A Brown University custodian flagged a suspicious man roaming campus hallways and peering into classrooms nearly a dozen times in the weeks before a deadly shooting, warning security twice before the gunman finally opened fire, according to a new report.
Derek Lisi, a 15-year employee at the Ivy League school, told the Boston Globe he “knew something was off with” Claudio Neves Valente well before the Dec. 13 attack that left two students dead in a lecture hall.
Lisi said he repeatedly saw the same man lurking inside the same building, circling the hallways, and staring into classrooms, and that he reported his concerns to a campus security guard on two separate occasions. It remains unclear whether any action was taken.
“He’d been casing that place for weeks,’’ Lisi said, describing Neves Valente as someone who was constantly looking into classrooms and “circling the hallways.’’
“I thought it was someone trying to steal something. Every time he saw me, I think he thought I was security, because he would always walk away.’’
“I said, ‘Something’s off with this guy, so I gotta say something,’ ” Lisi added.
Neves Valente, a former Brown graduate student in the early 2000s, carried out the campus shooting before traveling roughly 50 miles and killing MIT professor Nunu Loureiro at his home two days later, authorities said.
The gunman was later found dead by suicide on Thursday night.
Investigators have not identified a clear motive, but former friends and classmates told the Globe that Neves Valente harbored deep resentment toward Brown, criticizing everything from the food to what he saw as a lack of academic rigor.
Those same sources said Neves Valente had previously clashed with Loureiro during their time in school. While Neves Valente reportedly earned stronger grades, his career stalled, while Loureiro went on to academic success.
Brown officials did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Monday afternoon.
