Brown University review finds 2025 mass shooting was unlikely to be prevented

An external review has concluded it was ‘highly unlikely’ that Brown University could have prevented the mass shooting that occurred on December 13, 2025. The attack, carried out by former PhD student Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, resulted in the deaths of two students, Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, and left nine others injured.

Reports from consulting firm Teneo Risk and security specialist COSECURE identified gaps in staffing, equipment, and training. While the review noted that campus officers responded ‘rapidly, effectively, and heroically,’ it suggested that enhanced equipment, more security patrols, stricter access controls, and improved camera surveillance could have improved the overall response and identification of threats.

The shooting was followed by a second incident in which Neves Valente killed MIT Professor Nuno F. G. Loureiro in Brookline, Massachusetts, before committing suicide in New Hampshire. In response to the findings, Brown University has released a ‘detailed action plan’ to strengthen campus safety, emergency preparedness, and security protocols.