Claudio Neves Valente close friend says Brown University shooter was ‘brilliant and smart’

Investigators are piecing together the life of Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, the man suspected of killing two Brown University students and an MIT professor. The 48-year-old was found dead, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, in New Hampshire on Thursday.

One of the most detailed recollections comes from Scott Watson, a physics professor at Syracuse University. He was likely Neves Valente’s only close friend, reported The New York Times, during their time as classmates in Brown University’s physics PhD program in the early 2000s.

Read More: Claudio Neves Valente: Reddit post helped track down Brown University shooting suspect; here’s how

Watson described Neves Valente as often unhappy and prone to anger, frequently complaining that classes were too easy and that campus food was subpar.

Despite his dissatisfaction, Watson said his former friend was intellectually gifted. “He was brilliantly smart,” Watson told the New York Times, adding that Neves Valente could also be “kind and gentle” at times.

The two regularly ate together at a local Portuguese restaurant near campus, Watson recalled. But he also described moments of troubling behaviour.

Neves Valente, he said, could be bullying toward classmates and once referred to a Brazilian student as his “slave.” “I had to break up a fight once,” Watson said, as per NYT.

Read More: ‘What’s the motive’: Brown shooting suspect Claudio Neves Valente’s Portugal link sparks concerns

Neves Valente, a Portuguese national, enrolled at Brown as a physics PhD student around 2000 but withdrew from the program in 2003, according to university officials. Brown University President Christina Paxson confirmed his enrollment history, according to NBC News.

Authorities say Neves Valente is suspected of fatally shooting two students at Brown University and wounding nine others before killing an MIT professor days later.