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How a Reddit post blew Brown University shooting investigation wide open
Sky News ^ | 12/19/25 | iriam Kuepper

Posted on 12/19/2025 7:19:17 AM PST by jonatron

Frustration had mounted that the murderer had managed to get away and that a clear image of his face hadn't emerged - until a Reddit post finally put police on his trail.

The suspect in the Brown University shooting was found after police received a tip referencing a post on the social media platform Reddit, they have revealed.

Two students, Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov and Ella Cook, were killed and nine were injured during the shooting inside a classroom building at the Ivy League university in Providence, Rhode Island, on Saturday.

Frustration had mounted in Providence that the murderer had managed to get away and that a clear image of his face hadn't emerged - until a Reddit post finally put police on the trail of the suspect later identified as Portuguese national Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, 48.

In the post on the social media platform, a witness said he saw the suspect opening a grey Nissan sedan with Florida plates parked behind the Rhode Island Historical Society, just down the road from the Barus and Holley building where the shooting happened.

"I'm being dead serious. The police need to look into a grey Nissan with Florida plates, possibly a rental," the poster wrote, according to an affidavit seen by Sky News.

Police subsequently found the grey Nissan in CCTV footage.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.sky.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; US: Massachusetts; US: Rhode Island
KEYWORDS: banglist; brown; brownuniversity; claudionevesvalente; deepfake; deepfakeai; education; john; massachusetts; murderone; ptmisseronfr; reddit; rhodeisland; wtf
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See more at the source.
1 posted on 12/19/2025 7:19:17 AM PST by jonatron
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To: jonatron
The suspect in the Brown University shooting was found after police received a tip referencing a post on the social media platform Reddit, they have revealed.

Police never found the post, the poster (homeless guy) eventually had to pick up the phone, tell them he posted it, and they needed to read it and wake up.

2 posted on 12/19/2025 7:21:45 AM PST by 1Old Pro
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To: 1Old Pro

Why didn’t he just tell the police in the first place?


3 posted on 12/19/2025 7:24:47 AM PST by traderrob6
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To: traderrob6
Why didn’t he just tell the police in the first place?

He didn't want to blow his cover, that he was living in the basement, etc.

4 posted on 12/19/2025 7:26:14 AM PST by 1Old Pro
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To: traderrob6
Why didn’t he just tell the police in the first place?

The real question is why didn't the police ID this homeless guy living in the basement earlier, it took 3 days to figure out he was a person of interest. Bottom line, Brown has a security problem and needs to address it, yesterday.

5 posted on 12/19/2025 7:27:54 AM PST by 1Old Pro
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To: traderrob6
Why didn’t he just tell the police in the first place?

Because he's a smart man. Seriously, he apparently has a very high IQ.

He knows that if you want law enforcement to do something, don't let them control the information. Put the information out publicly and force the investigators out of their hiding places and spin doctoring.

6 posted on 12/19/2025 7:28:00 AM PST by T.B. Yoits
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To: 1Old Pro
Daily Mail: Pictured: Homeless hero 'John' who blew Brown University case open as he reveals his chilling interaction with the shooter


7 posted on 12/19/2025 7:28:38 AM PST by jonatron
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To: jonatron

So the witness “John” made eye contact with the perp in a toilet - and then followed him around campus

Huh??


8 posted on 12/19/2025 7:28:39 AM PST by PGR88
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To: PGR88
So the witness “John” made eye contact with the perp in a toilet - and then followed him around campus Huh??

Homeless people are very territorial when it comes to their chosen living areas. Paul Mauro said when he was on the beat he could give a homeless guy a snapple and get the best local intel he could possibly imagine.

9 posted on 12/19/2025 7:30:49 AM PST by 1Old Pro
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To: 1Old Pro

The article said nothing about “John” living in the basement - only saw that elsewhere


10 posted on 12/19/2025 7:35:53 AM PST by PGR88
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To: PGR88

The real police are the homeless, around Brown.


11 posted on 12/19/2025 7:37:07 AM PST by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
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To: jonatron

A homeless Brown University graduate living in engineering building basement?

Shows the value of a degree at that school.


12 posted on 12/19/2025 7:37:21 AM PST by chrisinoc
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To: PGR88
The article said nothing about “John” living in the basement - only saw that elsewhere

I believe multiple sources confirmed it sufficiently for networks to report it, like FOX.

13 posted on 12/19/2025 7:37:51 AM PST by 1Old Pro
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To: PGR88
So the witness “John” made eye contact with the perp in a toilet - and then followed him around campus

Huh??

It happens quite regularly in University bathrooms, especially if you show up at the time written on the wall.

Seriously though, there are a lot of confusing elements to this story.

14 posted on 12/19/2025 7:37:56 AM PST by jonatron
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To: jonatron

This guy was evidently a homeless Brown grad who was living in the building.

Boy, there is some alumni relations; I doubt if my Alma mater would be giving me a cot in the basement of the business department.

That college is messed up.


15 posted on 12/19/2025 7:38:03 AM PST by Vermont Lt
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To: 1Old Pro

The school knew he was there.

They didn’t want it to come out.


16 posted on 12/19/2025 7:38:44 AM PST by Vermont Lt
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To: 1Old Pro
Police never found the post, the poster (homeless guy) eventually had to pick up the phone, tell them he posted it, and they needed to read it and wake up.

Man, what an embarrassment....☺

17 posted on 12/19/2025 7:41:14 AM PST by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: Vermont Lt

Where my daughter got her chemistry PhD there was a Chinese graduate student who lived in the research building. He got his graduate degree but didn’t want to go back to China. He became “The Phantom of the Chemistry Building”! He stole bag lunches, robbed convenience machines of munchies and candy, showered at night in the chemistry safety showers. During the day he was just one more Chinese student. His mysterious presence went on for two years before he got caught.


18 posted on 12/19/2025 7:47:14 AM PST by Reily
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To: Vermont Lt
The school knew he was there. They didn’t want it to come out.

That is my thought as well.

19 posted on 12/19/2025 7:47:37 AM PST by 1Old Pro
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To: chrisinoc

I think Brown “leadership” has shown the value of a degree from that school.


20 posted on 12/19/2025 7:48:15 AM PST by AndyJackson
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