Officials are actively investigating the possibility of a link between the murder of a prominent MIT professor and Saturday’s shooting at Brown University that left two students dead and nine others wounded, according to a report citing senior law enforcement sources.
Investigators announced Thursday that they believe they have identified a suspect in the attack and have issued an arrest warrant, though the suspect in question has not yet been named.
The significant update comes as the manhunt for the Brown University shooter moves through its sixth day. Investigators had previously released grainy images of the suspect both before and after the shooting, but have not yet released any definitive, unobstructed photos of the individual’s face.
The FBI is also assisting with the investigation and has offered a $50,000 reward for any information that leads to the suspect’s capture. “The suspect is described as a male, approximately 5’8″ with a stocky build,” the bureau wrote in a press release earlier this week.
On Thursday, regional CBS affiliate WPRI-TV reported that evidence of a possible connection between the Brown shooting and the murder of a prominent MIT professor was being investigated. The report, which cited senior law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation, did not disclose what the new evidence was.
Nuno Loureiro, 47, was found dead inside his home after police responded to reports of a shooting around 8:30 Eastern Time on Monday in the community of Brookline, an upscale suburb near Boston. The town is located about 50 miles from the Brown University campus in Providence, Rhode Island.
Loureiro, who was originally from Portugal and served as the director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center since 2024, also held faculty positions in the departments of Nuclear Science and Engineering and Physics. He had joined MIT in 2016 after postdoctoral work at Princeton and earlier research in Lisbon.
Local law enforcement officials provided next to no details on the incident when it was reported, stating only that a suspect was at-large and the investigation was ongoing.
Earlier this week, FBI Boston’s special agent in charge Ted Docks told reporters that investigators were sharing intelligence regarding both cases but had not uncovered a definitive link, Fox News reported.
Unverified reports in both Providence and Brookline described Nissan Sentras at the scene, though the vehicles were reported to have license plates from different states.
Authorities have not provided any information on the weapon used in the Loureiro killing. As for the Brown University shooting, the weapon is believed to have been a 9mm handgun. A person of interest was initially arrested early Sunday morning at a hotel in the town of Coventry, Rhode Island, though that person was released without charges a little under 24 hours later.
The shooting claimed the lives of two Brown students. One victim, 19-year-old Ella Cook, was identified by her church as a sophomore from Alabama. Cook also served as vice president of the Brown University College Republican club.
The second victim was identified as Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, a freshman who was a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Uzbekistan and living in Virginia. Umurzokov has been described as a dedicated student who was in school to become a neurosurgeon.
