🚨 BOMBSHELL TWIST: Cops swore up and down the Brown University campus massacre and the cold-blooded murder of elite MIT professor Nuno Loureiro were TOTALLY UNRELATED… but now they’re flipping the script – admitting they MIGHT be linked after all!

Just days after a masked gunman slaughtered two innocent students and wounded nine more in Providence, the same killer allegedly targeted a top nuclear physicist 50 miles away in his own home. And get this: The suspect, a 48-year-old former Brown student from Portugal who knew the professor from back in Lisbon, just turned up DEAD in a New Hampshire storage unit – apparent suicide!

Was this a decades-old grudge exploding into horror? Why did authorities change their tune so fast? The chilling connection will leave you speechless… click now for the full shocking details! 😱🔥

In a dramatic reversal that has stunned New England, federal and local authorities announced Thursday that they are investigating potential ties between the December 13 mass shooting at Brown University — which left two students dead and nine wounded — and the fatal shooting two days later of acclaimed MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro in his Brookline home.

The shift comes after officials, including the FBI, had publicly stated earlier in the week that there appeared to be no connection between the incidents. Sources familiar with the probe told multiple outlets that new evidence emerged as investigators compared notes, including a rental vehicle of the same make and model spotted near both crime scenes.

The manhunt ended tragically Thursday evening when the prime suspect, identified as 48-year-old Claudio Manuel Neves Valente — a Portuguese national and former Brown graduate student — was found dead inside a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire, from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Providence Police Chief Colonel Oscar Perez confirmed Valente’s death during a late-night press conference, stating the individual acted alone in the Brown attack. FBI Special Agent in Charge Ted Docks revealed that Valente and Loureiro, 47, had attended the same school in Lisbon, Portugal, over 25 years ago, though authorities stopped short of confirming Valente’s direct involvement in the professor’s killing.

The violence began on Saturday, December 13, around 4 p.m., when a masked gunman dressed in black burst into a classroom in Brown’s Barus & Holley engineering building during a final exam review session. He opened fire with a 9mm handgun, killing sophomore Ella Cook, a Birmingham, Alabama, native and leader of the campus College Republicans, and freshman Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Uzbekistan studying to become a doctor. Nine others were wounded, with most treated and released from Rhode Island Hospital.

The shooter fled on foot, evading immediate capture despite an intensive search involving hundreds of officers, doorbell cameras, and limited campus surveillance footage. Brown University President Christina H. Paxson canceled all remaining classes and exams for the fall semester, describing the attack as a “profound tragedy” that shattered the close-knit Ivy League community.

Two days later, on Monday evening, Loureiro — a renowned plasma physicist and director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center — was shot multiple times inside his upscale Brookline residence on Gibbs Street. He succumbed to his injuries the following morning. Colleagues remembered him as a brilliant mentor and innovator in clean energy research, with ties to international fusion projects.

Initial FBI statements dismissed any link, but by Thursday, senior law enforcement sources confirmed the investigations had converged. Key evidence included surveillance images of Valente renting a gray Nissan Sentra in November, matching vehicle descriptions from both scenes. A license plate tip and flock camera data further tied the car to the suspect.

Valente, whose last known address was in Miami, had briefly enrolled as a graduate student at Brown in the early 2000s, potentially familiarizing him with the building targeted in the attack. Authorities have not disclosed a clear motive, emphasizing that neither incident appeared targeted at specific individuals based on available evidence.

The breakthrough came rapidly Thursday. An arrest warrant was issued for Valente in the Brown case, prompting a multi-state search. Law enforcement swarmed the Salem storage facility after tracing an abandoned vehicle there. Inside one unit, they discovered Valente’s body, ending the six-day manhunt but leaving lingering questions.

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha stressed that while the public threat had ended, the probe into motives and any accomplices continues. “We may never fully understand why,” he said, noting the absence of manifestos or prior threats.

The case has reignited debates over campus security, with critics questioning Brown’s limited surveillance in the engineering building and the initial detention — and quick release — of an unrelated person of interest early in the investigation.

Tributes poured in for the victims. Cook was remembered for her political activism and piano talent, while Umurzokov embodied the American dream as a scholarship recipient fleeing hardship. Loureiro’s death drew condolences from the scientific community, including former colleagues who hailed his contributions to nuclear fusion.

Brown and MIT campuses observed moments of silence, with flags at half-staff. Providence Mayor Brett Smiley called the resolution “bittersweet,” praising law enforcement while acknowledging the city’s trauma. Massachusetts officials echoed the sentiment, with Brookline police cooperating fully.

Forensic teams continue analyzing ballistics, digital records, and the storage unit contents. No murder weapon has been publicly linked to Loureiro’s death, and prosecutors have not ruled out charges related to that incident posthumously.

As families grieve ahead of the holidays, communities in Providence and Boston grapple with the randomness of the violence. Counseling services remain available at both universities, and vigils have drawn hundreds mourning the lost lives.

The FBI and local agencies urge anyone with information to come forward, assuring no ongoing public danger.