A Brown University custodian reported spotting a suspicious man—later identified as alleged shooter Claudio Manuel Neves Valente—casing the engineering building nearly 10 times over several weeks starting in early November, before he ultimately opened fire there.
Derek Lisi, a 15-year veteran custodian who worked on campus, had observed the shooter numerous times and alerted security to his odd behavior on two occasions.
“He’d been casing that place for weeks,” Lisi said in an interview with the Boston Globe.
Lisi revealed that he observed the man pacing hallways, peering into classrooms (particularly Room 166 in the Barus and Holley engineering building, where a majority of the shooting took place), and attempting to avoid detection by ducking into bathrooms or walking away quickly when spotted.
The custodian said he suspects the shooter viewed him as a potential security guard himself, trying to avoid being noticed any time a person of authority was on sight.
“I knew there was something off with him,” Lisi said. “I thought it was someone trying to steal something. Every time he saw me, I think he thought I was security, because he would always walk away.”
After alerting a security guard to his concerns, the pattern of odd behavior reportedly continued. Which in turn prompted another report.
When the man saw him, Lisi said, the man started walking away quickly and ducked into the bathroom.
“I said, ‘Something’s off with this guy, so I gotta say something,’” he recalls.
So he said he flagged down the same private security guard again. According to Lisi, the guard didn’t investigate.