U.S. authorities said Thursday evening that they are examining a possible link between the deadly shooting spree over the weekend at Brown University in Rhode Island, now in its sixth day with the suspect still at large, and the mysterious killing earlier this week of Professor Nuno Loureiro of the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
American media outlets, including CNN and ABC, reported that investigators are pursuing this line of inquiry following information received in the past 24 hours, including comparisons of findings by teams working on both cases. Officials stressed, however, that they cannot yet state definitively that the two incidents are connected.
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Physicist Nuno Loureiro, who died in hospital, and the suspect seen on security cameras in Rhode Island
It remains unclear what specific information raised suspicions of a link between the two events. The reports come despite law enforcement officials saying just two days ago that there appeared to be no obvious connection between the cases.
The shooting at Brown University, one of the most elite universities in the United States, took place Saturday at around 4 p.m. local time, when an unidentified individual entered the campus and opened fire in an auditorium classroom in the Engineering and Physics building. The doors were unlocked at the time because exams were being held nearby. Two students were killed: Ella Cook, 19, vice chair of Brown University’s Republican student organization, and Mohammad Aziz Omurzakov, 18, who had immigrated to the United States from Uzbekistan. Nine other people were wounded.
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Brown University shooting spree victims, students Ella Cook and Mohammad Aziz Omurzakov
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Photos released by the FBI as part of the search for the fugitive suspect
(Photo: FBI/Handout via Reuters)
In the days following the attack, authorities released surveillance footage showing the suspect near the scene, provided a physical description and offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. He has not yet been captured. On Thursday evening, however, law enforcement sources told CNN that investigators believe they have identified the suspect, have signed an arrest warrant and are actively searching for him. His name has not been released.
Two days after the Brown shooting, on Monday evening, Professor Nuno Loureiro, a 47-year-old physicist and senior faculty member at MIT, was shot at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, near Boston. He was found with gunshot wounds, taken to a nearby hospital and later pronounced dead. Initial reports suggested Loureiro was Jewish and held pro-Israel views, raising the possibility of a motive tied to those positions, but subsequent information indicated he was not known to be Jewish and had not spoken publicly about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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Flower bouquets at a makeshift memorial for victims at Brown University in Rhode Island
(Photo: Matt OBrien/AP)
Loureiro, a native of Portugal, earned his doctorate in London and joined MIT in 2016. Last year he was appointed head of one of the university’s largest laboratories, employing more than 250 people across seven buildings. He was shot at around 8:30 p.m. local time, and neighbors reported hearing three gunshots. The distance between Brown University and Loureiro’s home is about 80 kilometers (50 miles).
Although Brown University is equipped with around 1,200 security cameras, Saturday’s attack occurred in an older part of the campus with few, if any, cameras. As a result, investigators have been able to release only distant, low-quality images and footage from cameras in other areas. In its appeal to the public, the FBI said the suspect is approximately 173 centimeters tall and of a stocky build.