A custodian at Brown University raised red flags about shooter Claudio Neves Valente nearly a dozen times in the weeks leading up to his deadly attack, according to a new report revealing potential security failures at the elite institution.
Derek Lisi, a 15-year veteran employee at Brown, told the Boston Globe he observed the suspicious individual repeatedly circling hallways and peering into classrooms throughout November and into early December.
Lisi reported his concerns to campus security on at least two separate occasions before the Dec. 13 shooting that claimed two student lives.
The custodian described observing Neves Valente conducting what appeared to be surveillance of the Barus and Holley building for several weeks.
Each time the two crossed paths, the suspicious individual would immediately leave the area, behavior that heightened Lisi’s concerns about potential theft or other criminal activity.
Lisi first contacted a security guard in mid-November about the concerning presence.
He made a second report to the same guard on Dec. 1, emphasizing his growing unease about the individual’s repeated appearances and strange behavior patterns.
“I said, ‘Something’s off with this guy, so I gotta say something,’” Lisi recounted to the publication.
The custodian also characterized the building’s access controls as inadequate, claiming anyone could enter without proper screening.
The security guard who received Lisi’s warnings reportedly worked for a private security firm contracted by Brown University.
Federal authorities previously disclosed in court documents that a custodian had noticed a suspicious person in the targeted building weeks before the attack occurred.
The Globe identified this custodian as Lisi.
The physical description of the person Lisi observed matched Neves Valente’s appearance, according to federal investigators.
Lisi told the Globe he immediately recognized the shooter when news of the attack broke, identifying him by his distinctive walking pattern.
“He’d been casing that place for weeks,” Lisi stated, describing how the individual would look into classrooms while “circling the hallways.”
The custodian initially suspected the man might be planning a theft, as he would consistently retreat whenever he spotted Lisi, apparently mistaking him for security personnel.
“I knew it was him because I could tell by the walk,” Lisi explained.
“He had a pretty distinctive walk.”
Neves Valente attended Brown as a graduate student in the early 2000s before carrying out his attack on the campus building.
Two days after the Brown shooting, he traveled approximately 50 miles to kill MIT professor Nunu Loureiro at his residence, Resist the Mainstream reported last week.
Law enforcement discovered Neves Valente dead by suicide on Thursday night, ending the manhunt for the shooter.
Investigators have not definitively established a motive for the attacks. However, former acquaintances and classmates indicated that Neves Valente harbored negative feelings about Brown University, criticizing everything from the dining services to what he perceived as insufficient academic rigor.
Sources also revealed that Neves Valente and Loureiro had academic conflicts during their time as students, reported the New York Post.
While Neves Valente achieved superior grades in their shared courses, his professional trajectory stagnated while Loureiro went on to achieve significant academic success.
Authorities credited a homeless individual identified only as “John” with providing crucial assistance in the investigation.
The witness reported information about Neves Valente’s rental vehicle that helped law enforcement track down the shooter.
