, Taylor said sources believe the suspect is in his 40s. For days, police struggled to identify the masked gunman or obtain a clear image of his face.

“He could be anywhere,” Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez said Wednesday, December 17. “We still don’t know who the person is or where he is.”

Authorities believe the Brown University shooting suspect may be hiding inside a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire, two law enforcement sources told CNN.

Brown University operates more than 1,200 security cameras across its 145-acre campus, but none covered the section of the Barus & Holley building where the shooting occurred.

The attack killed two students: 19-year-old sophomore Ella Cook of Alabama and 18-year-old freshman Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, an Uzbek American. 

Profiler details mindset of Brown University shooting suspect

The Brown University gunman, who remains at large after killing two students and injuring nine others, likely acted out of extreme anger and isolation and fears capture, criminal profiler John Kelly said.

Kelly, the president of STALK Inc., told Fox News Digital on Thursday, December 18, that the shooter carefully surveyed the area before opening fire.

“He took great pains to scope out the area and secure an escape route. Why? Because he’s scared of getting caught,” Kelly said. “So it looks like a cause he’s not willing to die for, but a cause he’s extremely angry over.”

Officials said the shooter fired more than 40 rounds from a 9mm handgun into a classroom inside the Barus and Holley engineering building around 4 pm on Saturday, December 13, before fleeing on foot.

“I believe he’s probably a loner who expresses [his anger] in the confines of a private place online,” Kelly added. “He’s watching everything he can about himself on the news."

He concluded, "All these guys have a certain amount of paranoia, I believe this guy is no different. He wants to kill kids but he’s scared of doing the time for it.”