A Brown University custodian repeatedly reported suspicious behavior by the eventual mass shooter to campus security, but his warnings were dismissed—raising questions about the university’s failure to act before two students were killed and nine others wounded.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A Brown University custodian claims he saw the gunman responsible for the December 13 mass shooting “more than a dozen times“ in the weeks leading up to the attack—and reported his suspicions to security—but the university took no action, according to interviews with local media.
Derek Lisi, a 15-year employee of the Ivy League school, told the Boston Globe that he “knew something was off“ with Claudio Neves Valente, the man accused of killing two students and wounding nine others in the deadly rampage. Lisi said he first noticed Valente’s suspicious behavior at 6:20 p.m. the day before Thanksgiving and again just after 8 p.m. on December 1.
“Something kept telling me, ‘Don’t ignore it. Don’t ignore it,'” Lisi recalled.
Lisi, who interacts with students daily, said he reported Valente three times to Event Staff Services LLC (ESS), a third-party security vendor hired by Brown. On December 1, an ESS staff member told him they were “only present to cover an event“ and that Lisi should contact Brown’s Department of Public Safety instead. Lisi said he doesn’t know if any further action was taken.
ESS did not respond to requests for comment. The company’s president, David Madonna, told the Boston Globe that “investigating reports of suspicious people is not its job.”
“We have nothing to do with watching buildings,” Madonna said. “Whenever there’s an event at Brown, they hire us to do ID check and capacity counts in their rooms.”
After photos of Valente were released, Lisi immediately called the tip line and was interviewed by police on December 15. He described Valente’s behavior as “eerie”—peering into classrooms, rolling his eyes, and acting in a way that made Lisi feel like “I could see him and nobody else could.”
Lisi said he is haunted by “what ifs”—especially since the building where the shooting occurred was unlocked on a Saturday, when doors are usually secured.
“That the building should have been open access,” he said. “That’s what is still weird to me. It doesn’t make sense to me why on a Saturday it was an open access.”
He also questioned whether additional security cameras could have helped police identify Valente sooner, potentially preventing the murder of MIT professor Nuno Loureiro in Brookline, Massachusetts, two days later.
“Two students aren’t here today—that kills me every day,” Lisi said. “I can’t get his face out of my head.”
The revelations have sparked outrage online, with critics accusing Brown of “total institutional failure.”
Journalist Nick Sortor wrote: “He informed the university, and they did NOTHING. Brown Officials need to be SACKED. DEI is literally getting innocent people KlLLED.”
Former police officer Brandon Tatum added: “A Brown University custodian repeatedly reported seeing the shooter peering into classrooms over a dozen times—and the school did nothing. Total institutional failure. Brown’s leadership should be fired immediately. This kind of DEI-driven incompetence is costing innocent lives.”
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