A Campus Shaken: The December 13 Shooting at Brown University

Rushing through flashcards and downing Red Bull, until the hum in a library is taken over by the sounds of gun shots. Everybody gets down. This is not what the students expected on the second day of Brown University’s week of finals. These students expected multiple choice questions, sitting in a testing room for multiple hours on end, drops of perspiration on their foreheads from tricky questions—not beads of sweat dripping down their faces from the fear of losing their lives. 

At around 4 p.m. on Dec. 13, 2025, Brown University alumnus Cláudio Manuel Neves Valente, 48, entered a classroom in the unlocked School of Engineering’s Barus and Holley Building and shot 40 bullets at the students. At 4:22 p.m., the university’s Public Safety and Emergency Management department sent their first alert message to the campus community saying that there was an active shooter near the engineering building. At 4:50 p.m., the university sent another message saying that a suspect was in custody, but this was an incorrect statement; Brown later sent a correction to the community. 

This incident sent shockwaves through the Brown University community: two students lost their lives and nine were injured in the shooting.

One of the murdered students was sophomore Ella Cook from Mountain Brook, Alabama, described by Brown University President Christina Paxson as “[a] passionate and intellectually curious member of our community who was interested in French and Francophone studies.”

The second student was freshman Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, a U.S. dual citizen from Uzbekistan. Umurzokov planned to study biochemistry and molecular biology, with the hope of becoming a surgeon. “[Umurzokov’s] friends and family have spoken of his clear commitment to serving others,” Paxson said. “[He was] known for being driven, conscientious and disciplined.” 

Two days later, Neves Valente murdered the director of The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Nuno Loureiro. Loureiro and Neves Valente attended the same physics engineering program at Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon in the late 90s. After his death, many colleagues and students of Loureiro spoke of their fond memories of him. “In losing Nuno, we have lost a singularly brilliant scientist and human being,” visiting scientist in the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center Rachel Bielajew said. “His leadership was built upon not only scientific excellence, but also the personal connections he forged by making people in the laboratory community feel valued. Nuno treated teaching with tremendous care, and his love of the field shone through continuously. I am so fortunate to have learned from him.” 

The FBI and state and local police from Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New Hampshire worked together on a multi-day manhunt in search of Neves Valente, until on Dec. 18 they found him dead from a self-inflicted gunshot in Salem, New Hampshire.

During the time of the manhunt, both MIT and Brown University took time to grieve in their own ways. Notably for some aspiring MCPS families, Brown had to delay its Early Decisions release. The Bethesda Magazine reported that in 2024, 24 seniors across all MCPS high schools enrolled at Brown and 11 at MIT. 

“I submitted my application to Brown recently,” Winston Churchill High School senior Derek Yang said. “I am applying as a regular decision applicant to Brown. It is very unfortunate that two students had to die and I hope that Brown increases its security measures so another tragedy won’t happen again.” 

Indeed, Brown released a statement on Dec. 22 about the updates to their campus security protocols. These updates were installed before or on Jan. 6, and include more cameras, an increase in buildings that require card access, more panic alarms and police officers across campus. Despite improvements to safety measures, the Brown shooting is another reminder of the influx in mass shootings over the recent years across the nation. According to WESH 2 News Channel, “in 2025, there were 408 mass shootings in which four or more people, excluding the shooter, were injured or killed” in the U.S. 

In an interview with CNN following the Brown shooting, Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed said: “There is a proliferation of firearms [in the country] and they’re one reason, not the only reason, but they are one reason why we have these tragedies. I think part of [fixing this problem] is improving the background checks because sometimes the records are not maintained and they are only used in cursory… I think we have to look closely at all of our laws and not be satisfied until these occurrences are something of the past.” 

Written by Ava Van Vuren

Graphic by Sona Saravana